Episode 5: The Blood of Set; part 1
Faith sat down at the table in her kitchen across from Xander. Wood was sitting on her left, Kennedy and Fray on her right. Willow, Dawn, and Andrew were looking over books that were stacked on top of the kitchen counters. "So how do we take out this guy," Faith asked. "I know that three of you here have dealt with a god before but this is my first time."
Willow looked up from her book; her tone was still tight as she spoke with Faith. "We've translated the Hieroglyphs that were on the scarab amulet underneath that back panel and it says something about the blood of Set touching the amulet and the spell is complete and his power is destroyed."
"So we have to get some of his blood," Kennedy said, shrugging.
Faith glanced at her. "You want to go ask him for some because as I remember we never even got close enough to shake his hand."
Fray nodded. "If he can keep you back we'll have to get it some other way."
"Like how?" Faith asked, her tone harsh.
"Get something that has his blood on it. Shoot him with an arrow or even a bullet, hit him in the head with a rock, or even catch him with a bloody nose. It doesn't say how much blood we need does it?"
"Nope," Willow said, "which could be a good thing or a bad thing. But Fray's right, if we can shoot him with an arrow and have him rip it out of his skin it'll have his blood on it. That could work."
"I don't know. I threw a sword at him and he had no problems tossing it right back at me while holding Faith and all that was after he had taken care of fifteen dead Moot on the street," Kennedy said, her dark eyes registering defeat.
The group lapsed into silence. Fray toyed with the cuff of a shirt that Kennedy had let her borrow and then ran a hand through her long blonde hair. "What about a spell?" She finally asked.
"What?" Faith said.
"A spell," Fray said, looking at Willow. "I mean if you can heal, couldn't you wound. You're a goddess too, doesn't that make you equals?"
Willow smiled. "He's had his power for thousands of years and I've had mine for just over six months. He knows what he's capable of and I have no idea what I can do with my power."
Fray nodded and sunk back into a silent bubble. Faith looked at her and tapped her leg lightly under the table with her foot. "Good idea though," She said when Fray looked up.
Fray flashed her a light smile and stood up. Xander stood up too. "Alright guys," he said, "it's still early and we all have things that we need to do. If anyone has any ideas then contact Wood. It's Saturday; you'll be here all day won't you?"
Robin Wood smiled at Xander. "Of course," he said. "I happened to be the principal with a slayer girlfriend and no social life."
Faith slapped him in the chest and he grabbed her hand before she could pull back. "But I seem to be adjusting well."
Kennedy stood up and walked over to Willow. "I'm taking Fray to the Coven for a few hours. We'll be back tonight though."
"Alright," Willow said, "but early. I don't like the thought of you being around on the street when a rogue god's stalking the slayers."
"Alright mom," Kennedy joked. "I'll be in by dark."
Kennedy and Fray left, followed shortly by Andrew and Dawn. Willow sat down at the table next to Xander. "Do you think you can do it Willow?" Faith asked. "I mean a spell and all."
"I might be able to block his powers for a few seconds but I don't know if that's enough."
Wood shook his head and looked down at the table. "It will be enough, it has to be."
"Five plus five?" Kennedy asked.
"Ten," Fray said, looking back down at the paper that she was copying from a nearby book.
"Seven times eight,"
"Fifty- six."
"The square root of 144?"
"Twelve," Fray said, looking up at Kennedy. "Can we do something harder? I can read, write, do simple math, all this is great but it doesn't show me much."
"Can you speak any more languages or write in anything different than English?" "I can write, yes, but not speak in other languages. Sometimes when I'm writing I start to make characters but then I remind myself that I'm writing in English. I don't know what this other language is called though."
"That's alright," Kennedy said. "Write some for me and I'll have Dawn and Andrew run a search on it. That might give us a location or something."
Fray bent over the paper and started writing, the pen strokes curved across the page and formed characters that looked closely related to Chinese script but they curved too much. Kennedy watched her work and stared at the beautiful writing even after she had put down the pen. "Pretty cool," Kennedy muttered.
The slayer tore her eyes away from the paper and stood up. Slamming a book down in front of Fray she opened it to a page with different types of writing covering the page. "Read some of this if you can. Or at least tell me where it's from."
