A/N:  IM BACK!  Sorry for the long wait – Real Life and so forth (and a new project in the works).  Hope it's worth the wait, though I rather doubt it since it's in the first-person (I can't write it very well).

Special thanks to Sabia who gave me the idea for the chapter, and to ThePrejudiceSpaniard – my own personal nagger that gets me off my lazy but and reminds me that there are people (honestly, probably very few, but one or two) who are waiting to read my poor attempts at fanfiction.

Chapter 13 – The Human Condition

"It is the tragedy of the human condition – that even when surrounded by others, we are so wrapped within ourselves that we can only exist in our own minds – alone." 

Harry walked into the hall, and looked around to see if any of his friends were around.  Grinning, he noticed Ron and Hermione playing a game of Chess – the only thing that Hermione had yet to beat Ron at, to her great frustration.  The boy wizard reached the table in time to see Ron's knight destroy Hermione's king.

"Better luck next time," Ron crowed.  Harry chuckled, bringing his presence to the attention of his friends.  They turned to great him but grew silent as they noticed his new shadow.  Sitting down, Harry followed their gaze and realized with a start that he had forgotten that Valet was there.  A plate of food appeared before Harry and between bites he introduced Valet.

Ron

I can't believe that Harry has a slave!  What the bloody hell is he thinking?

"Harry, I don't think the headmaster is going to let you keep a slave," I hear Hermione say.

You don't think??  Of course Dumbledore isn't going to let Harry keep a slave, Hermione!  For a smart – and cute – girl you're pretty dumb sometimes.  Not that I can say that, I don't want to get hit again. 

"Why not?  He's letting me keep Slayer and the others."

I don't believe it; Harry still wants to keep those stupid demons.  The girl put a knife to Mione's throat!  I bet if she was sorted she would be a Slytherin – and why would Harry want to hang out with anyone who acts like a Slytherin?  That's right, ever since those demons showed up Harry hasn't been spending anytime with me – us.  In fact, I think this is the longest conversation I've had with him in a week. 

"Harry, why do you want to keep those dangerous demons?  They're even more evil than Slytherins!" I say. 

Harry's getting that look on his face – the same one he always got when someone said something bad about Sirius.  I think Hermione recognized it too because she changes the subject.

"So, Valet, what exactly is it you do?"

Man, the boy must be dumb because he doesn't look like he even heard Mione's question.  He's eyes are all glazed over, and he's just staring vacantly.  Harry is going to get pretty bored of having the git hanging around him every day.

"I have been trained to see to every possible need of Master Harry," the git replied.  Every possible need, what does that mean?  And why is Harry smiling?  It's not like the git said anything funny.

Hermione Both Harry and Valet looked distracted just a moment before, I wonder if they were communicating.  I've heard of spells that allow people to communicate mind to mind, but it takes powerful magic to accomplish it.  "Who trained you?" I ask.  Ron is giving me a glare again, but I can't help it if I'm curious about Harry's slave.  It would be best if we tried to understand why Harry has become so attacked to his new…friends, then trying to dismiss them outright.  It's obvious that Harry is getting something out of the relationship that I guess he can't get from us.  He's probably just lonely since Sirius has gone, and if we show him that we still care and we're not going anywhere Harry will go back to his normal self again. "I was trained by Lady Slayer's chief advisor, Vrenn.  It is quite an honour."  Lady Slayer?  If I remember correctly, Slayer is what Harry called his demon – the one that put a knife to my throat.  I don't understand why, but the boy seems pretty proud of the accomplishment.  Looks like something Valet said surprised Harry. "Lady Slayer?" "Yes, master.  It is what most humans call the Demon Lord Slayer, though most demons just refer to her as Slayer.  I have noticed, however, more demons referring to her as such since she took over the empire." "Empire!?!" I heard Ron squeak out.  That boy has to learn to develop some kind of poker face – he has a tendency to overreact to everything.      

"Yes, Lady Slayer is the ruler of several hell dimensions, controlling one of the largest demonic empires in existence."

If this Slayer is so powerful, that means she must be toying with Harry.  Making him think that he's in control – but for what purpose?  Whatever it is, I'll have to talk to the headmaster about this.  There's no telling what these demons have planned for Harry.

