Chapter 29: The Plan
Shadow Realm, January 23rd, 2017
"The key to defeating any opponent is controlling as much of the battle as possible. If you are allowed to pick the battlefield, you have a great advantage. Doubly so if you have time to prepare the field," Merlin said, leaning over the map of Arcadia Oaks they had spread out on the table they had moved to his forge from the middle of the camp.
Buffy Summers rolled her eyes. "That's just common knowledge," she said. "The Art of War had it way before your time." Teach your grandmother to suck eggs, or however the saying went?
"I knew Sun Tsu, by reputation, if not personal acquaintance," Merlin retorted. "But that only reinforces my point: A plan that relies on finding your enemy before attacking them at that location is squandering a potentially decisive advantage from the start."
"Well, it's not as if Glory is waiting to line up for a battle," Buffy shot back. "So it's search and destroy." As Riley would put it.
"Glorificus might not announce their itinerary or location by claiming territory, but you know her goal. Which means you can control where they will be."
Buffy drew a hissing breath through her clenched teeth. "We're not going to use my sister as bait!" Over her dead body!
"You'd rather face a hell-god under conditions controlled by them so your defeat is almost assured and your sister left defenceless?" Merlin sneered.
Giles cleared his throat. "I wouldn't go as far as that, Sir. With the Slayer's Scythe and Eclipse, we have two powerful weapons that should be able to hurt Glorificus."
Merlin scoffed. "If you didn't have those weapons, I would not even consider facing the hell-god in battle. Yet, they hardly guarantee victory or survival."
So? Facing demons was what a Slayer did, no matter the odds. No Slayer ever died in bed. Unless it was of wounds taken in battle or something. Buffy shrugged. "Nothing in life is sure other than death and taxes."
No one laughed. Not even Xander.
"Well, I don't want to endanger Dawn, but with Claire's portals, she is pretty safe," Willow said.
Buffy glared at her, and her friend cringed. 'Pretty safe' didn't cut it. "You know how fast Glory is. If she managed to solve her problem with changing directions, she could grab Dawn before Claire can get her away."
"If she learned how to use her speed like the Flash," Xander cut in, "then we're pretty much doomed if we face her. We'd better hole up here until the constellations for her ritual have changed or whatever."
"That would take a while," Giles said.
"And while hard to access without the Shadow Staff, the Shadow Realm is not impossible to access without it," Merlin said. "Morgana didn't create this dimension - she discovered it. But before her, others have reached it. Stumbling through tears in reality, taken by the whims of raw magic or brought along by whatever forces created it - people have discovered this realm in the past and will do so in the future. You cannot trust to remain safely out of a hell-god's reach forever."
Buffy glared at him. "We just have to be safe for a while. And that's only if we fail to kill Glory."
"With a half-baked plan." Merlin scoffed again.
"A half-baked plan that won't endanger Dawn."
"But which will endanger others," Giles spoke up in a soft voice. Buffy turned her head to stare at him, and he slowly nodded. "Glorificus might very well decide to take hostages - or begin a rampage - to force us to confront them."
Buffy opened her mouth to retort, then closed it again. If the skanky hell-goddess started killing people… Well, they would find her, at least.
"And if we let her pick the battlefield, we'll have to deal with collateral damage," Xander pointed out. "And it'll limit our weapons. We can't exactly pull a Mayor on her in the middle of a mall or hospital."
"We can't let her into a mall or hospital!" Jim blurted out.
"We'd have to evacuate people," Claire said.
Which meant she wouldn't be able to focus on keeping them safe while fighting Glory. Buffy gritted her teeth. She knew this, but… She couldn't endanger Dawn!
"And if we want to exploit the few weaknesses we found, like blinding her, we need to prepare that," Willow said. "We can't set up on the fly. Well, we could, but we'd take some time, even using magic, and that will mean we'd be spread out and not focused, unable to support each other, and that means…" She trailed off, biting her lower lip with a half-sniffle.
Buffy knew what it meant: Glory might kill one or more of them while they were busy like that. But that was what the Slayer was about - she was supposed to risk her life so the others would be safe. She looked at Jim.