Fray scanned the page. "I recognize Latin, Greek, German, and Russian. Everything else means nothing to me and even those I can only read a little."
"Which one's the best?"
"Russian and German seem to be the same. I can translate about three quarters of the paragraph."
Kennedy nodded and shut the book. "Go stretch out on the mat and after I take this to Dawn we'll spar a little. Maybe we can work on your skills if you don't know anything."
Fray stretched out on the mat and waited until Kennedy got back. Kennedy pulled Fray off the ground and showed her how to stand and how to hold her fists. She was surprised that the girl picked it up so quickly. "Now," Kennedy said. "I'm going to punch with my back fist and I want you to block with your right forearm."
Fray nodded and Kennedy was surprised to see the young woman execute a perfect middle block as soon as her fist got close enough. Kennedy moved forward a little and decided to try something. She shot out with her left foot and hit Fray squarely in the chest. The girl flew to the ground a few feet away but quickly jumped up, her feet and hands ready for another attack. Kennedy rushed forward and threw a side kick straight at Fray's head. The girl blocked the kick and counter attacked with a hard roundhouse kick. Kennedy barley blocked the attack and even then the force of the blow caused her to back up a few steps.
The two women continued to spar, matching each other blow for blow and block for block. Kennedy would gain the advantage and then Fray would execute and advanced counter attack and turn the tables. Soon both girls were panting and sweating, a large crowd of slayers had gathered around the outside of the mat to watch the battle. Dawn and Andrew had even stopped their work to watch. Fray stopped Kennedy's fist with her left arm and barley noticed the slayer's other fist coming towards her stomach. In the last second she was it and flipped backwards, landing hard on the mat. Kennedy rushed forward and aimed a kick at Fray's shoulder. Fray blocked the kick above her head and flipped Kennedy on her back.
Kennedy continued to role until she was up on one knee. Fray was looking at her, her green eyes wide with surprise. "How did I do that?" she asked.
Kennedy smiled. "I don't know but you did a damn good job at it. With some more training you might be as good as I am."
Fray smiled. "I'll keep that in mind. Do you mind if we stop now, my side's a little sore?"
Kennedy nodded, more surprised than before. She had almost been taken down by a girl that had been wounded just forty-eight hours ago. The slayers on the outside of the ring cheered both of the fighters and Kennedy shook Fray's hand. "Not bad for a kid," she joked.
Fray looked at her, almost as tall as the dark haired slayer. "I'm almost as old as you are," she said.
"How do you know?"
"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "I just know that I am."
Kennedy nodded. "Well, I think that we can find some uses for you abound here. I hope you'll reconsider staying."
Fray nodded. "Maybe if I dust a few vampires then Faith will trust me."
Kennedy smiled. "Faith's cool when she gives you a chance. That just takes a while."
"So any ideas of where I come from?" Fray asked, sitting down in a nearby chair.
"From what I can tell," Kennedy said, taking a seat across from her. "A warrior cult in either Germany or Russia that emphasizes academics as well as physical attributes."
Fray shook her head. "In other words, Jack shit."
Kennedy nodded. "I'm sorry about that. I really wanted to help."
"It's alright Kennedy," Fray said. "You've helped me find out who I am now, even if you can't tell me who I was. I'll get along alright."
Kennedy nodded but she didn't look very convinced. Fray smiled and finally a slight curve crossed Kennedy's lips. "Alright," she said. "But I'll still help you in any way that I can. We'd probably better get home soon. It's getting dark and if we get home too late Willow will have both our skins."
"Will we be alright?" Fray asked.
Kennedy nodded but she got a crossbow and a sword out of a nearby case and handed the sword to Fray. "Just in case," she said. "If we get attacked, run."
"You know that will never happen," Fray said, gripping the hilt of the sword.
"You never know," Kennedy said. "After all, this is New Sunnydale."
"No," Fray said forcefully. "I'll never run."
Willow was sitting on the end of her bed when Kennedy and Fray walked inside. "You're late," Willow said walking out of her room.
Kennedy smiled and motioned to a shopping bag that Fray was holding. "I had to buy her some new clothes. I was getting tired of her borrowing mine all the time."
