SIX
"A Revenant demon?" questioned Giles when the two vampires had returned to the manor. "How extraordinary."
"What's a Revenant demon?" asked Piper. "I never heard of it."
"Not many people have," said Giles. "They are ancient demons. Actually, they aren't demons at all. They're conjured beings. Their only purpose is to destroy those they've been conjured for."
"Oh great another demon to worry about," said Paige.
"Not likely, love," said Spike. "As the bookworm said, they're conjured for specific people."
"Spike's right," said Leo. "Revenants are conjured to exact vengeance on someone's enemies. The only people who need fear them are the ones they've been conjured to go after. But it's been hundreds of years since a Revenant was conjured. It's not likely that any would still be alive today."
"It would if it missed its mark," said Angel. "That could only mean the target died before the Revenant could get to it."
"Wouldn't that just end the enchantment?" asked Phoebe. "If the Revenant is conjured to kill someone and that person dies, doesn't that fulfill the purpose of summoning it?"
"Not in this case," said Giles. "You see, the enchantment to summon a Revenant is very complex. The purpose of the ritual is to instill the desire in the Revenant to cause the victim an excruciating death. The demon is bound to its victim in a sense. It's drawn to its victim no matter where the victim is. And the Revenant exists until it carries out its purpose."
"Unless the victim dies first," said Angel. "If the victim dies of, say, a heart attack before the Revenant can get to them, then the Revenant can't complete its purpose. So it just continues to exist. But with no purpose."
"Bummer," said Paige. "So this thing just hangs around with nowhere to go and nothing to do?"
"Essentially," said Giles. "It's bound to a person who is no longer alive. With no way to complete the purpose for which it was created."
"Which is going to make it difficult to get information from," said Angel. "Threats aren't going to work. There's nothing we can threaten it with. We can't kill it and it knows that."
"What about a Power of Three spell?" Phoebe asked. "Wouldn't that destroy it?"
"Not permanently," said Leo. "The enchantment of the ritual would reconstitute it in a short time. As Giles said, it has only one purpose. To destroy the one it's bound to. To my knowledge, no one has ever been able to destroy a Revenant permanently."
"I have an idea," said Willow.
"We're all ears," said Piper. "We need whatever information this Revenant has and anything that will help us we'll listen to."
"Well," said Willow, "my mom used to say you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."
"And your point being?" asked Spike, just a bit annoyed.
"Instead of threatening it," said Willow, "why not offer it something it wants instead."
"That's a good idea except there's nothing it would want," said Angel. "It can't fulfill its purpose and it doesn't need anything to survive."
"Well," said Willow, "I would think that if it can't fulfill its purpose because the victim is dead then maybe it just wants to go back to whatever it was before it was conjured. What if we offer to do that for it? You think it might help us then?"
"Just how are we supposed to do that?" asked Chris. "You heard what Leo and Giles said. It can't be vanquished."
"No," said Willow, "but what about undoing the binding of the enchantment? If it's no longer bound to a victim wouldn't it just cease to exist then?"
"She has a point," said Piper. "We might not be able to vanquish it, but if we can break the binding it's under that might just be the same as fulfilling its purpose."
"It's worth a try," said Angel. "After all these thousands of years I'll bet it would jump at the chance to end it."
"So we're going to entice a demon to help us by offering to vanquish it?" Paige asked. "That's a new one."
"It should be easy enough to write a spell for it," said Phoebe. "If Giles and Angel will tell me everything they can about this Revenant it shouldn't be difficult to come up with a spell for it."
"Get started," said Piper. "But it also means that the three of us will have to go see this demon. Leaving Wyatt and the manor vulnerable. We certainly can't take Wyatt with us. Leo, what about taking him up there for a while?"
"That's not a good idea," said Leo. "For some reason, The First has never learned where the Elders are. I guess it just doesn't consider them enough of a threat to find out. But if I take Wyatt up there, it might be able to sense him there. That could put them all at risk from an evil at least as powerful as the Titans."
"Okay," said Piper, "then what do we do?"
"You leave him here," said Chris. "Leo and I can stay and watch him. If nothing else we can always orb him away if there's an attack."
"And I'll be here," said Willow. "I may not be a Charmed One but I'm pretty powerful if I do say so myself."
"I'll be here, too," said Buffy. "Other than busting heads and staking vampires there's not much else I can do to this Revenant demon. And since that won't be effective, I wouldn't be much help. I can help protect Wyatt while you guys are getting the information we need."
"Thanks, everyone," said Piper. "I appreciate all the help. Especially you, Buffy. I know you're usually the one giving the orders and being in control. It can't be easy having to give up some of that to someone else. I know. I've been there."
"Well," said Buffy, "the object here is to defeat these evils. The First is my evil. But Wyatt is yours. I know when I'm out of my element. Let's just hope this Lemmick has something useful for us."
"I'm sure he will have," said Angel. "If he's been around as long as Spenger claims he'll have accumulated a lot of knowledge. Not all it will be in Giles' books."
"We should go right after sunset," said Spike. "That should give us enough time to get there, get the information we need and get back before the sun comes up."
"Good idea," said Phoebe. "I should have the unbinding spell done by then."
"Then all we can do is wait for now," said Piper. "And hope Wyatt or the The First don't attack before then."
It was a fear they all lived with. That one or both of their adversaries would attack before they were ready. And their greatest fear was that both would attack at the same time. None of them knew if they could withstand that. And secretly Piper wondered if she would be able to withstand Wyatt's attack. In all likelihood, she might be forced to vanquish her own child. And she wasn't sure she could do that.
