Chapter 2
Buffy looked at her watch, trying to calculate the time difference between Sunnydale and England. If it was 11:30 am here...
Aw, screw it. She had to talk to him now, whatever time it was in Crumpet-ville. She quickly picked up the phone and dialed his number.
"Hello?"
Buffy immediately felt better just by hearing his voice. "Giles? It's me. We've got trouble."
Of course, Giles thought. When were they ever *not* in trouble? Even from thousands of miles away, his mind immediately slipped into Watcher mode. "What kind of trouble?"
"Willow's elf friend has been poisoned. We need to find an antidote."
Giles blinked. Was he hallucinating? "Did you say elf?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yep," Buffy replied.
"Are you sure?" He still couldn't believe it. An elf in Sunnydale would be an extraordinary occurrence.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Long, shiny hair, pointy ears, weird name... yep. Elf. I'm sure." Giles really needed to get over this 'is it an elf' thing and concentrate on the job at hand.
"It's just that... there are so few elves still alive here on earth, and those who remain generally keep to themselves and don't interact with humans. Their magical nature actually makes them invisible to most people, so it's exceedingly rare to meet one of them."
"Well, Willow met one of them in the woods a couple of weeks ago. And he showed up on our doorstep today. She hadn't talked to him since, but now he's sick, Giles. Fevery, sweaty, lying barely conscious on my couch. He's got some kind of wound on his chest, and Willow thinks that somehow he's been poisoned."
"If he is truly ill, then a magical poison would be the logical cause. Those of pure Elven blood are immortal; they don't age, and they don't get ill. Anything that could make a true elf sick would have to be mystical in origin, though I've never heard of any sort of poison that would harm one."
"Well this one is way harmed. Will thinks he's dying." Buffy paused, trying to impose the seriousness of the situation on her mentor. "She barely knows him, but she really loves this guy, Giles. We're talking a 'soulmate' kind of love. I don't know what she'd do if anything happened to him. She can't survive another loss, not so soon after Tara."
"I'll look into it from here. I must consult my books. I'm sure I have a volume somewhere that deals with magical poisons..." He stopped as he heard Buffy's laughter. "What?"
"Same old Giles. You've got a book for everything." She felt a weight lift off her shoulders, knowing that with Giles and his books on the case, they had a much better chance of finding a cure.
"I'll contact the Watcher's Council, see what they know. You may want to talk to Wesley, as well. He may have come across something similar to this during his studies."
"He's next on my to do list. Talking to him, that is..." she clarified. "Thanks. I'll talk to you later, when we know more."
"Wait!" he shouted. His curiosity was whetted. Who was this mysterious elf who was in Buffy's living room? So many of the elves who remained on this Earth were heroes of old. "Did he tell you his name?"
"Legolas." Though she'd often gotten names of demonic foes incorrect, she'd made a special effort to learn the name of the elf who had her best friend so enchanted.
"Legolas?" Giles asked, stunned. Could it really be he? One of the most famous elves in all of history?
"You know him?" Buffy was startled. Could Will's honey be an elf hero or something?
"Know of him, actually. He's quite well known, at least to scholars of Elvish history."
"You've studied Elvish history?"
"Of course. It's a standard part of Watcher training. We're not all about vampires, you know," He informed her. "Thousands of years ago, the Dark Lord Sauron mounted an attempt to conquer the world. Legolas was part of the Fellowship that journeyed to the land of Mordor to destroy Sauron's weapon, the One Ring, an enchanted ring with the ability to enslave all the people of the earth."
Ring. The dark lord had a ring. And now there was an evil, magical ring sitting in a box in her living room. Buffy gulped. Could be a coincidence, she hoped fervently. "Uh, Giles? You're sure this Fellowship destroyed the evil ring, right?"
"Yes. Historical records clearly state that the ring was destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. Of that, I am certain."
Mount Doom. Boca del Infierno. Gathering places of evil always had such interesting names. But back to what Giles had been saying. "I don't think it's quite as destroyed as history says it was," she said hesitantly.
"What?" Giles exclaimed. How could she even know about the One Ring? Buffy had to be mistaken. Any other idea was too horrible to contemplate.
"I think it's in my living room."
Giles eyes widened. It could not be. "Good Lord!"
"What do we do with it?" she asked. She was Slay Girl, she'd destroyed evil things before. They could handle this one, right?
"Good Lord!" If this were true...
"Giles?" Buffy expected him to say 'Good Lord' once...that was a given with Giles, but twice? She was beginning to think they were in big trouble.
This was terrible, a disaster beyond all measure. If the One Ring had not been destroyed, the entire world was in mortal danger. If it had not been destroyed then, after being thrown into the fiery chasm of Mount Doom, was it even possible to destroy the ring? "Good Lord, Buffy."