"Sorry Willow," Fray added. "We didn't see anything though."
Kennedy shrugged sheepishly. Willow smiled and walked over to Kennedy. "It's all right but I'm just worried. You need to get some rest though."
"Why?" Kennedy asked, taking Willow's hand in her own.
"We're going after Set tonight. I found a draining spell that should do the trick. We'll have about fifteen seconds when he's powerless. We have to get his blood then."
Fray nodded and put the sword down on the table. "Who's going?"
Willow looked up at the ceiling for a moment, silently counting. "Faith, Wood, me, Kennedy, Vi, Zee, Dawn and Rona."
"And you," Kennedy added quickly.
"What?" Both Willow and Fray said at the same time.
Kennedy smiled. "Well, I figured you'd be tired to the house so you need an adventure."
"But Kennedy," Willow started to protest.
Kennedy silenced her with a gentle hand to her lips. "This girl can fight better than any of the Slayers in the Coven. Faith and I are the only ones here that can even offer her a challenge and I want to find out what part she plays here as much as you do. We can't keep her cooped up here and expect to find anything out."
"I'll stay back Willow," Fray added. "I'll be the last line of defense in case he gets through but I think I can hold my own."
Willow nodded. "Fine but you're staying back with me. I need a bodyguard."
Fray accepted this, knowing that Willow was adding the whole bodyguard bit to make her feel better about warming the bench during the battle but she appreciated the chance to be included. "When do we leave?" Fray asked.
"We're meeting the others in the school parking lot at midnight," Willow said.
Kennedy motioned to Fray to follow and, letting go of Willow's hand, she led the other girl into the kitchen. "Come on," she said. "I'll explain a few things about fighting with slayers."
A cool wind was blowing through the parking lot as Kennedy, Willow, and Fray stepped out of the car and onto the pavement. Dawn hurried over and gave Willow a quick hug before handing her a bag. "Equipment," Willow said, answering Kennedy's questioning look.
Fray tightened her grip on the sword on her hand as Faith's dark eyes rested on the weapon. Faith just looked at her for a second before smiling lightly. "Are you all ready for the Big Bad?"
Kennedy chuckled. "The Big Bad was what we fought last year. He's the quasi Big Bad, the diet coke of Big Bad. Just one calorie, not bad enough."
Faith laughed. "Fair enough, but he's bad enough for me."
Wood looked at the girls like they were crazy. Finally he just gave up and shook his head in defeat. "Give up," Dawn whispered to him. "I loved with a slayer for years and I still didn't get it. I believe it's the ritualistic pre-battle one liners but it's still a mysterious custom."
Willow nodded as she walked over next to Wood. "So how do we get big, bad, and Egyptian here?"
Fray turned around as the wind started to pick up. "He already knows where we are," she said, tilting her head slightly. "And he's coming."
"How." Kennedy asked.
Fray just shrugged and turned towards the side of the school. "I'd better get ready," Willow said quickly. "I can feel him too."
Fray rested the blunt edge of her sword on her shoulder. "Can you feel any Moot with him?"
Willow nodded. "Only a handful though. Not too many but take care of them quickly. All of you."
Willow looked directly at Fray and she nodded quickly and turned back towards the school. The others were still scanning the parking lot and the rest of the surrounding area but Fray could feel it in her blood, something strange pulling her towards the side of the school. She felt a cold chill run down her spine and the hair on the back of her neck rose slightly. The battle was about to begin and somehow she could feel it.
Suddenly there was a roaring sound and a manhole cover in the sidewalk in front of the school exploded into the air, propelled by a column of yellow light. Eight Moot scurried out of the hole and onto the street. Suddenly Set rose out of the ground surrounded by bright red light licking at his black robes like eager flames. He smiled and Fray felt another chill run down her spine.
"Welcome," he said, his voice booming. "I see you have brought me more to play with. A goddess, a handful of slayers." He paused for a second. "And what's this. Someone that doesn't belong here, a mere shadow but the most powerful of them all. It sounds like fun to me."
Fray let his analogy of her slide away, she would ask questions later, and she tightened her hand on her weapon just like she saw the other fighters doing. Suddenly Sat yelled an Egyptian command and the Moot leapt forward.
