Chapter 38: The Day the Magic Died Part 1
In the days after Paige and Faith's trip to the other reality. They family became helplessly self-destructive when a Council of Witch Doctors brought voodoo dolls along on a house call.
The next week the entire family started experiencing terrifying nightmares that came to life when a demon attacked them with dream dust. They had to magically re-enter their nightmares to unmask the symbolic meaning of their dreams.
February 1, 2003 – Saturday
Halliwell Manor
Phoebe, Piper and Dawn sat on chairs while Buffy lay back against Dawn's chair in the grass. All of them were looking up at a green mist in the sky as Paige joined them from inside the Manor.
"It's even brighter than it was an hour ago," Piper said.
"It's like magic and science and fairy tales all rolled up into one," Phoebe replied.
Dawn laughed. "Yeah like someone sprinkled fairy dust all across the sky," she said rubbing her stomach.
"Actually, it's ion speeding into the earth's magnetic field and then they collide with air molecules," Paige explained glancing at her aunt. "Hm."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Way to ruin the moment, Paige."
Paige sat down on the remaining chair. "Do you guys think it's weird that the Aurora Borealis is happening the night before the Wiccan Festival of Lights?" she asked.
"Aunt Dawn and I've been so busy planning for our babies, that I forgot tomorrow is a Sabbath," Piper admitted.
"Yeah I forgot tomorrow was the Sabbath," Dawn said rubbing her stomach.
"Yep, it's definitely a time for renewal and growth," Paige told her family.
Dawn and Piper glanced at each other and sighed. "Uh, please, don't say growth. I think Aunt Dawn will agree that if our babies get any bigger, we'll never be able to snap back," Piper said as she shivered.
"Piper is right," Dawn agreed as she too shivered.
"Is that a shiver, Dawn," Buffy said suddenly worried for her sister. "Why don't you go inside."
"Same with you, Piper," Paige added having detected Piper shivering.
"Shh, I'm fine, I'm feeling fine." Piper said.
"Same," Dawn agreed.
"You didn't look so fine when you were bent over the toilet puking your guts out today," Phoebe commented looking at her eldest sister.
"You two?" Dawn said as she looked at Piper who nodded.
"Nausea, headaches, all a normal part of pregnancy," Buffy explained. "Along with gas, heartburn, constant need to pee."
Dawn and Piper looked to Buffy and nodded. They were grateful that Buffy had been there to help them prepare. They both wondered how they could have gotten through the last eight months without her. It was then that a goose squawked as they noticed a white goose standing next to Buffy as it laid a golden egg before it flew into the house. "Uh, another golden goose," Paige said as she picked up the golden egg.
"You'd think the magical community could find maybe something else to give to mine and Aunt Dawn's babies." Piper said.
"Hey I resent that," Buffy said.
Dawn smiled at her sister. "I think Piper will agree the cribs and rocking chairs were nice gifts."
"Aunt Dawn is right," Piper agreed.
"Yeah, I could definitely melt this down and make a fashionable ring." Paige said looking at the egg.
Buffy shook her head as she took the golden out of Paige's hands. "You are not keeping that."
Inside, Leo walked past the door. "Goosy, goosy, goosy," he called out as he dove for the goose and landed. He noticed that everyone laughed as he stood up and continued his chase of the goose.
"As much as I am enjoying the spectacle, I think we should really send those things back. Dad is in town tomorrow and he wants to stop by for a visit." Piper said.
"Victor is coming?" Dawn asked in surprise.
Buffy nodded. "Yes, Victor is coming."
"Yeah, he does get very Darin Stevens about our whole magic thing." Phoebe admitted. "Though he seemed to understand about you and Aunt Dawn, Mom."
Buffy smiled. "Your father wasn't always against magic. There was one time he had no problem with it. I think what turned him off magic was our divorce, my falling in love with Sam and of course your Grams."
"We should maybe have Leo ask the Elders what the policy is on magical gift returns. We don't want a curse put on the family or anything." Paige said as Leo walked outside.
Piper nodded. "Yes, good idea."
"I wonder what the Elders want this late?" Leo said as he heard the Elders calling for him.
"Well, I don't know, but you go find out and keep it down when you come back because I'm going to head up..." Piper said as she stood up and wavered on her feet feeling quite dizzy. "OH. Or maybe down." She fainted back onto the chair.
Buffy was up in a flash, "Leo!" she shouted as she moved quickly to Piper's side.
"Piper," Leo said as he joined Buffy.
"Piper?" Dawn said she stood to check on her niece. She suddenly felt dizzy then fainted back into her own chair.
"AUNT DAWN!" Paige shouted as she got out of her chair and knelt next to her aunt. "What's going on?"
Leo and Buffy looked up and over at Dawn's chair. Leo returned his attention to his wife and frowned. "I don't know," Leo said as he noticed his hands weren't glowing, the sign that he wasn't healing someone. "I can't heal Piper, she won't come to." He rushed over to Dawn and tried to heal her and frowned. "It's the same thing, I can't heal either of them."
Buffy frowned, "Okay, to the hospital. Come on. I'll call Eva on the way."
San Francisco Memorial
Dawn and Piper laid on a pair hospital bed as their family stood around them. Phoebe let out a sigh of relief seeing both Dawn and Piper awake, "You both scared us."
Piper nodded. "Me too," she agreed. "I guess I'm not so invincible after all."
"Ditto," Dawn said with a sigh.
Buffy walked into the room her cell phone to her ear. "Yeah, Faith, we're just waiting on Eva to come back with the test results. Yeah I will keep you apprised." She ended the call and put her phone back into her purse.