"But Buffy and I are the ones abe to hurt Glory," the kid said. "We've got the best chances to survive the battle."
"Jim!" Claire gasped.
"That doesn't mean you should act recklessly - or in a moronic manner. Proper planning will greatly increase your chances of surviving this," Merlin said. "Besides, shouldn't the choice of risking her life be hers?"
"What?" Buffy glared at him. "We can't ask Dawn to do that or make such a choice!"
"I think you mean you don't want to ask her. However, her time of staying blissfully ignorant has come to an end."
What? Buffy whipped her head around. Dawn was back at the camp, safely out of hearing range, and Buffy would have heard her if she had tried to sneak up on them…
But Dawn was walking towards them. And her expression… was that a green light at her ear?
Buffy whirled and glared at the old geezer. "What did you do?"
He didn't even flinch. "I allowed her to decide her own fate - something everyone deserves, wouldn't you agree?"
Buffy wanted to kill him. But she couldn't do that. She turned. "Dawn!"
"Don't," Dawn told her with a glare as she approached. "Don't." Her little sister took a deep breath as she stopped at the table. "This is my decision. Mine."
"No!" Buffy blurted out.
"Yes!"
Dawn was trembling, Buffy noticed. But she wasn't backing down. She knew that expression. This was the stuffed lion dispute all over again. No matter how wrong her little sister was, she wouldn't budge. "I'm telling Mom," Buffy told her.
"You won't."
"Yes, I will!"
"I've got the Key inside me - this is my decision. Not anyone else's."
"You're still a minor. This is Mom's decision!"
Merlin looked puzzled. "Aren't you of marrying age?"
"No!" Buffy snapped. "She's fourteen!" This was sick!
"Yes?" Merlin blinked. "That means she's an adult according to both Common and Roman law."
"No! Adulthood is eighteen!" she told the old geezer. "It's not the medieval age any more!" What was he thinking, anyway?
"Or twenty-one, if you count being able to legally drink as the true coming of age," Xander cut in.
"Drinking isn't a sign of adulthood."
"Of course it is, Willow. You aren't really an adult until you can buy a beer."
"We aren't talking about the drinking age!" Buffy told them. "We're talking about my little sister!"
"Shut up!" Dawn all but screeched. "It doesn't matter. This is my life. My decision."
"No, it isn't!" Buffy insisted.
"Yes, it is! Or are you trying to tell Jim and Claire and Toby that they can't decide to fight Glory or anyone else, either?"
That was… "They're sixteen!" Buffy retorted. The three weren't reacting, but she ignored that to focus on her sister.
"Which isn't eighteen!" Dawn bared her teeth at her.
"But you're fourteen!"
"You were fifteen when you were called as a Slayer!"
"That's different!" Buffy spat. "I didn't decide that!" She drew a short breath and blinked. Why was Dawn being so damn stupid?
"And you didn't ask Mom if you were allowed to fight and risk your life! You didn't even tell her when you walked to your death against the Master!" Dawn glared at her.
"What?" Buffy turned. "How do you know that?" Who had told her that? Xander?
"I heard you telling Willow about it!"
"Oh, you sneak!" Buffy scoffed. "That was different!"
"'That was different'? Don't you have an actual argument?" Her sister sneered at her.
"Guys!" Willow stepped between them. "Please, calm down!"
"I'm calm," Buffy lied. "And Dawn's not going to risk her life."
"I am already in danger. And you heard Merlin - you need me to lure Glory into an ambush, Or you'll risk your own lives. More than you already do!"
That was alright, though - they knew what they were doing. And they were all adults, at least the Scoobies. Unlike Dawn. She could tell Mom. Mom would fix this. Lock up Dawn.
Dawn took a step past Willow, looking straight at Buffy's eyes. When had she become so tall? "I'm not going to let you all risk your lives when I could help!" she hissed.
She had tears in her eyes, Buffy noticed. And she was trembling terribly. "You don't want to do this, Dawn!"
"I have to do this! Too much is at stake."
"Like you!"