"Will you stop saying that?" she asked, beginning to panic. Anything that could scare Giles this much was serious bad news.
"It's just that... the One Ring...arguably the most destructive object in the history of the world. It's more than mere metal...it's alive in a certain way. It has its own will, its own plans, and it wants to be in the hands of evil. It tempts, corrupts..."
Buffy interrupted. "So this evil, alive, corrupting thing is in my living room." This was so not good.
"It can't be. You must be mistaken," Giles concentrated on breathing. There had been many magical rings used throughout history. No need to panic when they didn't even know exactly what Buffy currently possessed. "What led you to believe what you have may be the One Ring?"
"Legolas had it when he arrived. Clenched in his fist, like he'd protect it with his life. When Willow touched it..." Buffy explained.
"She touched it? The Ring?" Had it tempted her? Did she have the strength to resist if it had?
Buffy frowned, remembering Willow's strange reaction to the ring. "Yeah, she got this weird look on her face, then shoved it away and said it felt evil."
Good Lord, Buffy was right, Giles thought. The One Ring, long thought destroyed had resurfaced on the Hellmouth, in the hands of an elf. If the Ring still existed, what of the Dark Lord Sauron? He had survived after the first battle because the ring remained. Could he still be alive, planning his return to full power? Willow would be a fine addition to his legions of evil, if the ring could corrupt her into darkness. "It spoke to her, tempted her," he said knowingly.
"But she resisted. She's not corrupted," Buffy protested. Willow was okay. She hadn't gone all dark-haired black-magic woman. She'd resisted.
"This time." Giles uttered the words they both were thinking. "Willow is a good person at her core, but she's shown an ability to be tempted by evil beyond that with which she can stand. The last time she lost someone she loved..."
"She went all crazed, black-magic, killing people and destroying the world, I know." Didn't he know that Buffy was the last person who needed to be reminded of Willow's past?
"If we can't find the cure for the poison, if Legolas dies..." Giles shuddered.
"You think she'll use the ring."
"It would be extraordinarily difficult for her to resist, even now, after all of her training this summer. To have the power to destroy those that killed the man she loved... Anyone would be tempted, but the combination of the One Ring and her magical powers..."
"The world would be doomed." His earlier words had sunk in. The ring had supposedly been destroyed, but somehow it had managed to survive whatever they had done to it. It needed to be destroyed again, but how? "You said this Fellowship destroyed the ring once. How?"
"One of them, the Ringbearer, cast it into the fires of Mount Doom. Legend says that since the ring was forged in the fires of Mount Doom, only there can it be destroyed."
"But it wasn't destroyed. It's still here," Buffy protested. If the ring survived the only known means of its destruction thousands of years ago, then what were they going to do?
"I don't know. The earth's geography has changed dramatically since the old days that even if you wanted to 'cast it into the fires of Mount Doom,' I'm not sure it even exists anymore."
"There has to be a way to destroy it," Buffy insisted.
"I'll consult my books. But you must be careful, Buffy. The ring has tempted good people to evil. One may wield the power with good intentions, but eventually the ring corrupts the heart of its bearer to evil. Always. There are no exceptions," Giles warned. "You have to keep it safe."
Keep it safe. The last magical thing she'd had to keep safe had been The Key. Like, Dawn, this ring was now her responsibility. She just hoped that this time she wouldn't have to die to protect it. Suddenly, she realized Giles was waiting for her to say something. "It's in the living room, in an Ephatra box."
"An Ephatra box? Wherever did you find one of those?"
"Dawn had it. She and Willow had bought it to keep Amy in, when she was still a rat and kept escaping from her Habitrail. Now that Amy's human, Dawn was using it as a jewelry box."
Giles shuddered, thinking of such a powerful magic object used as a child's jewelry box. "In the Ephatra box, the ring is as safe as you can keep it. But be warned -- evil will be seeking the Ring, and the Ring desires to return to its evil master. It will call to you and Dawn as well, Buffy."
"We'll keep that in mind...stay strong... and stay away from it," she reassured him.
"I'll research the poison and get back with you shortly," he promised.
"Great... I'll talk to you later then... and, Giles?"
"Yes?"
"I miss you," she admitted. He'd been her anchor through so many difficult times; without him, sometimes she felt adrift in a sea of never-ending evil.
He smiled. "I miss you too. Stay safe."
"We will. Bye."
As she hung up the phone, Buffy was overcome by a wave of dread. More than just an evil ring would be coming to oppose them. Her Spider-sense was tingling... Another apocalypse was coming, only this time, they had no idea of who was bringing it on. "So much for an apocalypse-free day," she muttered. She headed to the living room to give Willow the update from Giles.