"Yeah, maybe we need to start taking better care of you both." Paige suggested.
Piper sighed. "No, it was my fault, everybody was telling me to slow down."
"It was my fault too," Dawn sighed. "I knew the stress of worrying about Faith lately isn't helping me any."
"It's neither of your faults," Leo told his wife and aunt-in-law. "We're all in uncharted territory. The Elders said that both babies are special and anything can happen. Let's not forget that."
At that moment the Eva came in to check up on Dawn and Piper. "How are you two feeling?" she asked.
Piper smiled. "Eh, tired and weak," she admitted.
"Same, Eva," Dawn admitted.
Eva sighed as she looked at her patients, her adopted sister and friend. "I've got your test results here. I don't know how we missed this in your exams. You both have toxemia. It's a form of high blood pressure in pregnant women."
"Could this have been brought on the stress of our lives, Eva?" Buffy asked.
"I would say that is a very likely possibility," Eva answered. "The problem we have here is that toxemia restricts blood flow and food and oxygen to the placenta. It can result in a small baby, premature delivery or it can lead to other complications, none of which…" she looked to Dawn and Piper "…either of you need to worry about now. Most women respond quickly to the treatment."
"What's the treatment, Eva," Dawn asked.
Eva smiled at Dawn. "The treatment involves a no salt diet, no stress and lots of bed rest. Do that and the symptoms should reverse. I'll be back later to check on you." She turned and left the room.
"That's probably why I couldn't heal either of you," Leo told Dawn and Piper. "High blood pressure isn't just physical, it's a state of mind."
"No stress and bed rest. Do you two think you can handle that?" Paige asked.
Piper sighed. "Yeah, I can handle that. I'll do anything."
"No stress," Dawn sighed. "With Faith in Sunnydale and the First Evil being the big bad. I just have to put it out of my mind. I'll do anything for my baby girl."
February 2, 2003 – Sunday
Summers Home, Sunnydale
Faith watched as Willow and Tara made preparations for a locator spell, to see if they could find The First.
Xander tried to get Faith to get some rest, but she demurred. She hadn't slept much since Buffy had called telling her Dawn had been rushed to the hospital. "She'll be alright," he told Faith.
"I'm not just worried about Dawn, I'm worried about our baby," Faith told Xander with a sigh. "Eva said rest with no stress. How is Dawn going to get rest without stress when I'm here?"
They watched as Willow finished her oblation, pouring powder on the table from a bowl.
Then the area on the table exploded, sending Anya flying. Wind whipped through the room, scattering objects in a maelstrom. The bowl superheated. Crimson light from the bowl twisted into twin funnels that shot into her nose. Willow threw back her head and screamed as her eyes and hair went black. Then The First, as Buffy had first glimpsed it years ago, erupted from Willow's mouth.
It was enormous, a glowing red apparition derived from every nightmare of hell, its eyes two flaming pits, its talons at the ready as it lunged at Faith.
Then it was immediately sucked back inside Willow.
"Will!" Tara cried.
Willow stood, her body shaking as red lightning bolts shot from her mouth. The bolts knocked Faith down and shot her across the room.
A demonic voice erupted from Willow, bellowing, "You only make me stronger!"
Xander, who had snatched the bowl that held the spell ingredients, smashed it against the dining room wall. Just as suddenly as everything had started, it all went back to normal. Willow's eyes and hair—everything.
Willow's knees buckled and she fell to the floor. She was sobbing and shaking, and as Tara knelt at her side, Willow cried, "It's still in me. I feel it!"
"No, it's not. It's gone. You're okay," Tara soothed.
Willow could not calm down. "I don't want to hurt anybody. Please, baby, don't let it make me."
"We won't. I promise," Faith said as she moved beside the other two witches. "We won't use magic to fight this thing until we know what we're doing."
Halliwell Manor
Buffy and Phoebe were making sure everything in Buffy and Piper's bedrooms were prepared for Dawn and Piper's arrival home from the hospital.
Buffy had made the call that till Faith came home that Dawn would bunk with her. She hoped that by Dawn having someone sleep next to her it would help Dawn forget some of the worry and alleviate some of the stress.
"My room is done," Buffy said as she entered Piper's room. She saw that Phoebe was placing a vase of flowers on the bedside table. As Phoebe moved to light a candle Buffy went over to make Piper's bed.
It was then that Paige orbed in holding a bucket of bubbling mud. "Greetings from the dead sea," she said.
Phoebe wrinkled her nose. "That stuff stinks."
"it's the sulfur in the mud," Paige explained. "It has healing properties. You know, people come from all over the world just to get this stuff."
"Yeah, well, we want Piper and Dawn to feel like they're in a spa, not a sewer." Buffy said as the phone rang. "And believe me I've been in some fowl smelling sewers."
Paige sighed, "Okay, Mom. I just wanted the best for Piper."
"We know, sweetie, we're going to take good care of her and the baby. I promise." Phoebe said.
Buffy grabbed the phone off Piper's nightstand. "Halliwell Residence, Buffy Summers-Halliwell."
"B, it's Faith." came Faith's voice from down the line.
"Dawn will be home in a little, Faith," Buffy said.
"Thanks for the update, it's appreciated, B. But it's not why I'm calling you told me you faced the First Evil once before. Do you remember where?"
It was just then they heard the front door close. "Hello?" Piper called out from downstairs.
