Disclaimer: Buffy belongs to Mutant Enemy and Puppet master belongs to Full Moon
Chapter two: Introducing the cast
Willow woke up to the sun shining on her face and a slight sense of disorientation. As she looked around she took in her room and had the sudden desire to redecorate. Once she was fully wake she took a good look at her room and her wardrobe and had the sudden urge to burn several items. As she pulled herself out of bed Leroy the undead Pekinese simple rolled over. Willow rolled her eyes at the small reanimated dog, 'This is nowhere near as weird as this seemed to be last night.' She thought as she pulled on a robe and made her way downstairs. As she made her way to the kitchen she did a quick sweep of the living room aside from the packing material Angel and her had done a thorough job putting everything away. A lot of the occult like items were in the basement were her parents rarely if ever went. As she started making herself breakfast she froze when she realized instead of making a bowl of cereal she had the makings out for an egg dish she had never even heard of before. "This is going to take some getting used to." She muttered as she starting making something that she had never tried much less seen before.
Once she had finished eating and cleaning up after herself she went back upstairs with one of the large cardboard boxes she had received the night before. Once in her room she started going through her closet and dresser making three piles; keep, live with, and donate. The keep pile had to be one of the smallest piles. The donate pile was growing with every piece she picked up. This had to be another one of the changes that the former Puppet Masters told her about along with her new culinary knowledge. She found herself getting rid for the large fuzzy sweaters and baggy overalls that made up the majority of her wardrobe, instead she found herself saving mare adult looking formfitting clothes. It was nearly noon when she finished what she was doing. Now she was confronted with the problem of not just getting the partially filled box downstairs but out of her house, time to call in the Calvary.
By the time Buffy and her mother got to Willow's house she had started decluttering her room. As such there was a second smaller box that needed to be taken out.
"So late spring cleaning." Buffy guessed.
"You could call it that." Willow replied as she brushed her bangs back. "I just had an urge for a makeover."
"This is great there is a sale at the mall we can turn you in to an all new you." Buffy enthused with a slight bounce.
"Actually I was thinking of some of the resale shops downtown." Willow replied.
"Seriously, I mean if that is your scene but I doubt there is anything wearable there." Buffy drawled her tone showing how little she thought of the idea.
"I know you prefer to be on the cutting edge of fashion, but I find myself preferring vintage." Willow replied.
"I guess but I don't see how that will.. "Buffy started, only for her mother to cut in.
"Buffy, Willow is allowed to have her own style." Joyce replied. "Will you be able to afford enough clothes in order to make up what you are giving away?"
"A family friend died recently and left me not only some money but some of her belongings, that what triggered all this. I needed to make room and the next step is going through the clothes I inherited and decide what to keep and what to lose."
"Cool dress up." Buffy cheered.
"I left those boxes downstairs, so you two are willing to help me gets these boxes downstairs."
"Sure, Mom why don't you grab the smaller one, while Willow and I can handle the bigger one." Buffy said as she moved over to the large box of clothes. In short order the three women had relocated downstairs and were moving things so that the large trunks holding the clothing portion of Willow's inheritance were out in the open and accessible. As Willow and Buffy went through the trunks pulling out shoes and pieces of clothing that they hold up to each other having a great time, Joyce found herself looking through a packet of papers that had been left on the coffee table.
"Willow," Joyce asked. "Am I reading this right?"
"If you are referring to the hotel then, yes." Willow replied as she made her way over to her wrapped up in heavy brocade shawl.
"What hotel?" Buffy asked looking up from the outfit she had been creating.
"The one I inherited, Bodaga Bay Inn out on the coast." Willow replied as she reclaimed the papers back from a sheepish Joyce. "Along with everything inside of it, these chests are just a small portion essentially the stuff that needed to be removed for safe keeping. There is even more in the basement and upstairs in my closet."
"You moved all this by yourself?" Joyce asked.
"No I lucked out and Angel was passing by he gave me a hand." Willow replied only to freeze at the luck on Buffy's face.
"Angel?" Joyce asked noticing the undercurrent.
"An older friend of ours." Willow explained.
"Have you had a chance to go through all this yet?" Joyce asked changing the subject.
"I just got all of this last night, I have barely had time to sort it much less study it." Willow replied sitting down next to the older woman.
"First of all is this all there is or was there some form contact information for the lawyer who handled the will?" Joyce asked.
"Actually Megan did this all up herself she figured something was going to happen to her and got everything in order. Her actual will hasn't even been processed yet from what I understand." Willow replied. "What I do know is that all of the property and money is tied up in a trust, I can't do anything with it until I turn twenty one. The trust is supposedly designed so that the hotel can be run and I will receive a stipend every couple months."
"Ok, first thing you need to do is get a lawyer. If you would like I can make an appointment with the lawyer I use we just need to get your parent's permission."
"That could be a problem." Willow replied.
"You think they would disagree?" Joyce asked.
"I don't know where they are." Willow replied.
"What do you mean you don't know where they are?" Buffy asked coming over.
"I don't know." Willow repeated, "They go on these lecture tours and while I have a schedule they tend to change it or extend it at any moment. But I do have the contact information for their message service and their lawyer." She replied brightly.
"Willow how long has this been going on?" Joyce asked as she pulled the red head closer to her.
