Gypsy Girl
Pairing: OC/Spike
Summary: When a travelling Gypsy from the Kalderash clan settles on the Sunnydale, she'll be no exception to the challenges of life on the Hellmouth. Alexandreina will survive though, she always does, but will she get a chance to live?
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A/N: First few chapters are short as they skim through the events of S1 and S2.
CHAPTER SIX
Alexandreina sat on her couch, admiring the newly dried caramel brown polish on her dangerously long nails, when the phone rang.
She sighed.
Standing she grabbed the landline, seeing Janna's number on the caller ID. "Hello?" She answered, retaking her seat on the couch. Draining her cup of coffee in preparation for whatever conversation Janna wanted to have.
"Morning, Alexandreina" Janna greeted. "Listen, Giles is looking for some information and I told him you have quite the collection in prophesy books"
Alexandreina rolled her eyes.
"What's he looking for?" She asked knowingly
Janna was so freaking lucky that Alexandreina had a soft spot for her older cousin. Her childhood had been rough and their yearly family get togethers that she spent hanging around Janna still meant a lot. Maybe that made her naïve, but she didn't mind. It gave her something to care about in life... other than herself, that is.
And Janna is a great person.
Kind and nice.
So, if Janna wanted to use her book collection to impress Giles, Alexandreina didn't see the issue. Other than the fact that Janna would never admit that's what she was doing. Kalderash women were known for being prideful and stubborn.
"Anything you might have on something called 'The Harvest'" Janna said
"It rings a bell. I'll take a look, okay?" Alexandreina agreed with a small scoff. "You owe me though. Now, has he asked you out yet?"
"He hasn't" Janna muttered lowly as if she were embarrassed by the question.
Alexandreina smirked.
"Seriously?" She rolled her eyes. "Well, men are stupid like that. And anyway, aren't you always going on about 'gender roles' and 'stereotypes'? Why don't you ask him out?" She suggested
Her advice while somewhat helpful, was also mostly to get a rise out of her cousin.
It was funny.
Janna always got worked up over the littlest things. Especially when those things weren't in her favour. For example, Janna's rants on 'breaking gender roles' being used against her while she sits and waits for Giles to buck up and ask her out. Giles didn't seem the confident type though... at least not in Alexandreina's opinion.
Sweet, maybe.
But not confident.
"Well maybe I will!" Janna retorted like an angry child. "It's not like women can't be the ones to ask for a date! I could ask him out. If I wanted to, of course, but I've just been busy lately"
"Uh-huh" She hummed mockingly. "You still managed to find time to be calling me on his behalf. Clearly your not that busy... "
Janna sighed exasperatedly
"You're being a child" Janna sniffed incredulously
"Whatever you say Janna" Alexandreina sung before hanging up the phone. A smirk now firmly on her face as she went to search through her books. No matter how much she liked annoying Janna, she would help Giles for her cousin. She really did have hope the two would finally get together. They just seemed to need a push in the right direction.
Maybe this was the perfect chance for that?
Alexandreina blanched.
God, she hated herself for even thinking of playing matchmaker. However when it came to Janna's happiness she figured she could put her pride aside and help.
Only this once.
Never again though.
"Fuck" Alexandreina cursed at herself before furiously focusing back on the task at hand. Cringing a little at the fact she now had a little plan to meddle.
Alexandreina spend the next two hours alternating from sitting up in the loft, to sitting at the desk below the loft. Her eyes straining from reading the ancient books. Her brain just as tiered from translating the ancient languages. She almost lost hope in finding anything before she stumbled across reference to 'The Harvest' from a few decades ago in a newer book. Once she'd found that first reference, she was able to find a bunch more on the prophesy.
And- Oh shit.
Giles was gonna want to see this...
Alexandreina pursed her lips as she made her way back to her phone. She sighed and dialled the school library's number. Her eyes rolling skyward as she listened to it ring in tiered annoyance. She didn't like delivering bad news to people... and this qualified as bad.
Really bad.
Well, for Giles and Buffy, that is.
"Hello? Rupert Giles, Sunnydale librarian speaking. To whom am I speaking with?" Giles answered the phone in all his Britishness.
Alexandreina snorted, "I found something on that Harvest you asked Janna about"
"Oh, uh, Alexandreina" Giles greeted pleasantly. "Janna?" He then questioned
"She goes by Jenny now but I can't kick the habit" Alexandreina answered distractedly as she laid out the important passages.