"There she is." Phoebe said excited that Piper was home. They rushed downstairs
Summers Home, Sunnydale
Faith put on her leather jacket and gathered up a few weapons, preparing to go after The First herself. She had found from Buffy the exact location of where she had ran into The First's henchman.
"At least let me go with you," Xander insisted. And when she refused, he pointed out, "You said so yourself you don't know how to fight The First. Or even where it is."
"First of all, Xander," Faith told him as she reached for the door. "I'm part Witch and Whitelighter, remember?" She formed an ice ball in her hand. She then let it melt away. "Second it's out there. It's hurting my friends. I'll find it."
She pulled the door open.
Giles stood on the front porch, a nimbus of light around his head. "Faith," he said.
"G-man."
"I wish you wouldn't call me that," Giles said as three young girls walked right into the house.
The First one looked all Ghost World—lunchbox for a purse, and as she came in, she said, "Nice place. Bit of a mess."
The second one, more polished, smiled at Buffy and drifted in, saying nothing.
The third one—very beautiful—gave Faith a once-over and said, "This is the Slayer? Huh." She sounded unimpressed.
"Sorry to barge in," Giles said, a tad wry. "I'm afraid we have a slight apocalypse."
Halliwell Manor
"Welcome home,." Buffy said as she embraced first Dawn and then Piper. "Or should I say, Your Highnesses? Because from now on we are your loyal subjects."
"We even turned your bedroom, Piper, into a royal throne room." Paige said.
"And mine was turned into your royal throne room for you, Dawn," Buffy added. "I thought you might like some company while Faith was in Sunnydale."
"Thanks, Buffy," Dawn said in appreciation.
Leo smiled, "Let Buffy and I take you there now, our Queens."
"Alright, knock it off before I cut your heads off," Piper said. "I don't want any special treatment."
"Piper," Dawn said as she smiled at her niece. "Let them love us."
"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "As Dawn's sister and your mother, Piper, and Dawn's midwife."
"Also as your sisters, Piper," Paige added as she motioned between herself and Phoebe. "As your nieces, Aunt Dawn. And your midwives, Piper. We feel it's our duty to provide you both with solitude and serenity and..." she said as a they heard a goose squawk. They turned to see three golden geese walk into the living room.
Dawn and Piper sighed. "A gaggle of geese," Piper said.
"I thought you guys were going to get rid of those." Leo said.
"You said you were going to ask the Elders on magical gift return policies." Buffy reminded the Whitelighter.
"Okay, you guys, its fine, everything's fine," Piper told them. "It's not going to bother me, I'm not going to let anything bother me for the sake of my daughter."
"Same here," Dawn agreed.
"Come on, I'll take you upstairs." Leo said as he led his wife up the stairs.
"Come on, Dawnie," Buffy said as she led her sister up the stairs.
"Paige, I thought you said you tied them up." Phoebe said with a glare at her baby sister.
Paige sighed. "I did, but the little flockers got loose."
"Okay, we have to do better than this for Aunt Dawn and Piper," Phoebe told her baby sister. "I mean, if we can't keep geese away from them, how are we supposed to protect them from demons?"
"Okay, you're right, Phoebe," Paige agreed with a sigh. "We should take turns guarding the manor. You know, who knows what kind of weirdo stuff's going to show up..." They heard a neighing noise coming from the kitchen. "Here?" They walked into the kitchen to find a white unicorn standing there. It had gotten into all the food as Phoebe began to panic. "Oh my goodness, it's a unicorn."
Phoebe frowned. "Yes, it is. In our kitchen. Is it another baby present you think, maybe?"
"Yeah, the best one ever," Paige said as she petted the unicorn.
"Okay, Paige, while unicorns may be very magical and cool," Phoebe told her sister shaking her head. "I'm not so sure it's appropriate for a baby."
"Oh, come on now," Paige objected. "Our little nieces will grow into it."
"I'm not so sure about that. Have you seen those hooves?" Phoebe asked looking down at the unicorn's hooves. "And how are we going to baby proof that horn?"
Paige noticed a card tied around the unicorn's neck. "Hey, look, there's a card. 'From El,'" she read from the card, noticing that the part of the card was missing. "El? Do we know anybody in Spain?"
Phoebe shrugged. It wasn't a concern. "Paige, I don't care who it's from, okay?" she told her sister. "It just can't be here now. It's way too much stress for Piper, Aunt Dawn and the babies, okay? So just orb it out of here."
"I can't," Paige objected. "Unicorns are mythical beasts from another world. Where do you propose I orb it to?"
"Paige, just get it out of here, okay?" Phoebe said with a tone of authority.
"Fine, I'll orb it somewhere safe and tie it up until we figure it out." Paige touched the unicorn and tried to orb out. She glowed in white orbs for a second and then the orbs vanished, leaving Paige still in the kitchen.
"What was that?" Phoebe asked.
"I can't orb it." Paige frowned.
Phoebe sighed, "Okay, stand back. Uh, 'take this beast, before I end her, ship her back, return to sender.'" Nothing happened. "Wait, why aren't my powers working?"
"Uh, apple," Paige said as she looked at an apple in a bowl trying to orb it to her. The apple remained where it was. "Nothing."
"Oh, no." Phoebe tried to levitate but couldn't. "I can't levitate, I'm grounded."
Leo rushed into the kitchen, panicking, followed by a concerned Buffy. "Something's wrong, something's wrong, I can't orb. I was trying to go to the Elders to find out how to get rid of the golden geese and why is there a unicorn in the kitchen?"
"Forget the unicorn, our magic's down too!" Phoebe said.