Dumbledore

It seems I underestimated the relationship between the boy and the demons.  I did not think that Harry would actually refuse to help the Slayer retrieve her memories, but from Mr. Giles has said that must be the case.  True, Sirius's death did hit Harry hard, but he still has Hermione and Ron.

But, of course, there is also the prophecy. 

I wish I did not have to burden Harry with this responsibility, but there is no one else.  And the lives of everyone in the Wizarding World, and without, are counting on Harry to defeat Voldemort.  It is something Harry will learn in time – that sometimes it is the curse of being a wizard that you must use others for the good of everyone.

A curse I'm sure the Watcher of the Slayer must know very well. 

"Harry has not been himself since the loss of his godfather – the only real family he had left.  Unfortunately, I don't hold Harry's trust as I once did, so I am unsure how I can be of help."

Mr. Giles is not looking well – I suppose he hasn't been sleeping well with his Slayer being so close, and yet so far away.  I'm afraid I understand too well how he feels; Harry is like a grandson to me, and it pains me to see him suffer so without being able to help.

"I do have an idea, if I have your permission I would like to bring Buffy's mother to Hogwarts."

The Slayer's mother?  From my brief meeting with the woman she seemed to be a strong woman, especially having a slayer for a daughter.  I wonder why Buffy wasn't taken from her parents at a young age, like most Potentials are?  There seem to be many idiosyncrasies surrounding this particular slayer; even if her memories can't be restored, she could be a very valuable ally against Voldemort.  I will have to endeavour to learn more about this Slayer – demon.

"Of course, I'll have a room prepared for her arrival."

Giles

It has been some time since I've frequented this bar – not since my Ripper days.  But I'm sure Joyce couldn't handle an owl suddenly appearing at her work or home, so I needed to find a phone.  I suppose there are plenty of…cleaner places I could have found a phone but this was the first place I thought of.  So here I am, nursing my scotch as I wait for Joyce to get home.

God, what am I going to tell her? 

That the girl that I love like a daughter, that is your daughter, has turned into a bloodthirsty demon and her 'master' refuses to help us regain her memories?  That I failed my slayer so completely?

You were right to blame me after Buffy ran away; she just always seemed so strong and I didn't want to think about how short a slayer's life was.  But Buffy was…is special, I know she'll last longer than any slayer before her.  I have to hope, or else I won't be able to do my job, my duty…

But I had given up so easily – I knew Buffy was strong and if there was a way to survive in a demon dimension, she would have found it.  I should have tried…

God, the alcohol burns as he hits my throat.  

I guess it's time. 

Joyce

This is the first time I've ever been on a plane, but I can't really enjoy the experience.  How does one go about their life while their daughter thinks she's a demon enslaved to a boy wizard?  There are so many moments when I wished I hadn't accepted the job in Sunnydale.  Buffy's and my lives would be so much different…

I know it's not true, but I want to believe it so badly.  That there was something I could do -- can do to change my daughter's future.  My god, she's already died once and though she never says it, I know the odds are I'm going to outlive her.  Faith is a constant reminder of that fact. 

At least I've had Faith these last few months.  She didn't replace Buffy in my heart, but she did make her absence bearable.  But I know that Faith has been hurting; call it mother's intuition but she's not as strong as she pretends to be.  I know she feels guilty about what happened to Buffy, though she won't talk about it with me.  I don't think she's even told any of the others, except maybe Giles.

Giles…even now the idea of Buffy having this secret relationship with the man rankles.  I know he loves Buffy, but she is my daughter!  I should be the one she comes to when she scared, or needs advice.  I would hear Buffy having a nightmare, and she never called for me.  It was always Giles, or Faith.  They were the ones she relied on now – I've become a distant third. 

So why do they think I can be the one to reach her?  Of course I love my daughter dearly, and she loved me but I wasn't her support.  At times I think all Buffy saw me as was a link to her normal life, the life she wished she still had. 

Maybe I'm just being morose – but I wonder…

But no matter what, I have to do whatever I can to help my baby girl.

Xander

So Giles is bringing out the big guns – calling Buffy's mom up and getting her to come all the way to Gilesland.  When Buffy gets her memories back, she is going to be in so much trouble.  I don't care what anyone says, Buffy is going to get them back.  There's no way she would leave us hanging – there's got to be a part of her that wants to remember but that wizard and those demons are forcing her to ignore it.

Huh?  Isn't that the Valet dude that Buffy gave Harry…wonder what he's doing here?

