A/N: There the next chapter, nice and quick – hope you all enjoy it (but don't get your hopes up about the next chapter -- unless of course you all review :p)
Chapter 8 – One Question
Slayer wandered through the Forbidden Forest, disappointed that the fearsome creatures had decided that she was definitely not prey. Giving up, the demon sat down against a tree and looked up to where the stars would be if it weren't for the looming branches.
Ever since she had left the human house, she had felt unsettled.
There was something about that house, and those people that stirred up feelings and hazy images. Nothing concrete, nothing she could understand but they were there nonetheless. She hadn't felt like this since her first year after being released from the Chamber.
Then, she had been learning to become a demon warrior, since she couldn't remember or wasn't one before. The more she fought the more she felt she was on the grasp of remembering who she was and where she was from. But at the same time, with every demon or human she killed, the farther away from her past she felt. The paradox had nearly driven her mad, until she met Katrina.
Slayer had never felt comfortable owning slaves. So she had treated them like friends and family. Though they had originally thought it a trick, the slaves grew comfortable around their strange master. Rumours spread that their master was really a human, and that it proved that a human could be the equal to a demon.
It wasn't talk that other demons enjoyed hearing. But their inability to force Slayer to act in any other way only enforced the validity of the rumour.
The favourite of the slaves was a woman in her forties named Katrina. Immediately upon her arrival, she had treated Slayer like a daughter. An attitude that the slayer appreciated, coming to see the slave as a mother figure.
That is until the day her 'mother' tried to kill her.
Slayer had returned from a slave uprising, the first she had encountered since becoming a part of the Elite. The slayer had been covered in human blood, and had wearily requested a bath from her 'mother'. Hoping to discourage the slaves through fear, the slayer had worn her most elaborate and gruesome battle armour.
It was what saved her.
Katrina had attempted to stab her master in the kidneys, but the armour had redirected the blade causing it to miss any major organ. Instinctively, Slayer retrieved the blade from her side and stabbed her attacker before consciously realizing who it was. The slayer had stared in shock as the woman she considered her 'mother' lay dying at her feet.
"Why?"
"Even if you look and act human, you are a demon and deserve to die."
Slayer growled. It was then she decided she would give up on her memories – and devoted herself to becoming a demon. No matter who she was before.
But now, after a hundred years, the memories she had forsaken were returning. She had seen the exchange between Emrys and Gawain; the demon realized that their preoccupation the last few days was probably because of their suspicion, which was the same as hers.
That this was her home dimension.
And the place she had transported to on instinct was her home.
Slayer had imagined finding her true home many times. Imagined finding family and friends, and having her memory return. But…she wouldn't be the same person returning home.
Everyone in that house had been human – even the dark-haired girl that emanated power. How could she, a demon, belong with such a group? A group that evidentially fought to destroy demons?
Slayer grew uncomfortable with the idea that she was most likely human. For so long, she had thought of humans as nothing but weak slaves. Nothing like herself, or her comrades.
Maybe they hadn't recognized me – they could only have seen me for a second before I disappeared. Maybe they won't look for me, Slayer thought hopefully, then sighed.
Even if it was true, she would still know. Whomever those people were, they were from her past. Though Slayer couldn't remember, she felt that to be true.
The demon groaned as she realized that she had spent hours thinking about this, but hadn't been able to decide anything. But she realized that it came down, ultimately, to one question.
Do I want to remember who I was or not?
Unfortunately, it was a question she couldn't answer.
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Harry sat back thinking about what Gawain had told him. He had known that Slayer didn't know anything about her past, but it hadn't really hit home before that moment. Sometimes, Harry felt the same way.
He was famous for something he couldn't remember doing, or was even really responsible for. It was like a past he had forgotten. Like a person he used to be but wasn't anymore.
What am I supposed to tell Slayer? Should I, if I can, release her from the ring? But if I do that…
At that moment, Harry realized he didn't want to lose his demons. They were exasperating, and quite possibly evil, but they listened to him as Harry – not the Boy-who-lived. Slayer didn't care that he was the only person who could kill Voldemort, and that he really didn't want to do it. Didn't care that if he did do it, it would be cold-blooded murder.
They gave him a sense of companionship he didn't want to lose. For the first time ever, he never felt alone.
But…Slayer deserved to get her life back. She had been a slave for over a hundred years to an evil demon, and now she was his slave. What kind of master could he be? No matter what Slayer said, it couldn't be his power that activated the ring. If he had that kind of power, how come he couldn't save people; how come he couldn't defeat Voldemort?
Am I like Voldemort -- I want to keep the demons because they make me feel powerful?
Harry tossed in his bed, feeling the gaze of his guard. No matter where he was, or what he was doing, one of the demons always stood watch. It made Harry feel safe.
He realized that it came down, ultimately, to one question.
When the time comes, will I be able to let Slayer go?
Unfortunately, it was a question he couldn't answer.
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The Scoobie gang had vetoed the idea of travelling by floo and were now on a plane headed for England. Dumbledore was accompanying them, citing that he had never been on a plane before. Giles and the professor had been talking for the last few hours about various magical theories, and the other Scoobs were sleeping.
That left Faith alone with her thoughts.
Just before leaving, Joyce had pulled Faith aside; because of the gallery she wasn't able to go along.
"Faith, whatever happens, please bring my baby back to me."
Faith had promised, but she wondered if it would be another in a long line of broken promises. The Buffy that she had seen that night…hadn't been the Buffy she remembered. She wondered idly if that Buffy even still existed.
Dumby hadn't been able to tell them much; only that Harry had introduced Buffy as his 'demon slave' before they both vanished.
Why would Buffy, the holier-than-thou slayer, be calling herself a demon? How was she even still alive and able to transport anyone anywhere?
The questions continued to build up in Faith, and it felt like she was about to burst. The dark slayer knew why she kept asking herself questions that there were no answers for. She was trying to distract herself from the question she really didn't want an answer to.
But she realized that it came down, ultimately, to that one question.
If Buffy really has become a demon, and I have to be the one to kill her, can I do it?
Unfortunately, it was a question she couldn't answer.
TBC