Buffy frowned and she picked up an apple and threw it up in the air. She tried to freeze it and nothing happened as it fell to the floor. "I can't freeze." She closed her eyes and tried to astral up to the attic and again nothing happened. "And no astral projection."
Phoebe nodded, "Okay, well, whatever hit us, we have to assume also hit Aunt Dawn Piper," Phoebe said. "Okay, and they can't find out about this until we know what's going on because they..."
"Hello?" Piper called out from the top of the stairs. "Where is everybody?"
"Why is she out of bed?" Leo asked.
"I don't know." Phoebe and Buffy said.
"Go put her back," Paige instructed.
"I'll come with you just to make sure Dawn didn't get out of bed also," Buffy said as she followed Leo out of the kitchen.
"Alright, Paige," Phoebe said as she looked at her baby sister, "uh, you take the magical farm animals and put them down in the basement. I'm going to get the book and I'll meet you down there." She rushed out of the kitchen.
"Alright, you're Spanish. Andale!" Paige ordered as she waved her arms and clicked her fingers. The unicorn didn't even move.
Summers Home, Sunnydale
"Potential Slayers," Giles explained. "Waiting for one to be called. There were many more like them all over the world, but now there's just a handful, and they're all on their way to Sunnydale."
Faith got it, realized what Buffy had been seeing in her premonition dreams—Potential Slayers being murdered.
"We always feared this day would come," Giles said. "When there'd be an attack, against not just an individual Slayer, but against the whole line."
Faith got it. She said, "The First. That's what it wants."
"Yes," Giles said. "To erase all the Slayers in training and their Watchers, along with their methods."
"And then B and me," Faith said shortly. "And with all the Potentials gone and no way of making another, it's the end. No more Slayer. Ever."
Willow was confused. "But we haven't found any information on The First. No documentation."
Giles crossed his arms as he explained. "That's because it predates any written history, and it rarely shows its true face. The only record we know was in the Council Library." He looked uncomfortable.
"What about the Council?" Tara wondered. "What do they say about this?"
"Gone," Giles replied. "Obliterated. They were in session, and there was an explosion."
"That means all the Council's records are—are destroyed?" Willow asked anxiously.
"Annabelle," Giles prompted, and the young Potential stepped forward with a backpack. She pulled out a pitiful number of files and books. "That's what's left," he told them. "The mystic secrets of the Watchers, and whatever I could find on The First."
"But what do these records say about The First?" Faith asked.
"Uh, very little," Giles admitted. "It can change form. It only appears in the guise of someone who's passed away. Also, it's not corporeal. It can't touch or fight on its own. It only works through those it manipulates. And its followers, the Bringers."
"Yeah, with the hoodies and the crazy alphabet eyes," said the Potential named Molly.
"Molly," said Annabelle, "Mr. Giles doesn't need us prattling on."
Giles sat on the arm of the couch. "The First is unlike anything we've faced before. I mean, there's evil and there's the thing that created evil, the source."
"The Source?" Faith said confused. "The Source is vanquished, G-Man. Piper, Phoebe, Paige, B and Dawn vanquished him. There was this whole thing with the Angel of Destiny and everything confirming it."
"The Source of All Evil was simply a very powerful upper-level demon," Giles answered. "It's power was transferred from demon to demon whoever rose to power. It's power though was derived from The First. You could say the Source of All Evil was The First's right hand." He continued. "The First has eternities to act, endless resources. How to defeat it . . . honestly, I don't know. But we have to find a way. If the Slayer line is eliminated, then the Hellmouth has no guardian. the balance is destroyed."
He walked up to Faith. "I'm afraid it falls to you and Buffy, Faith. You two are the only ones who have the strength to protect the girls—and the world—against what's coming."
"But no pressure," Xander said angrily.
The pretty Potential walked to the center of the room and said in disbelief, "That's it? That's the plan? I don't see how one person, even a Slayer, could protect us. And if this thing is the root of all evil, isn't the Hellmouth going to be its number one vacation spot? I mean, don't you think we should be hiding our asses on the other side of the globe?"
"Kennedy!" Annabelle cried.
"No, she's not wrong," Faith said. "We need more muscle. That's why we need to find allies. We need my family." Giles raised an eyebrow at her statement. "I'm married," she told him showing him her wedding ring. "To Dawn. So my family includes the Charmed Ones."
"Of course," Giles replied. "Then my congratulations are in order. I take it that was before…"
"Dawn forgave you, yeah," Faith replied. "We also are going to need Spike."
Anya looked dubious. "Yeah, he'll help. If he's not crazy. Or killing people. Or dead. Or you, know, all of the above."
Halliwell Manor
Leo and Buffy found Piper coming down the stairs. "Why are you on your feet?" Leo asked.
Piper sighed. "I was coming down to get some food," she told her husband. "A person could starve around here."
Phoebe ran around the corner. "Hi. Bye," she called out over her shoulder as she ran up the stairs.
"Alright, go upstairs with Leo, I will get you and Dawn each a plate of food," Buffy instructed her daughter. "You're supposed to be on bed rest."
Piper sighed. "Okay, well, bed rest doesn't actually mean..."
"Yes, it does," Leo agreed siding with his mother-in-law. "The doctor said stay off your feet and relax."
"Leo, will you make sure…" Buffy started as Leo nodded in understanding as he took Piper upstairs. She turned and headed back toward the kitchen. She frowned as spotted Paige chasing after the unicorn. "Paige!"
Paige looked toward Buffy. "I know, Mom," she said apologetically as she chased after the unicorn. "Here, unicorn."