"If anything goes wrong, I need to die anyway, to stop Glory."
Buffy gasped. "No!"
"Dawn!" Willow shook her head.
"We can't risk the world for me." Tears were running down her cheek. But Buffy's stupid little sister wouldn't budge.
"You are correct," Merlin said.
Buffy whirled and snarled at him. "Shut up!"
The old geezer ignored her. "If our attempt to vanquish Glorificus fails, the hell-god will come after you. While there is a chance that you will remain safe here until the time to conduct the ritual has passed, I do not think we can be assured of this outcome."
"We're not going to kill Dawn!" Buffy clenched her teeth. "Over my dead body!"
"You will actually be dead at that point," Merlin replied. "In any case, it would behove us to ensure that our attempt on Glorificus has the greatest possible chance of success - even if that might put your sister at a slightly higher risk than she already is."
"Yes," Dawn whispered. "I have to do this. It's my best chance."
Buffy shook her head. No, it wasn't. But as she glanced around, only Willow and Merlin met her eyes, the former blinking through tears, the latter with a stony expression. Everyone else looked away, not saying anything.
"S-see?" Dawn smiled and wiped her eyes. "I'm right, and you know it."
Buffy wanted to slap her. And kill Merlin. And run away. Or go cut up some rocks. This was wrong! She was the Slayer. She risked her life, so others were safe!
But her little sister was standing there, crying and trembling, but determined. Stupidly determined.
So Buffy hugged her. And sobbed herself.
Why did her stupid sister have to take so much after her? Mom would kill them both.
James Lake Jr looked away when the two sisters started sobbing. This was… well, he couldn't say it was none of his business, since Dawn had the Key inside her and this was about fighting Glory, but he felt bad for watching this moment. And ashamed for not having said anything before on the topic. Even though Dawn was right; this was her decision and no one else's.
Besides, fourteen years wasn't that young. He was sixteen, as were his friends, and they made their own decisions. They were the Trollhunters.
He glanced at Claire, who looked ill at ease as well, and Toby, who was concentrating a little too much on opening a Mars bar. Yeah, they didn't want to see this either. Not that the Slayer's friends seemed to be feeling any differently. Willow took a step towards the two sisters, hand raised, then stopped and dropped her arm again, biting her lower lip. And Mr Giles was polishing his glasses ever since the two had started crying.
Then Merlin cleared his throat. "With that settled, what is your decision, girl? While it seems obvious, appearances can be deceiving, after all."
The Slayer and Dawn separated, wiping their eyes, and Dawn raised her chin to frown at the wizard. "I'll be bait."
Jim felt a little more ashamed of the relief that filled him at this moment. But he couldn't help it - Merlin was correct that with Dawn as bait, they had the best chance to fight Glory in a place they had chosen and prepared.
Now all that was left was picking and preparing that place. "So…" He cleared his throat when everyone turned to look at him. "Where do we fight Glory?"
"Outside the town," Xander said at once. "No civilians around to watch out for. And we should pick a place with cover and concealment but a clear view of all approaches so we can see her coming."
"Can we actually see her if she runs all-out?" Jim asked. The hell-goddess had almost seemed to teleport at times during their fights. Not quite, though.
"We could put up detectors, of sorts. Like radar detectors used to catch speeding drivers," Willow suggested.
"If you can set that up without tying yourself down to a computer," Xander replied. "You have to be mobile."
"What about the desert?" the Slayer asked. "No people around, mostly even terrain, and no one cares if we blow up the place."
"The desert is actually a complex ecosystem," Willow objected. "Blowing up parts of it will have a significant impact on the local flora and fauna."
"Opening the gates to all hell dimensions won't exactly be good for the animals and plants, either," Xander retorted. "And we wouldn't blow up all of the desert."
"But the army might. If we fail, that is," the witch countered.
"Since we would be dead by then, I don't mind."
"No one will be dead," the Slayer said. "But the desert is a little far from here."
"Glory found Dawn here pretty quickly," Claire pointed out. "And we won't have to fear her taking hostages in the middle of nowhere."