Faith sat down at the table in her kitchen across from Xander. Wood was sitting on her left, Kennedy and Fray on her right. Willow, Dawn, and Andrew were looking over books that were stacked on top of the kitchen counters. "So how do we take out this guy," Faith asked. "I know that three of you here have dealt with a god before but this is my first time."
Willow looked up from her book; her tone was still tight as she spoke with Faith. "We've translated the Hieroglyphs that were on the scarab amulet underneath that back panel and it says something about the blood of Set touching the amulet and the spell is complete and his power is destroyed."
"So we have to get some of his blood," Kennedy said, shrugging.
Faith glanced at her. "You want to go ask him for some because as I remember we never even got close enough to shake his hand."
Fray nodded. "If he can keep you back we'll have to get it some other way."
"Like how?" Faith asked, her tone harsh.
"Get something that has his blood on it. Shoot him with an arrow or even a bullet, hit him in the head with a rock, or even catch him with a bloody nose. It doesn't say how much blood we need does it?"
"Nope," Willow said, "which could be a good thing or a bad thing. But Fray's right, if we can shoot him with an arrow and have him rip it out of his skin it'll have his blood on it. That could work."
"I don't know. I threw a sword at him and he had no problems tossing it right back at me while holding Faith and all that was after he had taken care of fifteen dead Moot on the street," Kennedy said, her dark eyes registering defeat.
The group lapsed into silence. Fray toyed with the cuff of a shirt that Kennedy had let her borrow and then ran a hand through her long blonde hair. "What about a spell?" She finally asked.
"What?" Faith said.
"A spell," Fray said, looking at Willow. "I mean if you can heal, couldn't you wound. You're a goddess too, doesn't that make you equals?"
Willow smiled. "He's had his power for thousands of years and I've had mine for just over six months. He knows what he's capable of and I have no idea what I can do with my power."
Fray nodded and sunk back into a silent bubble. Faith looked at her and tapped her leg lightly under the table with her foot. "Good idea though," She said when Fray looked up.
Fray flashed her a light smile and stood up. Xander stood up too. "Alright guys," he said, "it's still early and we all have things that we need to do. If anyone has any ideas then contact Wood. It's Saturday; you'll be here all day won't you?"
Robin Wood smiled at Xander. "Of course," he said. "I happened to be the principal with a slayer girlfriend and no social life."
Faith slapped him in the chest and he grabbed her hand before she could pull back. "But I seem to be adjusting well."
Kennedy stood up and walked over to Willow. "I'm taking Fray to the Coven for a few hours. We'll be back tonight though."
"Alright," Willow said, "but early. I don't like the thought of you being around on the street when a rogue god's stalking the slayers."
"Alright mom," Kennedy joked. "I'll be in by dark."
Kennedy and Fray left, followed shortly by Andrew and Dawn. Willow sat down at the table next to Xander. "Do you think you can do it Willow?" Faith asked. "I mean a spell and all."
"I might be able to block his powers for a few seconds but I don't know if that's enough."
Wood shook his head and looked down at the table. "It will be enough, it has to be."
"Five plus five?" Kennedy asked.
"Ten," Fray said, looking back down at the paper that she was copying from a nearby book.
"Seven times eight,"
"Fifty- six."
"The square root of 144?"
"Twelve," Fray said, looking up at Kennedy. "Can we do something harder? I can read, write, do simple math, all this is great but it doesn't show me much."
"Can you speak any more languages or write in anything different than English?" "I can write, yes, but not speak in other languages. Sometimes when I'm writing I start to make characters but then I remind myself that I'm writing in English. I don't know what this other language is called though."
"That's alright," Kennedy said. "Write some for me and I'll have Dawn and Andrew run a search on it. That might give us a location or something."
Fray bent over the paper and started writing, the pen strokes curved across the page and formed characters that looked closely related to Chinese script but they curved too much. Kennedy watched her work and stared at the beautiful writing even after she had put down the pen. "Pretty cool," Kennedy muttered.
The slayer tore her eyes away from the paper and stood up. Slamming a book down in front of Fray she opened it to a page with different types of writing covering the page. "Read some of this if you can. Or at least tell me where it's from."