Streets of Sunnydale
Sunnydale's Main Street was decorated for Valentine's Day. Faith and Giles walked together.
"This place, where Buffy last saw The First, she said it was in a Christmas tree lot?"
"Under it," Faith corrected him. "She said there was a hidden cavern, just happened to be under a tree lot. The Bringers were doing some kind of ritual." She took a breath as she gazed at the Watcher. "Giles, this is bad, isn't it?"
"I think that has to be the first time you ever called me Giles," he admitted with a smile.
"I guess it's the fear talking. This thing is more powerful than the Source, right?" Faith asked as Giles nodded. "It took the Power of Three coupled with B and Dawn to vanquish him. I just don't know how in the heck we're going to protect those girls. I just don't how we're going to defeat it with just the Charmed Ones, Buffy, Dawn, Tara, Willow and me."
Halliwell Manor
"Relax. Everybody keeps telling me to relax, like it's something you do. Like, like switching off a light." Piper whined as she and Leo walked into the bedroom.
"You need to learn how to do it, Piper," Leo instructed his wife, "if you're going to get your blood pressure under control."
Piper sighed. "My blood pressure would not be a problem if we had been seeing a doctor, like Aunt Dawn had been."
"I knew that was coming," Leo sighed. He tried to help Piper onto the bed. "Come on, sit down."
Piper pushed her husband away, frowning at him. "Don't treat me like a baby factory, I can sit myself down," she told him as she sat on the bed. "All these fears about a magical baby and don't let the doctors find out and we'll buy a birthing ball and Mom, Paige, and Phoebe will be midwives. And you know what? We were wrong."
"How can you say that?" Leo asked with concern.
"Because somehow in the middle of all this we forgot the most important thing of all," Piper told him. "What's best for the baby?"
Leo sighed. "Well, that's not fair," he replied. "A lot of people decide to have babies at home."
"Uh huh, maybe so but I was not one of them," Piper told her husband.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"And my baby is not even out of the womb yet and I'm already screwing up as a mother," Dawn whined to her sister as Buffy set the plate of food down next to Dawn.
"Dawn, you haven't screwed up," Buffy told her sister.
"Buffy, I have a disease that is threatening my baby," Dawn told her sister with a sigh. "As much as I would love for you to be the one to deliver her. As much as, like you, I hate hospitals. Faith had the right idea when she insisted I see a doctor."
"Would you like me to make the arrangements?" Buffy asked.
"Please," Dawn begged.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Leo nodded. "Okay, I'll make arrangements today."
"Oh, really. And what happens when she's delivered in swaddling orbs?" Piper asked, worry in her voice.
"We'll deal with it then," Leo soothed his wife. "From now on I want you to feel safe and secure, okay?" He kissed her forehead. When he leaned back he knocked over the side table and all the stuff on it. He noticed Piper was about to freeze everything to keep it from hitting the floor. "No magic! No magic! No magic! It's just too much stress on your body."
"Like that mess on the floor's not going to stress me out?" Piper asked.
Leo nodded, "Well, I'll clean it up," he said.
Abandoned Christmas Tree Lot, Sunnydale
Faith and Giles got to the place where the Christmas tree lot had once stood.
As Faith stepped on some wooden boards, they broke beneath her weight and she tumbled into the entrance to the cave. "Found it," she announced, picking herself up.
Giles put on his glasses and peered down at her. "Good Lord," he said, "are you all right?"
"Five by five," Faith said, dusting herself off. "Okay, stay up there. I'm going to check it out." She walked among the outcroppings and cave formations; she thought she saw a flicker of movement, but when she turned around, there was nothing.
She walked on, turned around again.
This time something was there, in her face. He was hideous, gray and deformed, a grotesque of vampiric aspect, an unbelievably hideous monster.
He made an uppercut that sent her slamming around the cavern. He came at her again, and her blocks were ineffective.
Faith tried to orb out and frowned. "Why aren't my powers working," she cried as she retreated; he followed. She managed a few blows, but she barely managed to stay upright. Yet her opponent was barely winded.
Inside of a minute she was bleeding, spent . . . and very frightened.
He swung, connected, swung again; but this time she dropped and rolled . . . and sprang to her feet with stake in hand. Before the creature could react, she drove the stake deep into his heart.
But he did not dust.
He grinned, and pulled the stake out. Then he came at her with it. She managed to avoid his stabbing motions, and the stake splintered inches from her face.
The monster was after her, punching her in the stomach, throwing her against the wall. Blow after blow rained down on her. She tried to hit him. He grabbed her fist and broke bones, then drew her forward so that her head rammed into a stalactite, which she broke off and slammed over his head, and he finally loosened his grip on her and fell to the ground.
Faith ran.
She leaped to the rock wall where she had fallen in and started scrambling up, as fast as she could, hand-and footholds crumbling . . .
She was halfway up when she felt his taloned hand gripping her ankle. . . .
Faith struggled mightily to pull herself out of the cave hole, almost freeing herself, but he managed to yank her back in. She dug into the soft earth, her fingers leaving treads. . . .
And there was Giles, haloed with a nimbus of light once more.
As Faith finally got all the way out of the hole, the monster behind retreated in snarling fear. "My powers," she said obviously out of breath. "My witch and Whitelighter powers, are gone."
Halliwell Manor
Paige stood in the basement tying up the unicorn. "There you go," she said. She turned and walked over to the geese. "Come on, come on." She stepped backward and stepped on a golden egg, breaking it, the yoke spilling all over the floor. "Aw, yuck."