"Hey, man, how's it hanging?"

Yeesh, I didn't know someone my age could pull of that I'm-too-mature-to-answer-that-immature-comment look so well.  This guy has to have a bigger stick up his ass then Giles. 

"So where's you're master?" I ask, looking around.  I just hope the guy won't send me into a brick wall without his master being around to encourage him – I don't think I would be able to handle it as well as Faith.

"My master's location is none of your concern."  Man, is this guy full of it.  Well, let's see if he can stand up to Xander, the talkanator.

"So why aren't you with him, or did he tell you stay?"  Huh, not even a glare – in fact, I don't think the kid got the joke.  What, they don't have any jokes in hell dimensions?

"My master gave no such order – Slayer wanted a private moment with the master."

Dammit, her name is NOT Slayer.  She's Buffy!  Those damn demons, and that wizard are so going to pay for what they've done to her.  Oh, I guess I said that out loud because Mr. Preppy is giving me a weird look.

Valet

I don't think I'm ever going to understand these humans.  The master's friends spoke of the Elite as if they were nothing by nuisances – and now this boy openly talks about trying to injure them.  Have they no sense of self-preservation?

"Why do you not fear the Elite?" I'm surprised by the sound of my own voice, I hadn't meant to ask the question – but I am very curious about the answer.

"We've faced a lot tougher demons than them."  The arrogance!  A human bragging that they could defeat a demon – worse, an Elite – is suicide.  "The last apocalypse we had to stop wasn't even that hard – all we had to do was destroy this box and wanna-be demon mayor was shut down."

The boy appears to be thinking – since he hasn't shut up since he came, I had my doubts that he was capable of it.

"Besides, I don't think Buffy is capable of hurting us – no matter what she says."

I'm too stunned to speak.  Not capable of hurting a human?  Does this brat even know what he's talking about – even if we appear to be the same age, the human has the mentality of a five years old.  And even they know that the Lady Slayer is capable, and willing, to kill whomever she pleases.

"Why?" was the best I could say, my mind still too stunned.

"Because we're friends."

Willow

I'd spent all afternoon looking for Xander ever since he ran off after our last class.  I can't blame him; I needed my own alone time to come to terms with everything that has happened since we found out that Buffy was alive. 

I tried to find Buffy – maybe if I talked to her when she was alone, she would remember me.  I'm sure that she recognized me when we were in Dumbledore's office.  I'm her best friend after all and we've been through a lot.  There's nothing stronger then the bonds between the three of us – we're the Scooby gang!  I guess there is also Faith, but she doesn't really count.

I know they were getting close before Buffy left, but that was just a slayer thing.  I wonder where she disappeared?  It's not like there are any bars around here.  Bad Willow!  Faith has been working really hard since Buffy left – but…what if Buffy remembers Faith…and not me?

What's that sound – it seems familiar.  Where is it coming from?  How can anyone get around this castle?  I think I'm getting closer…

Faith…and Buffy?

Faith

God, I hate this waiting around crap.  I really need to hit a good dance club and get laid.  Or maybe I can do a little slaying around here – like some demons that hang around with a little English twerp…

"What have we here?"

SHIT!  That scared the hell out of me – god, when did Buffy learned to sneak up on a girl like that?  Damn is she looking good though, at least all those years in the hell dimension gave her better fashion sense.  It's nice to see the girl out of all those pastels.

"Well, B, just looking for a little action…you game?"

The old Buffy would have just pretended that she didn't get off on sparring, but this Buffy just smirked and said, "Bring it on, human!"

Man, has this girl upped her game.  There are some wicked cool moves she's pulling off – I guess that's what you get when you fight demons non-stop for a hundred years.

"Looks like you're going to get you ass kicked by a lowly human, B" I taunt, trying to get some kind of reaction out of her – and hopefully distract her enough so that I don't get my own ass kicked.  My comment doesn't seem to have any effect, but the girl is really bringing it on now.

Fuck, that hurt! 

Okay, looks like I'm not kicking Buffy's ass today – especially given the fact that I'm on my back. 

"Fuck, B, you've really picked up your game since we last fought."

"Yeah, but you're still telegraphing your punches."

Geez, the least she could have done was help me up before she criticizes me and takes off like a bat out of hell….

Wait a minute…I'm still telegraphing my punches!?

Holy Shit!

TBC