Except, of course, for themselves. If Glory captured one of them and wanted Dawn to be handed over in exchange for their lives… Jim shook his head. He knew what he had to do, but he didn't know if he could do it. What if she captured Claire?
"Good point. And there are lots of rock formations in the desert that will provide us with cover and concealment," the Slayer said.
"But you won't be able to get away from her since she'll see you retreating," Spike spoke up, "and she can catch up to a car."
"That won't stop my portals," Claire told him.
"Those only work if you see them. And if you do, Glory can see you," the vampire retorted.
"We won't retreat anyway," the Slayer said. "We will beat Glory." She sounded as if she was convinced.
"You are very confident for someone whose main weapons haven't been tested yet in battle against your foe," Merlin said.
"Do you have a better plan?" The Slayer sneered with her hands on her hips.
"I cannot say that until you present me with an actual plan instead of the seed of one," the wizard shot back.
"That's what we are doing here!"
Well, what they were trying, at least, in Jim's opinion.
"So, does anyone know a good spot in the desert? A little hill with lots of rocks?" Xander asked. "Good for ambushes? We can place some explosives to soften her up."
"That won't do much," the Slayer said. "But wrecking her cheap dresses and cheaper shoes will make her mad, and that means she'll be making mistakes. More mistakes."
"It's crucial to blind her," Willow reminded her. "And for that, we need a delivery system for tar or something similar."
"Or sticky paint. Paintball gun?" Xander asked.
"That will require a line of sight and good aim - and I'm not sure even Buffy could do it reliably. And she would have to be exposed to fire the gun," Willow said. "No, we need something... "
"...more area-effecting, Xander finished for her. "Like a paint bomb."
"Can we make a paint bomb? Or steal one?" the Slayer asked.
"Well, in theory, yes," Willow told her. "But it's harder than it looks. I mean, I've never done it before. I've read the Anarchist's Cookbook, but not for the bombs. And they don't involve paint. But I didn't account for magic yet."
Well, the planning is definitely on, now, Jim thought.
"...so we need to find a place to fight, and we need to find a truckload of glue or paint. Or paint-glue," Buffy Summers summed up.
"And a tactic for fighting Glorificus other than 'charge'," Merlin interrupted her.
She shot him a glare. "I was coming to that point. Yes, we'll also need to prepare tactics for several situations, including a demon army helping the skank."
The old geezer cleared his throat but didn't say anything else. Good. She still owed him retribution or something for dragging Dawn into this.
"I'll get on the paint," Xander said.
"I'll help. We need special paint - something that's liquid for deployment but dries up almost instantly," Willow said. "We might need to use magic for that. I've got a few ideas."
Buffy saw Anya frown at that - the woman was really insecure about her relationship with Xander. Then again, as a former Vengeance Demon, she probably had seen more cheating than anyone else here combined. And there had been that thing back when Xander had been dating Cordy…
"What kind of spell are you planning to use?" Merlin asked.
"I don't know yet," Willow told him. "Probably a variant of a stasis spell, to keep the paint from drying until it touches skin. But I don't know if Glory's skin qualifies as skin. It could just look like skin and be something completely different, so the paint wouldn't dry in that case, and she'd blink or rub it away. A skinning spell doesn't work on all demons, for example, according to the books I've read."
A skinning spell? Buffy's eyes widened. What kind of spells was Willow reading? Tara, who had been really quiet, didn't seem to be bothered, though.
"It does not," Merlin agreed. "However, those would be demons with stone or metal skin, which are beyond the spell's power to handle."
Willow scrunched her nose. "And we can't exactly overpower Glory. If we could, we wouldn't need to plan this."
"Precisely." Merlin looked smug. "So, how do you propose to solve this?"
"I could add a time delay, but that would require exact timing, which we cannot count on."
"Just make it react to makeup," Buffy told her. "The skank is covered in makeup."
"Oh, right! Jim told us that the substance he used - accidentally - reacted to that!" Willow pouted. "I should've thought of that."
"Do you know a spell to react with 'makeup'?" Merlin asked.