"Okay," Phoebe said as she came down the stairs carrying the Book of Shadows. "Look at this, check this out." She flipped open the book, showing Paige that the pages were blank. "The whole book has been erased."
Paige's eyes widen in surprise. "How's that possible?" she asked.
Phoebe shrugged, she had no clue. "I don't know and without the book," she replied. "I don't even know how to find out. It's like someone's taken the magic and erased it from our entire family."
"I think it's bigger than that," Paige said looking down at the broken egg on the floor.
"Oh, is that from one of our golden geese?" Phoebe asked in surprise.
Paige nodded. "Yeah, I don't think we're going to be able to return them now."
Phoebe let out an exasperated sigh. "What is going on?"
"You know, this all started when El mystery mare arrived," Paige said as she turned and looked straight at the unicorn. "Maybe she's a Trojan unicorn sent to suck away our magic."
Phoebe shook her head. "No, I doubt it. Unicorns are the essence of good magic," she told her sister. "If anything, they should enhance our powers, not steal them. What about the sky last night?"
Paige thought about the sky. "What, the northern lights on the eve of a Sabbath?" she asked with a nod. "Yeah, it could be a mystical sign but don't those normally come in threes? Where's the third?"
Phoebe smiled as a thought occurred to her of what the third sign is. "Have you been experiencing uncontrollable emotional mood swings in the last week?" she asked.
Paige sighed. "Am I that transparent?"
Phoebe shook her head. "No, but read your horoscope. Jupiter, Mars and Saturn are all in Gemini," she explained to her sister. "That only happens once every three hundred years."
Paige's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Holy Hannah," she exclaimed. "It's like the universe is practically screaming at us to get our attention."
Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, but what is it trying to say?"
"I don't know." Paige shrugged. "But I've got a lot of research books in the attic," she told her sister. "I'm going to go up there and check it out." She started for the stairs before stopping and looking at her sister. "Should I call Aunt Faith and ask if they can research this too?"
"Not unless we can't find out something ourselves," Phoebe answered. "They have a demon to worry about in Sunnydale, remember? Go on, I'll meet you up there. I'm going to try to figure out a way to wrangle the geese."
"Good luck," Paige called over her shoulders as headed up the stairs.
Summers Home, Sunnydale
When Faith and Giles got back to the Summers Home, the Potentials were eating lunch, having made themselves at home.
"Sorry about the British invasion," Kennedy said. Then she looked at Faith as the Slayer walked into the kitchen and said, "You all right? You look . . ." She trailed off.
Faith shut the door and said, "Five by five, I just got into a fight, is all." She looked at Giles. "Your going tell me with what as soon as I call the Manor and find out what's wrong with my powers." She walked over to the kitchen phone and picked it up dialing.
"Halliwell Residence, Piper speaking."
"Hey, Piper. It's Faith. I need to talk to Leo," Faith said.
"Okay," Piper answered from the other end of the line. "Leo, it's Aunt Faith. Since when does she call and not orb here?"
"Since I told her to deal with what's going on in Sunnydale, that I would call for her when Dawn should go in labor," Leo answered Piper. Faith could hear him walking from the room. "Faith?"
"What's wrong with my powers, Leo," Faith asked. "I can't orb."
"Magic is down, Faith. We're trying to figure it out on our end. I will let you know when it's back."
Faith sighed as she end the call. "That explains my powers," she sighed as she turned and looked at Giles. "What about what I fought?"
Giles hesitated. "Faith, don't you think we should discuss this privately?"
"You mean, not in front of the next generation? No time to coddle them."
A thrill rippled through the girls. Annabelle grabbed a pen and a pad of paper.
"What you fought was a vampire, but it was something more than that," Giles explained. "It was a Turok-han. As Neanderthals are to human beings, the Turok-han are to vampires. Primordial, ferociously powerful killing machines, as single-minded as animals. They are the vampires vampires fear. An ancient and entirely different race. Until today, I thought they were myth."
Faith took that in. "So The First shows up—and now this. Think it's a coincidence?"
"More likely, the Turok-han is here as an agent of The First," Giles replied.
The girls processed that. Then Annabelle nervously raised her hand. "Did you slay it?"
"No," Faith replied. "It's still out there. Somewhere."
"What's it want?" Molly asked.
"All of us dead," Faith said frankly. "But for now it looks like sunlight is keeping this Ubervamp away."
"So, until sunset, I suggest you get some rest," Giles urged Faith. "A few hours' sleep will do a world of difference."
Halliwell Manor
On the stairs leading to the second floor a demon was sneaking up them as Paige came around the corner. "Hey!" she yelled at him. "Who the hell are you?"
"They call me Stanley," Stanley said a fireball formed in his hand and then immediately fizzled out of existence. "I was afraid of that."
"At least it's a level playing field," Paige smirked as Stanley rans down the stairs at her.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Leo was cleaning the mess he made when Buffy entered the room carrying a plate of food. "Here you go, sweetie," she said handing Piper the plate.
Piper smiled. "Thanks Mom," she said taking the plate from her mother. "By the way, why didn't Aunt Faith just orb?"
"Just needed some information," Buffy explained. "Wanting to check out where I saw The First's Bringers the last time I saw them in Sunnydale."
It was at that moment they heard a thump coming from downstairs. "What was that?" Piper asked.
Leo looked up at Buffy. "What?" he asked as they heard another thump.
"That." Piper said.