Fray scanned the page. "I recognize Latin, Greek, German, and Russian. Everything else means nothing to me and even those I can only read a little."
"Which one's the best?"
"Russian and German seem to be the same. I can translate about three quarters of the paragraph."
Kennedy nodded and shut the book. "Go stretch out on the mat and after I take this to Dawn we'll spar a little. Maybe we can work on your skills if you don't know anything."
Fray stretched out on the mat and waited until Kennedy got back. Kennedy pulled Fray off the ground and showed her how to stand and how to hold her fists. She was surprised that the girl picked it up so quickly. "Now," Kennedy said. "I'm going to punch with my back fist and I want you to block with your right forearm."
Fray nodded and Kennedy was surprised to see the young woman execute a perfect middle block as soon as her fist got close enough. Kennedy moved forward a little and decided to try something. She shot out with her left foot and hit Fray squarely in the chest. The girl flew to the ground a few feet away but quickly jumped up, her feet and hands ready for another attack. Kennedy rushed forward and threw a side kick straight at Fray's head. The girl blocked the kick and counter attacked with a hard roundhouse kick. Kennedy barley blocked the attack and even then the force of the blow caused her to back up a few steps.
The two women continued to spar, matching each other blow for blow and block for block. Kennedy would gain the advantage and then Fray would execute and advanced counter attack and turn the tables. Soon both girls were panting and sweating, a large crowd of slayers had gathered around the outside of the mat to watch the battle. Dawn and Andrew had even stopped their work to watch. Fray stopped Kennedy's fist with her left arm and barley noticed the slayer's other fist coming towards her stomach. In the last second she was it and flipped backwards, landing hard on the mat. Kennedy rushed forward and aimed a kick at Fray's shoulder. Fray blocked the kick above her head and flipped Kennedy on her back.
Kennedy continued to role until she was up on one knee. Fray was looking at her, her green eyes wide with surprise. "How did I do that?" she asked.
Kennedy smiled. "I don't know but you did a damn good job at it. With some more training you might be as good as I am."
Fray smiled. "I'll keep that in mind. Do you mind if we stop now, my side's a little sore?"
Kennedy nodded, more surprised than before. She had almost been taken down by a girl that had been wounded just forty-eight hours ago. The slayers on the outside of the ring cheered both of the fighters and Kennedy shook Fray's hand. "Not bad for a kid," she joked.
Fray looked at her, almost as tall as the dark haired slayer. "I'm almost as old as you are," she said.
"How do you know?"
"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "I just know that I am."
Kennedy nodded. "Well, I think that we can find some uses for you abound here. I hope you'll reconsider staying."
Fray nodded. "Maybe if I dust a few vampires then Faith will trust me."
Kennedy smiled. "Faith's cool when she gives you a chance. That just takes a while."
"So any ideas of where I come from?" Fray asked, sitting down in a nearby chair.
"From what I can tell," Kennedy said, taking a seat across from her. "A warrior cult in either Germany or Russia that emphasizes academics as well as physical attributes."
Fray shook her head. "In other words, Jack shit."
Kennedy nodded. "I'm sorry about that. I really wanted to help."
"It's alright Kennedy," Fray said. "You've helped me find out who I am now, even if you can't tell me who I was. I'll get along alright."
Kennedy nodded but she didn't look very convinced. Fray smiled and finally a slight curve crossed Kennedy's lips. "Alright," she said. "But I'll still help you in any way that I can. We'd probably better get home soon. It's getting dark and if we get home too late Willow will have both our skins."
"Will we be alright?" Fray asked.
Kennedy nodded but she got a crossbow and a sword out of a nearby case and handed the sword to Fray. "Just in case," she said. "If we get attacked, run."
"You know that will never happen," Fray said, gripping the hilt of the sword.
"You never know," Kennedy said. "After all, this is New Sunnydale."
"No," Fray said forcefully. "I'll never run."
Willow was sitting on the end of her bed when Kennedy and Fray walked inside. "You're late," Willow said walking out of her room.
Kennedy smiled and motioned to a shopping bag that Fray was holding. "I had to buy her some new clothes. I was getting tired of her borrowing mine all the time."