"Right. Well, I've been researching this Harvest affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless" Giles began, even though his explanation was unnecessary. "I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details. It may be that you can manage to locate more of the finer details?"
"I've already found some important information on The Harvest" Alexandreina spoke up before he could go on.
"Something of interest I presume?" Giles said, as way of prompt.
Alexandreina rolled her eyes but got to point. "This is what I know. Some sixty years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, but not just to feed"
"But because it's the Hellmouth" Giles answered
"Yes. The Spanish who first settled here called it 'Boca del Infierno'. Roughly translated, 'Hellmouth'. It's like a portal between this reality and the next. This vampire hoped to open it, Giles, but there was an earthquake that destroyed the town before he could"
"Opening dimensional portals is a tricky business. Odds are he got himself stuck, rather like a, uh, a cork in a bottle" Giles explained on a sigh
"That's what I was thinking... and that means this Harvest thing is to get him out" Alexandreina went on. "It comes once in a century. On this night, The Master can draw power from one of his minion while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol of a three-pointed star"
"That is going to be very helpful. Very good" Giles said, but he sounded even more worried now.
She almost felt bad.
But she wasn't done with the bad news yet.
"Not for Buffy, it's not" Alexandreina retorted on a sigh. "Listen to this; 'For they will gather and be gathered. From the Vessel pours life.'"
"P-Pours life?" Giles stuttered
"Yeah" She confirmed as she stared at the picture of Satan feeding power to a man. She continued reading the next part. "'On the night of the crescent moon, the first past the solstice it will come...'"
"Of course. That's tonight!" Giles exclaimed In a rush. "Listen, Alexandreina, thank you for the help. I've got to inform Buffy of this"
"Good luck" Alexandreina said, having a feeling he would need it.
Well shit.
"Life on a fucking Hellmouth" Alexandreina chuckled dryly and fetched herself a beer and the jar of Oreo cookies. Good luck to those Slayerettes...
Alexandreina was not ashamed to admit her love for sweets was rivalled by her love for baking them. So much so that she had created her own recipe book. Not that the recipes were all of her own creation though. In fact, the book was more like a compilation of her favourite recipes to make.
Some are sacred family recipes.
Others are ones she found in cookbooks that she loves.
But all the recipes she enjoys are written out with any and all personal adjustments in a few large folders stored in her kitchen. Alexandreina had pulled them out this morning to add more recent recipes to her collection. Cinnamon Apple Crumb Cake was an epic success, even though she had needed to adjust the ingredients a little bit.
Her next recipe to try: Maple Pecan Bread.
It's supposed to be almost like a loaf of banana bread, only not banana.
Alexandreina was looking forward to making it. This was one of the very few things in life she truly enjoys doing. A healthy hobby to use as an outlet for her often troubled feelings. When she was cooking, she could focus completely on a productive task. It calmed her down when she had nightmares or dark visions. The calming distraction helped her refocus on the here and now in a healthy way.
Because lord knows she's got some coping mechanisms that aren't healthy.
Alexandreina sighed.
She didn't want to think about those right now. Instead she wanted to focus herself on this task. To allow her mind to recover from the overwhelming onslaught of images she had been assaulted with. It seemed to be happening a lot since she moved to the Hellmouth. There appeared to always be some kind of threat, some kind of attack, around here.
But her visions had given her faith that Buffy and the Slayerettes could handle themselves well enough.
They didn't need her help.
But that didn't explain why she continued to get visions of those fights. It wasn't like she had any time saving information or a reason to help them. But the spirits seemed determined to show her the Slayerettes heroic actions.
It was annoying.
And very exhausting.
Alexandreina wasn't sure what to make of any of it though. Not yet at least. So she tried not to think about it too much. But the influx of visions was taking its toll on her mind and body lately.
Hence the need for cooking as an outlet...
But she hardly needed an excuse to indulge her sweet tooth. Alexandreina was always happy to bake something new. Though as she prepared her ingredients she made a mental note to find time to make some more spelled potions to sell. They were always a hit, and she imaged even more so in a town like this one. Alexandreina figured she could look into a local mystic arts store and strike up a deal to fill some potions orders.
She'd done it before.
The arrangement could bring in a good amount of cash in a town like this one.
Alexandreina smiled to herself as she felt her mood lightening. The heavy weight of the visions lifting from her shoulders.
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