Buffy, Damon, and Damien quickly made their way back to the Magic Java Connection. Damien was asking the same question over and over: "What's The Shadowed Man scared of?" Buffy could tell that if he didn't shut up soon his brother was going to make talking very difficult.
"Damien," she said in a calm voice. "We'll explain everything once we get back. Just, please, be patient."
"Okay," Damien finally relented. He looked disappointed, but at least he wasn't scared anymore. Buffy wondered how these twins's group functioned back in New Roanoke or where ever it was that they came from. Damon was the obvious "warrior" of the group with Damien taking the place of resident researcher. Was that it or were there others?
Buffy opened the door to the Magic Java Connection and everybody inside immediately stood up. Giles was standing by Montoya. Buffy had a feeling that he was trying to "get to the bottom" of her...mysterious nature. The crystals she saw on the table proved this.
"Any luck?" she asked Giles.
Giles shook his head. "No, sorry. She's as much a mystery as this Shadowed Man is."
"And that won't be much of a mystery anymore," Damon said. "This is my brother Damien. He can tell you everything there is to know about The Shadowed Man."
Xander stood up and offered Damien his chair, which Damien took. Willow went behind the counter to make him a mocha or latte, which ever he preferred. There was silence for a few moments before Giles spoke.
"Damon said that this-this Shadowed Man is a new entity, one that you conjured on accident."
Damien looked flushed, almost embarrassed. "Not exactly on accident." He took a deep breath. "Back in New Roanoke we had some problems with a coven of demon sorcerers. They weren't your run-of-the-mill demons, either. They planned carnage and they wrought it. We knew they had to be stopped before they wound up destroying the world or whatever their plans were. The only problem was that they were way to powerful for us to defeat. So I started doing some emergency research through various ancient tomes for anything that could give us an edge. I looked into a spell that was supposed to create an semi-invulnerable being, something to throw the enemy off and give us the edge we needed to dispatch the demons. The spell is called..."
"Contessa's Shadowed Guardian," Giles and Willow both said in unison. They gave each other awkward smiles.
"Yes, that would make sense," Giles said. "But..."
"But the spell doesn't create a force of evil," Willow said, setting the mocha in front of Damien. "The Guardian is supposed to follow the orders of the caster and is dispelled after 12 hours." "The unaltered spell is, you're right," Damien muttered. "But the standard Guardian is essentially a weakling. Ancient sorcerers only used them as cannon fodder to buy time for the real soldiers. This coven was so powerful that we needed something stronger. So I crossed referenced some similar summoning and strengthening spells and combined what I thought to be the best components. What we got was The Shadowed Man."
"And believe me when I saw that the demon coven won't be wreaking carnage on any town ever again," Damon said. "The Shadowed Man dispatched of them thoroughly and efficiently. I never have seen anything so...so horrifying."
"How long did you spend researching the spells?" Willow asked, shock across her face.
Damien looked into the foam of his mocha. "A couple of days."
"My God," Giles said, his voice barely a whisper. "What the hell were you thinking? Spells aren't supposed to be mixed. They-they..."
"That's how the majority of other spells are created," Damien interrupted the older man. "People mix and match spell components and eventually we get stronger spells."
"Yes," Giles said. "But only experienced witches and warlocks and sorcerers. Not young, upstart little..."
"Giles," Willow came to Damien's defense. "I turned a tinker light spell Tara gave me into a stronger version. Not to mention my sunlight spell."
"Yes, but," Giles stammered. "The magicks are a peculiar thing. If one doesn't understand the forces they are toying with then the results could be disastrous. As we, unfortunately, are finding out."
It was now Xander's turn to pipe in. "Yeah, Giles," he said. "But the damage is already done. There isn't any real point in attacking the guy who is at stake here, is there?"
"No, I guess not," Giles finally relented. "My apologies."
Damien shook his head. "No need. I understand your frustration. I wish I had more time to study the component spells more fully. If I had then maybe I could have thrown in a way to dispatch the entity when it's job was finished. I knew the dangers of what I was doing, but the situation was extremely dire. If we failed, well, odds are you wouldn't even have had the chance to feel the repercussions. I admit, I messed up, but we didn't have any other choice. Believe me, I looked."