"Sorry Willow," Fray added. "We didn't see anything though."
Kennedy shrugged sheepishly. Willow smiled and walked over to Kennedy. "It's all right but I'm just worried. You need to get some rest though."
"Why?" Kennedy asked, taking Willow's hand in her own.
"We're going after Set tonight. I found a draining spell that should do the trick. We'll have about fifteen seconds when he's powerless. We have to get his blood then."
Fray nodded and put the sword down on the table. "Who's going?"
Willow looked up at the ceiling for a moment, silently counting. "Faith, Wood, me, Kennedy, Vi, Zee, Dawn and Rona."
"And you," Kennedy added quickly.
"What?" Both Willow and Fray said at the same time.
Kennedy smiled. "Well, I figured you'd be tired to the house so you need an adventure."
"But Kennedy," Willow started to protest.
Kennedy silenced her with a gentle hand to her lips. "This girl can fight better than any of the Slayers in the Coven. Faith and I are the only ones here that can even offer her a challenge and I want to find out what part she plays here as much as you do. We can't keep her cooped up here and expect to find anything out."
"I'll stay back Willow," Fray added. "I'll be the last line of defense in case he gets through but I think I can hold my own."
Willow nodded. "Fine but you're staying back with me. I need a bodyguard."
Fray accepted this, knowing that Willow was adding the whole bodyguard bit to make her feel better about warming the bench during the battle but she appreciated the chance to be included. "When do we leave?" Fray asked.
"We're meeting the others in the school parking lot at midnight," Willow said.
Kennedy motioned to Fray to follow and, letting go of Willow's hand, she led the other girl into the kitchen. "Come on," she said. "I'll explain a few things about fighting with slayers."
A cool wind was blowing through the parking lot as Kennedy, Willow, and Fray stepped out of the car and onto the pavement. Dawn hurried over and gave Willow a quick hug before handing her a bag. "Equipment," Willow said, answering Kennedy's questioning look.
Fray tightened her grip on the sword on her hand as Faith's dark eyes rested on the weapon. Faith just looked at her for a second before smiling lightly. "Are you all ready for the Big Bad?"
Kennedy chuckled. "The Big Bad was what we fought last year. He's the quasi Big Bad, the diet coke of Big Bad. Just one calorie, not bad enough."
Faith laughed. "Fair enough, but he's bad enough for me."
Wood looked at the girls like they were crazy. Finally he just gave up and shook his head in defeat. "Give up," Dawn whispered to him. "I loved with a slayer for years and I still didn't get it. I believe it's the ritualistic pre-battle one liners but it's still a mysterious custom."
Willow nodded as she walked over next to Wood. "So how do we get big, bad, and Egyptian here?"
Fray turned around as the wind started to pick up. "He already knows where we are," she said, tilting her head slightly. "And he's coming."
"How." Kennedy asked.
Fray just shrugged and turned towards the side of the school. "I'd better get ready," Willow said quickly. "I can feel him too."
Fray rested the blunt edge of her sword on her shoulder. "Can you feel any Moot with him?"
Willow nodded. "Only a handful though. Not too many but take care of them quickly. All of you."
Willow looked directly at Fray and she nodded quickly and turned back towards the school. The others were still scanning the parking lot and the rest of the surrounding area but Fray could feel it in her blood, something strange pulling her towards the side of the school. She felt a cold chill run down her spine and the hair on the back of her neck rose slightly. The battle was about to begin and somehow she could feel it.
Suddenly there was a roaring sound and a manhole cover in the sidewalk in front of the school exploded into the air, propelled by a column of yellow light. Eight Moot scurried out of the hole and onto the street. Suddenly Set rose out of the ground surrounded by bright red light licking at his black robes like eager flames. He smiled and Fray felt another chill run down her spine.
"Welcome," he said, his voice booming. "I see you have brought me more to play with. A goddess, a handful of slayers." He paused for a second. "And what's this. Someone that doesn't belong here, a mere shadow but the most powerful of them all. It sounds like fun to me."
Fray let his analogy of her slide away, she would ask questions later, and she tightened her hand on her weapon just like she saw the other fighters doing. Suddenly Sat yelled an Egyptian command and the Moot leapt forward.