"No, but it shouldn't be hard to adapt one perhaps a detection spell. Or some cleaning charm. Oh! I have to check SpellNet for makeup magic; some of those spells use illusions, but some might create actual makeup!" Willow grinned. "That should help us."
"SpellNet?" Merlin asked.
"A forum for witches. Well, witches and everyone else who can get on. We use it to swap recipes and chat. And discuss things, as long as it's not politics or magic." Willow nodded with a sage and, Buffy noted, slightly guilty expression. "Flame wars tended to involve actual curses, so the admins banned all that."
"I see," Merlin said. Buffy was sure he didn't. "Once you have your inspiration, come see me. We cannot afford any mistakes here."
"Yes," Willow replied with pursed lips. She seemed to want to add something else, but Tara touched her shoulder, and she sighed.
"So, that's everything settled, I think," Buffy said. "Unless I forgot something?"
"I can't think of anything we haven't covered," Giles said. "I can think of a few things we shouldn't have covered, however."
Buffy snorted, as did most of the others. Merlin, of course, didn't. "So, I'll declare this planning session over. Go and relax or something until dinner."
"You heard her, Xander!"
"I don't think she meant that, Anya."
"It's the best way to relax. Come!"
Yes, Anya definitely was feeling insecure again. Buffy shook her head as she watched her all but drag Xander to their camper.
"So… we'll have to train to fight together," Jim said.
Buffy turned to face him and Claire and nodded. "Yes. You and me specifically." They were the ones who could hurt the skanky hell-goddess.
"And Claire," Jim added.
Claire herself nodded, gripping her staff a little more tightly. "Yes. I'll be doing my best to protect you. We know Glory can't pass through portals, so I can shield you as well."
Buffy smiled. "Oh, good idea!" She could imagine Glory charging straight into a portal. See how she liked that!
"But difficult to do," Spike added, lighting up a cigarette.
"That's why we're going to train hard for that," Jim told him.
"Just remember that you aren't actually fighting Glory. Get too used to training conditions, and you'll be dead in battle."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "We won't." Not that they had too much time, anyway. "So, let's look into that tomorrow." She had had enough planning for a while. And, she added to herself with a glance at Dawn, who was already chatting on her phone again, there are other matters to attend, as Giles would say. "Dawn!"
Her sister looked up. "What? I'm trying to find a way to send Glory to Mexico."
"We need to talk to Mom."
Her sister paled. Revenge was sweet.
James Lake Jr winced in sympathy. Telling your mother that you would be risking your life fighting Glory? He knew how that went. And he was the Trollhunter, with Merlin's armour and sword. Not a girl with the Key stuffed into her and no experience in combat. Other than nearly killing Tobes, of course.
He watched the two sisters head towards the camp, followed by Willow and Tara and the others.
"She's learned a spell for skinning people and demons?" Claire whispered next to him.
Right. Jim had almost forgotten about that, what with all the concerns about fighting Glory. "Well…"
"It's a spell for skinning animals and demons, mostly, to acquire the material needed for crafting certain pieces of armour."
Jim turned. Merlin was standing over five yards behind them. How had he…? Oh, right. If he could let Dawn listen in to their planning session, he could listen in to their talk himself.
"A spell for tanners?" Claire asked.
The wizard chuckled. "A wizard, working as a tanner, like a common peasant? Surely you jest. Whoever had failed to teach their apprentice even a shred of the pride fitting for a wizard would die from shame and embarrassment." He shook his head.
What a charming view. Jim pressed his lips together, so he didn't blurt out his first retort.
Claire didn't. "There's nothing wrong with working as a 'commoner'!"
"Everything is wrong with that! People with enough potential to become actual wizards instead of some hedge witches or warlocks are incredibly rare. To squander such talent on something anyone could do with a minimum of effort and skill would be a crime against nature. Would you rather I produce shoes than pit my magic and experience against a threat to humanity?" Merlin scoffed. "Wizards have great power - and great responsibilities. For one to run from that to live like a commoner would be as wrong as for a Trollhunter to abandon their duties."
That was… well, Merlin wasn't entirely wrong, but… "You can't force people to risk their lives."