Buffy looked at her watch, trying to calculate the time difference between Sunnydale and England. If it was 11:30 am here...
Aw, screw it. She had to talk to him now, whatever time it was in Crumpet-ville. She quickly picked up the phone and dialed his number.
"Hello?"
Buffy immediately felt better just by hearing his voice. "Giles? It's me. We've got trouble."
Of course, Giles thought. When were they ever *not* in trouble? Even from thousands of miles away, his mind immediately slipped into Watcher mode. "What kind of trouble?"
"Willow's elf friend has been poisoned. We need to find an antidote."
Giles blinked. Was he hallucinating? "Did you say elf?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yep," Buffy replied.
"Are you sure?" He still couldn't believe it. An elf in Sunnydale would be an extraordinary occurrence.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Long, shiny hair, pointy ears, weird name... yep. Elf. I'm sure." Giles really needed to get over this 'is it an elf' thing and concentrate on the job at hand.
"It's just that... there are so few elves still alive here on earth, and those who remain generally keep to themselves and don't interact with humans. Their magical nature actually makes them invisible to most people, so it's exceedingly rare to meet one of them."
"Well, Willow met one of them in the woods a couple of weeks ago. And he showed up on our doorstep today. She hadn't talked to him since, but now he's sick, Giles. Fevery, sweaty, lying barely conscious on my couch. He's got some kind of wound on his chest, and Willow thinks that somehow he's been poisoned."
"If he is truly ill, then a magical poison would be the logical cause. Those of pure Elven blood are immortal; they don't age, and they don't get ill. Anything that could make a true elf sick would have to be mystical in origin, though I've never heard of any sort of poison that would harm one."
"Well this one is way harmed. Will thinks he's dying." Buffy paused, trying to impose the seriousness of the situation on her mentor. "She barely knows him, but she really loves this guy, Giles. We're talking a 'soulmate' kind of love. I don't know what she'd do if anything happened to him. She can't survive another loss, not so soon after Tara."
"I'll look into it from here. I must consult my books. I'm sure I have a volume somewhere that deals with magical poisons..." He stopped as he heard Buffy's laughter. "What?"
"Same old Giles. You've got a book for everything." She felt a weight lift off her shoulders, knowing that with Giles and his books on the case, they had a much better chance of finding a cure.
"I'll contact the Watcher's Council, see what they know. You may want to talk to Wesley, as well. He may have come across something similar to this during his studies."
"He's next on my to do list. Talking to him, that is..." she clarified. "Thanks. I'll talk to you later, when we know more."
"Wait!" he shouted. His curiosity was whetted. Who was this mysterious elf who was in Buffy's living room? So many of the elves who remained on this Earth were heroes of old. "Did he tell you his name?"
"Legolas." Though she'd often gotten names of demonic foes incorrect, she'd made a special effort to learn the name of the elf who had her best friend so enchanted.
"Legolas?" Giles asked, stunned. Could it really be he? One of the most famous elves in all of history?
"You know him?" Buffy was startled. Could Will's honey be an elf hero or something?
"Know of him, actually. He's quite well known, at least to scholars of Elvish history."
"You've studied Elvish history?"
"Of course. It's a standard part of Watcher training. We're not all about vampires, you know," He informed her. "Thousands of years ago, the Dark Lord Sauron mounted an attempt to conquer the world. Legolas was part of the Fellowship that journeyed to the land of Mordor to destroy Sauron's weapon, the One Ring, an enchanted ring with the ability to enslave all the people of the earth."
Ring. The dark lord had a ring. And now there was an evil, magical ring sitting in a box in her living room. Buffy gulped. Could be a coincidence, she hoped fervently. "Uh, Giles? You're sure this Fellowship destroyed the evil ring, right?"
"Yes. Historical records clearly state that the ring was destroyed in the fires of Mount Doom. Of that, I am certain."
Mount Doom. Boca del Infierno. Gathering places of evil always had such interesting names. But back to what Giles had been saying. "I don't think it's quite as destroyed as history says it was," she said hesitantly.
"What?" Giles exclaimed. How could she even know about the One Ring? Buffy had to be mistaken. Any other idea was too horrible to contemplate.
"I think it's in my living room."
Giles eyes widened. It could not be. "Good Lord!"
"What do we do with it?" she asked. She was Slay Girl, she'd destroyed evil things before. They could handle this one, right?
"Good Lord!" If this were true...
"Giles?" Buffy expected him to say 'Good Lord' once...that was a given with Giles, but twice? She was beginning to think they were in big trouble.
This was terrible, a disaster beyond all measure. If the One Ring had not been destroyed, the entire world was in mortal danger. If it had not been destroyed then, after being thrown into the fiery chasm of Mount Doom, was it even possible to destroy the ring? "Good Lord, Buffy."