"This is all good and all, but we need to focus on Montoya here," Damon said. "We all saw it. She scared The Shadowed Man. He stepped back from her. We need to unlock whatever it is she has and maybe we have a chance of beating him. Or, at least, of surviving until we can find a way."
Montoya looked sickly. "I don't know. I explained it to you."
"I believe our Miss Juarez here suffers from a form of Multiple Personality Disorder or even Schizophrenia," Giles informed everyone. "A certified doctor would have to make a diagnosis but that would be my guess."
"Well, we need to find out and fast," Buffy commanded. "We don't know how much time we have before The Shadowed Man arrives again and now that we have Damien, you can bet it'll be soon."
"I have a question," Kennedy said. "We know that The Shadowed Man is after Damien to be set free. Why is that?"
Damien sighed. "One of the spells I mixed in was a summoning spell where the summoned was linked to the caster by blood. They could communicate telepathically and the summoned had all the knowledge and strengths of the caster without the weaknesses." Damien took a deep breath. "Except if the caster dies so does the summoned. If the Shadowed Man drains me of my blood, he doesn't have to worry about anything happening to me."
"Did you think of maybe killing yourself?" Giles asked coldly.
"Giles!" everybody exclaimed.
"H-How could you even mention that?" Willow scolded. "That's not ever an option!"
"No," Damien said. "It is an option. If I can't find another way around it, then my death will be the only way to stop him."
"Not the only way," Damon said. They all looked at Montoya. She shrank back into her chair. "We need to figure out what we can about her and now. Giles, do you know any spells or anything that can help us delve into her mind?"
"No, but I do," Willow said. "I had to a few years ago when Buffy went all comatose on us."
"Then let's do it," Damon commanded.
Buffy agreed. "Willow, Montoya and I will go downstairs. Why don't the rest of you look up all the spells that Damien used and see if we have a third option?"
"Yes, of course," Giles replied. "And Willow?"
Willow smiled at her friend. "I'll be okay, Giles. Now, go!"
They all left, leaving Buffy, Willow, and Montoya alone in the Magic Java Connection. Buffy flipped the "Closed" sign. "Better to not have any disturbances, Will."
"I agree," Willow said. She sat two chairs apart from each other and her and Montoya each sat in one. "You ready, Montoya?"
"I guess."
"Then let's do this."
"Damien," she said in a calm voice. "We'll explain everything once we get back. Just, please, be patient."
"Okay," Damien finally relented. He looked disappointed, but at least he wasn't scared anymore. Buffy wondered how these twins's group functioned back in New Roanoke or where ever it was that they came from. Damon was the obvious "warrior" of the group with Damien taking the place of resident researcher. Was that it or were there others?
Buffy opened the door to the Magic Java Connection and everybody inside immediately stood up. Giles was standing by Montoya. Buffy had a feeling that he was trying to "get to the bottom" of her...mysterious nature. The crystals she saw on the table proved this.
"Any luck?" she asked Giles.
Giles shook his head. "No, sorry. She's as much a mystery as this Shadowed Man is."
"And that won't be much of a mystery anymore," Damon said. "This is my brother Damien. He can tell you everything there is to know about The Shadowed Man."
Xander stood up and offered Damien his chair, which Damien took. Willow went behind the counter to make him a mocha or latte, which ever he preferred. There was silence for a few moments before Giles spoke.
"Damon said that this-this Shadowed Man is a new entity, one that you conjured on accident."
Damien looked flushed, almost embarrassed. "Not exactly on accident." He took a deep breath. "Back in New Roanoke we had some problems with a coven of demon sorcerers. They weren't your run-of-the-mill demons, either. They planned carnage and they wrought it. We knew they had to be stopped before they wound up destroying the world or whatever their plans were. The only problem was that they were way to powerful for us to defeat. So I started doing some emergency research through various ancient tomes for anything that could give us an edge. I looked into a spell that was supposed to create an semi-invulnerable being, something to throw the enemy off and give us the edge we needed to dispatch the demons. The spell is called..."
"Contessa's Shadowed Guardian," Giles and Willow both said in unison. They gave each other awkward smiles.
"Yes, that would make sense," Giles said. "But..."