"A Revenant demon?" questioned Giles when the two vampires had returned to the manor. "How extraordinary."
"What's a Revenant demon?" asked Piper. "I never heard of it."
"Not many people have," said Giles. "They are ancient demons. Actually, they aren't demons at all. They're conjured beings. Their only purpose is to destroy those they've been conjured for."
"Oh great another demon to worry about," said Paige.
"Not likely, love," said Spike. "As the bookworm said, they're conjured for specific people."
"Spike's right," said Leo. "Revenants are conjured to exact vengeance on someone's enemies. The only people who need fear them are the ones they've been conjured to go after. But it's been hundreds of years since a Revenant was conjured. It's not likely that any would still be alive today."
"It would if it missed its mark," said Angel. "That could only mean the target died before the Revenant could get to it."
"Wouldn't that just end the enchantment?" asked Phoebe. "If the Revenant is conjured to kill someone and that person dies, doesn't that fulfill the purpose of summoning it?"
"Not in this case," said Giles. "You see, the enchantment to summon a Revenant is very complex. The purpose of the ritual is to instill the desire in the Revenant to cause the victim an excruciating death. The demon is bound to its victim in a sense. It's drawn to its victim no matter where the victim is. And the Revenant exists until it carries out its purpose."
"Unless the victim dies first," said Angel. "If the victim dies of, say, a heart attack before the Revenant can get to them, then the Revenant can't complete its purpose. So it just continues to exist. But with no purpose."
"Bummer," said Paige. "So this thing just hangs around with nowhere to go and nothing to do?"
"Essentially," said Giles. "It's bound to a person who is no longer alive. With no way to complete the purpose for which it was created."
"Which is going to make it difficult to get information from," said Angel. "Threats aren't going to work. There's nothing we can threaten it with. We can't kill it and it knows that."
"What about a Power of Three spell?" Phoebe asked. "Wouldn't that destroy it?"
"Not permanently," said Leo. "The enchantment of the ritual would reconstitute it in a short time. As Giles said, it has only one purpose. To destroy the one it's bound to. To my knowledge, no one has ever been able to destroy a Revenant permanently."
"I have an idea," said Willow.
"We're all ears," said Piper. "We need whatever information this Revenant has and anything that will help us we'll listen to."
"Well," said Willow, "my mom used to say you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."
"And your point being?" asked Spike, just a bit annoyed.
"Instead of threatening it," said Willow, "why not offer it something it wants instead."
"That's a good idea except there's nothing it would want," said Angel. "It can't fulfill its purpose and it doesn't need anything to survive."
"Well," said Willow, "I would think that if it can't fulfill its purpose because the victim is dead then maybe it just wants to go back to whatever it was before it was conjured. What if we offer to do that for it? You think it might help us then?"
"Just how are we supposed to do that?" asked Chris. "You heard what Leo and Giles said. It can't be vanquished."
"No," said Willow, "but what about undoing the binding of the enchantment? If it's no longer bound to a victim wouldn't it just cease to exist then?"
"She has a point," said Piper. "We might not be able to vanquish it, but if we can break the binding it's under that might just be the same as fulfilling its purpose."
"It's worth a try," said Angel. "After all these thousands of years I'll bet it would jump at the chance to end it."
"So we're going to entice a demon to help us by offering to vanquish it?" Paige asked. "That's a new one."
"It should be easy enough to write a spell for it," said Phoebe. "If Giles and Angel will tell me everything they can about this Revenant it shouldn't be difficult to come up with a spell for it."
"Get started," said Piper. "But it also means that the three of us will have to go see this demon. Leaving Wyatt and the manor vulnerable. We certainly can't take Wyatt with us. Leo, what about taking him up there for a while?"
"That's not a good idea," said Leo. "For some reason, The First has never learned where the Elders are. I guess it just doesn't consider them enough of a threat to find out. But if I take Wyatt up there, it might be able to sense him there. That could put them all at risk from an evil at least as powerful as the Titans."
"Okay," said Piper, "then what do we do?"
"You leave him here," said Chris. "Leo and I can stay and watch him. If nothing else we can always orb him away if there's an attack."
"And I'll be here," said Willow. "I may not be a Charmed One but I'm pretty powerful if I do say so myself."
"I'll be here, too," said Buffy. "Other than busting heads and staking vampires there's not much else I can do to this Revenant demon. And since that won't be effective, I wouldn't be much help. I can help protect Wyatt while you guys are getting the information we need."
"Thanks, everyone," said Piper. "I appreciate all the help. Especially you, Buffy. I know you're usually the one giving the orders and being in control. It can't be easy having to give up some of that to someone else. I know. I've been there."
"Well," said Buffy, "the object here is to defeat these evils. The First is my evil. But Wyatt is yours. I know when I'm out of my element. Let's just hope this Lemmick has something useful for us."
"I'm sure he will have," said Angel. "If he's been around as long as Spenger claims he'll have accumulated a lot of knowledge. Not all it will be in Giles' books."
"We should go right after sunset," said Spike. "That should give us enough time to get there, get the information we need and get back before the sun comes up."
"Good idea," said Phoebe. "I should have the unbinding spell done by then."
"Then all we can do is wait for now," said Piper. "And hope Wyatt or the The First don't attack before then."
It was a fear they all lived with. That one or both of their adversaries would attack before they were ready. And their greatest fear was that both would attack at the same time. None of them knew if they could withstand that. And secretly Piper wondered if she would be able to withstand Wyatt's attack. In all likelihood, she might be forced to vanquish her own child. And she wasn't sure she could do that.