"Will you stop saying that?" she asked, beginning to panic. Anything that could scare Giles this much was serious bad news.
"It's just that... the One Ring...arguably the most destructive object in the history of the world. It's more than mere metal...it's alive in a certain way. It has its own will, its own plans, and it wants to be in the hands of evil. It tempts, corrupts..."
Buffy interrupted. "So this evil, alive, corrupting thing is in my living room." This was so not good.
"It can't be. You must be mistaken," Giles concentrated on breathing. There had been many magical rings used throughout history. No need to panic when they didn't even know exactly what Buffy currently possessed. "What led you to believe what you have may be the One Ring?"
"Legolas had it when he arrived. Clenched in his fist, like he'd protect it with his life. When Willow touched it..." Buffy explained.
"She touched it? The Ring?" Had it tempted her? Did she have the strength to resist if it had?
Buffy frowned, remembering Willow's strange reaction to the ring. "Yeah, she got this weird look on her face, then shoved it away and said it felt evil."
Good Lord, Buffy was right, Giles thought. The One Ring, long thought destroyed had resurfaced on the Hellmouth, in the hands of an elf. If the Ring still existed, what of the Dark Lord Sauron? He had survived after the first battle because the ring remained. Could he still be alive, planning his return to full power? Willow would be a fine addition to his legions of evil, if the ring could corrupt her into darkness. "It spoke to her, tempted her," he said knowingly.
"But she resisted. She's not corrupted," Buffy protested. Willow was okay. She hadn't gone all dark-haired black-magic woman. She'd resisted.
"This time." Giles uttered the words they both were thinking. "Willow is a good person at her core, but she's shown an ability to be tempted by evil beyond that with which she can stand. The last time she lost someone she loved..."
"She went all crazed, black-magic, killing people and destroying the world, I know." Didn't he know that Buffy was the last person who needed to be reminded of Willow's past?
"If we can't find the cure for the poison, if Legolas dies..." Giles shuddered.
"You think she'll use the ring."
"It would be extraordinarily difficult for her to resist, even now, after all of her training this summer. To have the power to destroy those that killed the man she loved... Anyone would be tempted, but the combination of the One Ring and her magical powers..."
"The world would be doomed." His earlier words had sunk in. The ring had supposedly been destroyed, but somehow it had managed to survive whatever they had done to it. It needed to be destroyed again, but how? "You said this Fellowship destroyed the ring once. How?"
"One of them, the Ringbearer, cast it into the fires of Mount Doom. Legend says that since the ring was forged in the fires of Mount Doom, only there can it be destroyed."
"But it wasn't destroyed. It's still here," Buffy protested. If the ring survived the only known means of its destruction thousands of years ago, then what were they going to do?
"I don't know. The earth's geography has changed dramatically since the old days that even if you wanted to 'cast it into the fires of Mount Doom,' I'm not sure it even exists anymore."
"There has to be a way to destroy it," Buffy insisted.
"I'll consult my books. But you must be careful, Buffy. The ring has tempted good people to evil. One may wield the power with good intentions, but eventually the ring corrupts the heart of its bearer to evil. Always. There are no exceptions," Giles warned. "You have to keep it safe."
Keep it safe. The last magical thing she'd had to keep safe had been The Key. Like, Dawn, this ring was now her responsibility. She just hoped that this time she wouldn't have to die to protect it. Suddenly, she realized Giles was waiting for her to say something. "It's in the living room, in an Ephatra box."
"An Ephatra box? Wherever did you find one of those?"
"Dawn had it. She and Willow had bought it to keep Amy in, when she was still a rat and kept escaping from her Habitrail. Now that Amy's human, Dawn was using it as a jewelry box."
Giles shuddered, thinking of such a powerful magic object used as a child's jewelry box. "In the Ephatra box, the ring is as safe as you can keep it. But be warned -- evil will be seeking the Ring, and the Ring desires to return to its evil master. It will call to you and Dawn as well, Buffy."
"We'll keep that in mind...stay strong... and stay away from it," she reassured him.
"I'll research the poison and get back with you shortly," he promised.
"Great... I'll talk to you later then... and, Giles?"
"Yes?"
"I miss you," she admitted. He'd been her anchor through so many difficult times; without him, sometimes she felt adrift in a sea of never-ending evil.
He smiled. "I miss you too. Stay safe."
"We will. Bye."
As she hung up the phone, Buffy was overcome by a wave of dread. More than just an evil ring would be coming to oppose them. Her Spider-sense was tingling... Another apocalypse was coming, only this time, they had no idea of who was bringing it on. "So much for an apocalypse-free day," she muttered. She headed to the living room to give Willow the update from Giles.