"Of course I can. When your liege calls upon you to serve in war, to protect your home, it's everyone's duty to pick up arms and fight. To violate your duty is a craven crime."
Right. Merlin had lived in the medieval age.
"That's no longer the case," Claire objected. "People aren't forced into the army. It's all volunteers."
"Yes!" Toby chimed in. "The draft was abandoned decades ago!"
"Really? And what if the enemy is at the gates, and you need more people in your ranks than volunteers are available? Will you tolerate such treason and accept losing the war - and possibly your lives?" Merlin shook his head. "You have a duty towards your family and liege. A wizard has more complex and encompassing duties, as befitting their greater powers, but they are ultimately the same."
"But they didn't choose that," Jim said.
"They were chosen. Like you."
Jim clenched his teeth. That was… Not the same. I couldn't be the same.
"Nevertheless, this conversation is entirely hypothetical, and we have other concerns to address. You mentioned your desire to have me craft armour for your friends."
"Right!" Toby beamed at the wizard. "Time to armour up!"
Claire nodded with a more cautious expression.
Merlin frowned for a moment. "Crafting armour is a complex process, even aided by magic. To begin, I need your exact measurements."
"What?" Claire blurted out, blushing slightly.
"What?" Merlin repeated. "Would you prefer to enter battle with ill-fitting armour that will hinder you more than help you? A plate that is not fitted to you might break your bones when it receives a blow instead of deflecting it."
Jim grimaced at that particular thought.
"Oh, right. But what if we grow? In height, I mean. Will the armour adjust?" Toby asked.
"To a certain degree," Merlin replied. "Enough to compensate for some growth, but not overly so. Unless you plan to change your body to emulate those men and women shown in your 'advertising', it shouldn't be an issue. Certainly not for this coming fight."
"'Advertising'?" Jim asked. "Oh."
Toby flushed a little, as did Claire, though for different reasons, Jim thought. He cleared his throat. "So, let's start?"
"Indeed." Merlin waved his staff, and green light covered both of Jim's friends. A moment later, green glowing figures appeared in front of Merlin. Life-sized copies of Toby and Claire, floating above the ground, Jim realised. And wearing bathing suits. Like in the character generation menu of a computer game.
"Oh, neat!" Tobes commented with a grin.
Claire didn't smile. "Is that all?" she asked in a terse voice.
"Unless you demand to have a say about your armour's appearance, yes."
"Oh, we can choose? Awesomesauce! I want a badass-looking suit! And in red! Or black!" Toby's grin widened even more.
"Yes, I want to have a say in how my armour will look," Claire told Merlin. "I don't want to end up in some… some battle bikini!"
"Yes. Not like the costumes we wore in Sunnydale!" Toby chimed in.
Merlin scoffed. "With armour, as with most things, form follows function."
That probably meant no chainmail bikini, Jim thought. He was both relieved and a little disappointed.
"...and that's why I'll be bait," Dawn said with a slightly shaky nod.
Buffy Summers winced. She should have known that Dawn would be too… too Dawn to gently break the news to Mom. "You're not bait! You just attract Glory to an area we'll have prepared to fight her."
"As I said, bait."
"No, not bait."
"A stalking goat."
Those were the goats who got eaten by the tiger, right? Or the scapegoats? Buffy shook her head. "No!"
"A lure."
She had used that word, hadn't she? Damn. "It's not quite like that."
"Then how is it?"
"It's…" Buffy should have prepared better for this talk.
"Girls." Mom's low voice cut her off before she could find the right words. "You're going to do what you can to draw the attention of the hell-goddess from whom we're currently hiding." Mom looked at Dawn, who grimaced.
"Perfectly safe," Buffy cut in. "She'll be through a portal before Glory can blink."
"Really? I thought Dawn would be using Claire's staff to open portals."
"Err… Yes? But only at the start, like what happened in Arcadia Oaks. It'll take some time for Glory to arrive."
"And she won't suspect a trap."
"She's too dumb for that," Buffy said, nodding firmly. She had fought Glory often enough to know that. Granted, Glory had proven too strong for a trap, but that had changed with the scythe. And Jim's sword. Probably
"You should never underestimate your enemy."