"Oh, that. That's probably Phoebe and Paige trying to run down the geese. Yeah, tricky birds, you know. Listen, I'll go help out, you, uh, relax." Leo said. As he passed Buffy he whispered to her, "Stay up here. You're the only one with powers right now, since your Slayer powers don't seem to be affected."
Buffy nodded in understanding. She smiled at Piper as she turned up the volume on the TV. "There we won't hear what's going on with the geese. I'll be right back. I'm going to go check on Dawn." She walked out of the room heading for her own.
Summers Home, Sunnydale
Faith stood in the bathroom looking in the mirror. She looked terrible.
Then a hand was touching her arm . . . her mother's hand . . . and Ashara Bowen was all concern and affection.
"How?" Faith whispered looking at her mother. "There's no magic."
"Hush, baby girl," Ashara answered. "You need to take it easy." She shook her head. "The last thing you need now is one of my helpful Mom's guilt trips. I'll get you some ice."
She turned to go. Faith stopped her. "No, Mom, I can't," she said.
"Faith, you have to heal," Ashara said.
Faith replied, "No magic. Leo can't orb here and heal me. Besides I don't have time."
"Are you worried about the sun going down?" Ashara asked sweetly. "Because there's some things you can't control. The sun always goes down. The sun always comes up."
"Something evil is coming," Faith said.
Ashara gazed upon Faith with infinite patience. "Faith, evil isn't coming. It's already here. Evil is always here."
Faith lifted her chin. "I have to stop it."
"How are you going to do that?" Ashara queried.
"I don't know yet, but—"
"Faith, evil is a part of us. All of us. It's natural. And no one can stop that. No one can stop nature, not even . . ."
And then Faith woke up in her bed.
Halliwell Manor
Stanley knocked Paige to the floor before grabbing a marble tabletop from nearby and held it above his head.
Phoebe ran into the room holding a knife. "Hey!" she shouted as threw the knife at Stanley and hit him in his chest.
"My name will haunt you to your grave," Stanley said as he fell backwards, dead.
"What was his name again?" Phoebe asked as she helped her sister up.
Paige shrugged. "I don't remember," she said as green slime poured out of Stanley's chest.
"What's with the leftovers?" Leo asked as he came down the stairs.
"Well, his magic ran out just like ours," Paige told her brother-in-law.
"Okay, so we have no powers," Phoebe said worriedly, "demons have no powers, what is going on here?"
Leo shrugged. "I don't know. I just got a call from Faith and her powers are down too. So I unplugged the phone just in case we get any more calls. I don't want Dawn or Piper to panic."
"Oh, well, it's official. Magic's down everywhere," Paige said as the unicorn neighed and walked into the dining room.
"I thought you tied her up," Phoebe said looking at the unicorn.
Paige sighed. "I did, she eats through everything," she said as the doorbell rang.
Phoebe's eyes went wide. "Oh, god, what time is it?" she asked in realization. "That's probably dad."
"I'll get the unicorn," Leo said.
"We got the body," Paige told him.
Phoebe opened the closet door and she and Paige grab his arms. "Alright, ready?" she asked her sister.
"Come on, dead guy," Paige said as she and Phoebe dragged him into the closet.
"Hello?" Victor called from outside. "Anybody home?"
Leo took the unicorn into the kitchen as Phoebe and Paige tuck the demon's legs into the closet and close the door.
"Somebody get that?" called Piper from upstairs.
Phoebe and Paige hurried to the door and Phoebe threw it open to reveal Victor and a woman.
"Phoebe, Paige," Victor said as he smiled at his daughter and adopted daughter. "I'd like you to meet Doris."
"Doris?" Phoebe asked.
"My new wife and your new stepmother," Victor answered as Phoebe and Paige looked at each other in complete surprise.
"Hi!" Doris waved.
"How are you. Married?" Phoebe asked as she let her father and his new wife into the house, closing the door behind them.
"We didn't even know you were dating," Paige added.
"Or that you date at all for that matter, dad," Phoebe concluded.
Victor smiled. "Well, it happened pretty fast," he admitted.
Doris nodded in agreement. "Yes, we met on the singles cruise," she told her new step-daughters.
Phoebe's eyes went wide in realization. "Oh, that trip to Mexico," she said. "That was a singles cruise?"
"Yeah," he confirmed, "I'm a man of many mysteries."
"Really?" Phoebe said in surprise.
"Where's Piper, Buffy, Dawn and Faith?" he asked making sure because of Doris to use Buffy's current name instead of the name he always referred to her as. "I want to share the good news." He turned and headed for the stairs.
"Oh, god, no, that's okay," Paige said stopping him. "Dawn and Piper are upstairs resting. We found out last night that both Dawn and Piper have a blood pressure condition. So Buffy's playing nursemaid. And Faith is out of town on business."
Victor nodded in understanding on what Paige meant by business, that it was magic related. "Piper and Dawn are okay?" he asked with a tone of concern.
"Oh, yeah, they're fine," Phoebe answered trying to sooth her father. "Don't worry. At least don't let them see you worry, anyway."
"Poor things," Doris said. "Young women today are under so many pressures. Are they eating enough garlic? Because it dilates the blood vessels, you know." She handed her coat and purse to her husband.
Phoebe glanced at Paige and then back at her new step-mother. "Oh, well, we'll have to fix some of that up."
"Oh, let me take that for you," Paige said as she saw Victor was heading for the closet. She took Doris's coat and purse from him before walking over to the closet, opening it and tossing both items on top of the dead demon. She quickly closed the door and turned around to face the couple. "We're all out of hangers."
"Hey, dad," Piper called out as she, Dawn and Buffy came down the stairs.