"But the spell doesn't create a force of evil," Willow said, setting the mocha in front of Damien. "The Guardian is supposed to follow the orders of the caster and is dispelled after 12 hours." "The unaltered spell is, you're right," Damien muttered. "But the standard Guardian is essentially a weakling. Ancient sorcerers only used them as cannon fodder to buy time for the real soldiers. This coven was so powerful that we needed something stronger. So I crossed referenced some similar summoning and strengthening spells and combined what I thought to be the best components. What we got was The Shadowed Man."
"And believe me when I saw that the demon coven won't be wreaking carnage on any town ever again," Damon said. "The Shadowed Man dispatched of them thoroughly and efficiently. I never have seen anything so...so horrifying."
"How long did you spend researching the spells?" Willow asked, shock across her face.
Damien looked into the foam of his mocha. "A couple of days."
"My God," Giles said, his voice barely a whisper. "What the hell were you thinking? Spells aren't supposed to be mixed. They-they..."
"That's how the majority of other spells are created," Damien interrupted the older man. "People mix and match spell components and eventually we get stronger spells."
"Yes," Giles said. "But only experienced witches and warlocks and sorcerers. Not young, upstart little..."
"Giles," Willow came to Damien's defense. "I turned a tinker light spell Tara gave me into a stronger version. Not to mention my sunlight spell."
"Yes, but," Giles stammered. "The magicks are a peculiar thing. If one doesn't understand the forces they are toying with then the results could be disastrous. As we, unfortunately, are finding out."
It was now Xander's turn to pipe in. "Yeah, Giles," he said. "But the damage is already done. There isn't any real point in attacking the guy who is at stake here, is there?"
"No, I guess not," Giles finally relented. "My apologies."
Damien shook his head. "No need. I understand your frustration. I wish I had more time to study the component spells more fully. If I had then maybe I could have thrown in a way to dispatch the entity when it's job was finished. I knew the dangers of what I was doing, but the situation was extremely dire. If we failed, well, odds are you wouldn't even have had the chance to feel the repercussions. I admit, I messed up, but we didn't have any other choice. Believe me, I looked."
"This is all good and all, but we need to focus on Montoya here," Damon said. "We all saw it. She scared The Shadowed Man. He stepped back from her. We need to unlock whatever it is she has and maybe we have a chance of beating him. Or, at least, of surviving until we can find a way."
Montoya looked sickly. "I don't know. I explained it to you."
"I believe our Miss Juarez here suffers from a form of Multiple Personality Disorder or even Schizophrenia," Giles informed everyone. "A certified doctor would have to make a diagnosis but that would be my guess."
"Well, we need to find out and fast," Buffy commanded. "We don't know how much time we have before The Shadowed Man arrives again and now that we have Damien, you can bet it'll be soon."
"I have a question," Kennedy said. "We know that The Shadowed Man is after Damien to be set free. Why is that?"
Damien sighed. "One of the spells I mixed in was a summoning spell where the summoned was linked to the caster by blood. They could communicate telepathically and the summoned had all the knowledge and strengths of the caster without the weaknesses." Damien took a deep breath. "Except if the caster dies so does the summoned. If the Shadowed Man drains me of my blood, he doesn't have to worry about anything happening to me."
"Did you think of maybe killing yourself?" Giles asked coldly.
"Giles!" everybody exclaimed.
"H-How could you even mention that?" Willow scolded. "That's not ever an option!"
"No," Damien said. "It is an option. If I can't find another way around it, then my death will be the only way to stop him."
"Not the only way," Damon said. They all looked at Montoya. She shrank back into her chair. "We need to figure out what we can about her and now. Giles, do you know any spells or anything that can help us delve into her mind?"
"No, but I do," Willow said. "I had to a few years ago when Buffy went all comatose on us."
"Then let's do it," Damon commanded.
Buffy agreed. "Willow, Montoya and I will go downstairs. Why don't the rest of you look up all the spells that Damien used and see if we have a third option?"
"Yes, of course," Giles replied. "And Willow?"
Willow smiled at her friend. "I'll be okay, Giles. Now, go!"
They all left, leaving Buffy, Willow, and Montoya alone in the Magic Java Connection. Buffy flipped the "Closed" sign. "Better to not have any disturbances, Will."
"I agree," Willow said. She sat two chairs apart from each other and her and Montoya each sat in one. "You ready, Montoya?"
"I guess."
"Then let's do this."