Buffy clenched her teeth. Mom sounded like Giles! "We don't. We're planning this!"
Mom didn't look convinced.
"Mom!" Dawn spoke up. "I have to do this. It's our best chance to kill her. I can lure her to the desert, away from anyone else."
"By risking your life."
"I'm already at risk. She wants me. And she'll kill anyone between her and me to get at me," Dawn went on. Lots of 'me's there, Buffy thought.
"Dawn will be perfectly safe!" she added.
"Nothing is perfectly safe," Mom replied. "What if Glory surprises you?"
"She won't." They had her number.
"Are you sure?"
Buffy had to be sure.
"What if she runs so fast, she's at Dawn before you realise it?"
"We'll have Willow build a detection system," Buffy told her.
"To cover the entire area?" Mom looked very dubious.
"We'll ask the army for help if we need to." Let Riley be useful for once.
"I'll be sitting in front of a portal, and as soon as we see Glory, I'll go through," Dawn said.
"She'll be standing in front of a portal. With me in front of her," Buffy corrected her sister.
"No!" Dawn protested. "You are needed to fight Glory."
"So I should be closest to you since she'll be heading to you. And I have the best reflexes."
"No!" Dawn shook her head.
"I don't want both of my girls playing bait," Mom said. "I don't want either of you playing bait. Or anyone at all."
"Mom! Someone has to!"
"And…" Buffy pressed her lips together.
"Someone has to." Mom shook her head. "But why does it need to be you?" She was blinking. Damn, those were tears in her eyes, Buffy noticed.
"It's my fault," Buffy said. "They put the Key into Dawn, so I would protect her." She sniffed once and bit her lower lip.
"It's not your fault," Mom told her. "It's the fault of whoever did this to Dawn. And of whoever chose you as the Slayer."
Well, the monks were all dead, and the Shadow Men who created the Slayer were dead as well, and Buffy doubted that you could do anything to whatever magic chose Slayers these days.
"My poor girls!" Mom was crying now. Damn.
And then Mom hugged them both. And Buffy started crying herself, somehow.
"How did it go?"
Buffy stopped wrecking a target dummy and turned to frown at Spike. He was standing at the edge of the training area, lighting a cigarette. "Those will give you cancer," she said.
He snorted. "That bad, then?"
Buffy clenched her teeth. As far as attempts to change the topic went, this hadn't been her best attempt. "Mom's not happy."
"But she won't stop either of you. I knew it."
"If you knew it, why did you ask?" Buffy spat.
"I was wondering how you are doing." Spike took a drag from the cigarette.
She huffed. "I'm doing fine." Another kick almost broke the dummy.
"I can see that."
"Then you don't need to ask."
"You never do well with emotional stuff," Spike said.
She glared at him. "And you do? Do you remember what you did when Drusilla left you?" She pressed her lips together - that was a bit of a low blow.
Spike tensed before he shrugged. "Never said I'm good at it, either. But it's not my sister playing bait for Glory. Or my mum having both her children going to risk their lives."
"I'm fine." She scoffed. "Dawn will be safe."
"And you?" He slightly tilted his head as he asked, blowing smoke to the side.
"I'll do what I always do." Fight until she died.
Spike nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Shadow Realm, January 24th, 2017
James Lake Jr stared. He had seen a lot of things as a Trollhunter. Magical things. Mythical things - he wasn't quite sure where the difference lay. And they were currently in a magical realm removed from the world. Another dimension, for all he could tell, that was only accessible through magic portals. And he had seen Merlin work on Gaggletacks.
But seeing Merlin surrounded by floating pieces of shiny armour, green streams of magic passing from one to the other, a slight ethereal humming in the air, was still one of the most impressive things he had ever seen. Dozens of plates slowly turned around him while he watched a floating hammer pound a larger piece into shape on the anvil and a pot pour molten metal into a form next to it. Crafting the Gaggeltacks looked easy and boring in comparison.
"Awesomesauce," Toby whispered next to him. "He must have been working through the night since he wasn't on the table this morning."