"Hello, Victor," Dawn said as she smiled at the man.
Buffy sighed. "They wouldn't follow my advice to stay in bed. Had to see what was going on. Hello Victor."
"Hello, Buffy! Dawn! Piper!" Victor said as he hugged first Piper, then Dawn and finally Buffy. "Oh, I heard the news, Piper…Dawn. Buffy is right you two shouldn't be on your feet."
"Dad's got some news of his own," Phoebe told her sister, aunt and mother with a meaningful look. "Gently though, dad, we don't want them to drop that calves right there on the stairs."
Victor nodded as he looked at Buffy. This wasn't the way he wanted to tell her he had gotten remarried, "Buffy, Dawn, Piper, I want you to meet Doris, my new bride."
Dawn, Buffy and Piper's eyes went wide.
"Yeah." Phoebe said noting Buffy's expression.
Doris walked over to Dawn, Piper and Buffy as they faked the smile that graced their faces. "Hello, Piper…Buffy…Dawn."
"Hi, hi, uh, Doris. W-w-welcome to the family, I guess." Piper said.
"Hi," Dawn said with a glance at her sister.
"Doris," Buffy said as her eyes flickered to Victor.
Victor sighed, this wasn't going how he had expected. Introducing the mother of his children to his new wife. "I know it's kind of sudden but sometimes when life drops a peach at your feet, you've got to stop and make some cobbler."
The closet door opened and Paige rushed over to close it quickly. Buffy looked at Paige quizzically. When she turned her attention back to her ex-husband she saw him kissing Doris. She quickly turned her head, she didn't particularly want to see her ex-husband kissing his new wife.
"That is always my motto, isn't that funny?" Paige said.
"Uh, uh, apparently they met on a singles cruise," Phoebe said. "Did you know dad goes on singles cruises?" she asked before she noticed Buffy glaring at her and she realized her mistake. 'Sorry Mom,' she mouthed in apology.
"Oh, it was like in the movies," Doris told her new family. "Our eyes met across the buffet bar, your dad's so handsome and, well, I told him, don't eat the rolls, you know, too much processed flour." She didn't notice as Paige, using her foot, drug the rug along the floor in front of the closet door. "Anyway, we stayed up all night long talking. And by the morning we just knew."
Victor smiled. "Mmm, she devastates me."
"Okay, I put away the uni..." Leo said as he came out of the kitchen. He noticed everyone standing at the foot of the stairs. "Cycle."
Piper frowned, "What unicycle?"
"It's a baby gift," Leo said.
"Someone got mine or Piper's baby a unicycle. I hope you intend to return it, Leo," Dawn said shaking her head.
"First thing in the morning," Leo answered. "Hey, Victor."
"Leo." Victor replied.
"Hello, I'm Doris." Doris said as she shook Leo's hand. "I'm your new mother-in-law."
Leo glanced at Piper and Buffy and saw their expressions. "Oh, hi, I guess I missed a lot, didn't I?" he said.
"Obviously," Buffy scoffed.
"Okay, now that we've all met, maybe the two lucky newlyweds should check into the hotel because it's really crazy here and then we'll call you..." Phoebe suggested.
Doris shook her head, she was against the idea of leaving. "Oh-oh, no. We're not going anywhere."
Buffy frowned as she glared at her ex-husband. "You're not?"
"No, I used to volunteer at the hospital. We can stay and help take care of Piper." Doris said.
"You can?" Piper said with a fake smile plastered on her lips.
"I look forward to some real mother-daughter bonding," Doris answered, giving Buffy, Dawn, Piper, Phoebe and Paige each a look.
Piper frowned looking at Buffy. "You do, huh?" she asked as the doorbell rang again.
"Oh. Well, you know, now that we've figured out you're staying here, let's get Dawn and Piper off their feet, shall we?" Phoebe suggested.
Piper looked at Buffy. "You're not leaving me alone with her," she said as Leo ushered her up the stairs. "Come on, upstairs," he said.
"Go on, Dawnie," Buffy said. "Victor and I will be upstairs in a minute." She pulled her ex-husband into the kitchen.
"Patty, I was going to tell you." Victor said with a sigh.
"So why didn't you?" Buffy asked. "I know we're not married and I'm young enough now to be your daughter. But…"
Victor nodded in understanding. "I understand, Patty. It's a surprise and one you weren't prepared for. I'm sorry really I am. If you want we'll go to the hotel. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"No that's alright," Buffy let out a resigned sigh. "I just need to learn to live with the fact you can see other people. I mean I did the same thing to you after we were divorced. How many times did you catch me with Sam?"
Victor shrugged. He knew he had seen Sam and Patty together before and after the divorce. But he wasn't sure how often or anything. "I don't remember. But you're right we both need to be able to move on with our lives and accept we'll see or even get married to other people. I will understand that you may not like Doris or ever will. But I hope someday…"
"We'll see Victor, I promise," Buffy replied knowing he was right that for at least the sake of the family that someday she had to like his new wife. "By the way what did you tell her about me and Dawn?"
"I stuck with the story we used at Phoebe's wedding last year," Victor said. "So you and Dawn might want to think about referring to me as dad while she's around."
Buffy sighed. "Alright. We should go upstairs and see if Piper or Dawn have gotten themselves out of bed again," she said as they walked out of the kitchen. She glanced at the conservatory windows and noticed that Phoebe and Paige were talking to someone in the backyard. "Go on up. Piper is in our old room and Dawn is mom's old room. Tell her I will be up in a minute."