Claire's reaction was a little less vocal, but the way she slowly nodded was telling enough for Jim.
It really was an awesome sight.
"Yes," Merlin growled without turning to look at them. "We are pressed for time, after all, and it wouldn't do to lose any of our allies against Glorificus due to weak and inferior armour. Such as might be crafted by someone distracted by chattering spectators who should know better than to disturb a wizard at work."
And there was the grumpy old wizard they had come to know - somewhat. Jim sighed.
"We brought you breakfast!" Tobes piped up. "Nana said you hadn't eaten."
Merlin scoffed, and Jim half-expected him to say something about how a wizard didn't need sustenance or how the mind overcame flesh. Instead, he turned to face them, and the armour pieces between them and him parted. "Breakfast?" It sounded weirdly… expectant. In a very grumpy way.
Toby held the covered plate he had brought up. "Full breakfast."
"I suppose I could avail myself to this. It's not a meal cooked by Arthur's court chef, but it shall do." He waved his staff, and the plate rose out of Toby's hands and slowly floated towards him.
Toby took a step back, then frowned. "Nana said to eat up." In a whisper, he added: "He usually finishes the whole meal."
Merlin glared at them - at Toby - for a moment, then started eating, the plate hovering in front of him as if it were placed on an invisible table.
"Magic camping table", Toby whispered. "Handy!".
Claire took a step forward. "So, how long until you're done? Xander said he had found a decent site, and Willow's working on a detection system for Glory."
Or anyone else moving at impossibly high speeds on the ground.
"You should know not to rush a wizard," Merlin retorted. "Crafting anything magical is a delicate, challenging process. The slightest fault can cause the spells involved to become twisted, turning protective enchantments into curses. Many are the ignorant men and women who fell prey to the consequences of their own impatience." He sneered at her.
Claire held her ground, though. "I'm not impatient. I just would like to know when we can expect to be ready so we and the others can plan accordingly. Proper planning is, after all, the key to defeating our enemy."
Merlin narrowed his eyes. "Your new armour shall be ready in the evening. But I will need at least a night's rest. Inform the Slayer and her friends of this." He turned away, the meal following him, to look at the anvil again. Another wave of his staff turned the plate, and the hammer continued to whale on it.
It was clear that they were dismissed. And trying to push Merlin further wouldn't be wise, in Jim's opinion. They could use more training anyway. So, he cleared his throat. "Alright, let's go back to the others."
Claire was pouting when they walked back to the campsite. "Treating us like messengers…"
"Well, someone has to tell the others; Merlin's right about that," Jim said.
"It's not what he says. It's how he says it," Claire retorted. "He's talking to us like we're servants."
"Or apprentices," Toby chimed in as he rolled his shoulder. "Almost good again. I only feel a twinge now and then. I'll be back in the saddle for sure tomorrow!"
Ready for the battle against Glory. Well, ready to train to face the hell-goddess. Jim clenched his teeth. Tobes would be wearing magical armour. As would Claire. Like him. But theirs wouldn't be as good as Eclipse. Merlin hadn't told him that, but Jim knew - he was sure that the old wizard would have informed them quite clearly if he were crafting anything comparable to Eclipse. Merlin wasn't one to act humble or shy, after all.
But that was neither here nor there. He smiled at his best friend. "Good, Tobes." He didn't say 'we'll need you'. That was clear as well - everyone knew that they needed all the help they could get.
"We'll kick her butt!"
"Yes!" Jim said with as much conviction as he could muster. Even though he knew that the best Toby could do was distract the hell-goddess with his war hammer. Unless… His eyes widened. "Tobes!"
"Yes?"
"We need to ask Buffy if you can wield the Hammer of the Troll Gods!"
"What?" Toby stared at him. As did Claire.
But Jim smiled. "We know it can hurt Glory better than simple magical weapons. And you've trained with war hammers."
"But…" Toby grimaced. "It's a divine hammer. For Trolls. And Slayers. I'm not…"
"We'll see about that," Jim told him. Toby was a Trollhunter, after all.