"Since I could safely use the stove and do the math necessary to handle shopping." Willow replied.
"Contact their lawyer and get a recommendation for a business lawyer to help you figure out what you need to do to keep things running." Joyce explained. "Also contact your parents and explain what is going on."
"Alright," Willow replied.
"Ok, with all that heavy stuff out of the way let's get to seeing how much of this stuff fits." Buffy said as she held up a sundress and a matching pair of shoes.
Hours later Willow waved as Buffy and Joyce pulled out of her drive way. They had gone through all of Megan's things and decided on what she was keeping and what she was getting rid of. They wound up taking everything she was donating to the resale shop and trading most of it for new items; a couple of things were placed on consignment. All in all it was a full day and the sun was still a couple of hours away from setting. So she had time before Angel showed up to make some calls and get things in motion. The first thing she did was go and release Leroy from her parents closet, she had no interest in explaining him to Buffy on the off chance she noticed something off with the dog. Her next step was calling first her parents message service and then their lawyer leaving messages explain what had happened and what her intention were concerning her inheritance.
After she finished the calls she set about making lists of what she needed to bring her puppets not only to life but capable of standing up to Toulon's puppets when they showed up. She made her way upstairs to her room where she pulled the three puppets out of her closet. She slowly turned them over in her hands thinking about the different possibilities for empowering them.
She picked up the one that she had dubbed the Snow Queen the pale female figure was dressed in a blue gown with a high collar. She also had ice like spikes forming a crown along her hair line and her fingers ended in needle like points. As Willow looked the doll over the voices of her predecessors whispered in her mind with suggestion about what she could do. As she sat there holding the doll she suddenly realized what she needed liquid nitrogen if she injects it into the doll during activation the puppet should start producing it on its own similar to Toulon's Leech Woman or Six Shooter or never runs out of ammunition. Willow quickly jots down liquid nitrogen on her shopping list. The next puppet she focused on was the plant covered female this one had long black hair, traffic stopping figure, and clothed in vines and leaves. She quickly figured out what she needed to enable the puppet to use her vines as restraints and whips. She was moving on to the male puppet when she heard a knocking at her balcony door. She looked up to see night had fallen and Angel was standing on her bedroom balcony.
"Did I not hear the doorbell?" Willow asked as she opened the door and let Angel in.
"No, I figured it would be better if no one saw me coming into your house." He explained as he looked around the room taking in the changes she had made.
"Why?" Willow asked causing the Vampire to pause and think of a reason other than it's what he usually did.
"So what is it that you want to get done tonight?" Angel asked.
"Reorganizing the basement and making space for a work shop down there. Also I have a list of what I am going to need to animate those puppets." Willow replied as she led Angel out of her room and downstairs.
"What are you looking for in a workshop?" Angel asked.
"Somewhere to work on the puppets and associated magic, though to start with we should make it primarily a computer shop until my parents lose interest." Willow replied.
"They like to poke around." Angel replied.
"My parents view me as an experiment, or a living proof of their theories as such a couple times a year they like to check in and inventory my life to make sure I haven't proven them wrong." Willow stated.
"I am sorry." Angel suggested really not sure how to respond.
"I am the one who should apologize; aside from my new abilities I seem to have gain I guess you would call the shades of my predecessors." Willow explained as she collapsed on to the sofa.
"What do you mean?" Angel asked as he lowered himself into an arm chair.
"Last night I had a dream in which the past Puppet Masters appeared, apparently since I was born and raised on the Hellmouth I have a darker slant then most of the previous Puppet Masters. Ever Puppet Master leaves an imprint or echo behind from the time they first use the ability until they die. I am able to access these imprint and have started to become influenced by them." Willow explained. "This morning I made an egg dish that I have never heard of much less seen before. I can now read ancient Egyptian, manage a traveling show, sabotage WW2 era train, and know how to run a hotel; the downside is my personality is my personality is changing, I threw out over half my wardrobe, and I have a working knowledge of not only human sacrifice but brain dissection."
"Oh," Angel replied his body relaxing slightly. "That cannot be easy to deal with."
"That's the scary part, it's not." Willow replied looking Angel in the eye. "Even now I can feel some of the echoes nudging me."
"What do they want?" Angel asked.
"What you have to understand is that one of my predecessors was an unscrupulous psychic researcher obsessed with learning the secrets of eternal life. And he would really like to dissect you and figure out how just what change occurred at your turning that allowed you to live this long without ageing." Willow replied flatly.
"My demon wants to break you until you are completely dependent on him, and then set you lose to see just how much carnage you could create on the populace." Angel replied just as flatly. The two of them just stared at each other for several minutes both taking in the mutual sadistic feelings they had for each other.
"Glad we understand each other, it's a creepy understanding but an understanding none the less." Willow replied. "Shall we move on?"
"Lets" Angel replied, as he pulled Willow's notebook over towards him.
"The first thing I am going to need is a secure storage unit." Willow said "I can't get rid of anything without my parent's permission but I can relocate them."
"There is a place just outside of town that caters to the supernatural." Angel replied. "It is a little pricey though you might be better off going to one of the usual ones in town and just getting insurance."
"Would they take trade?" Willow asked.
"What do you mean?" Angel asked.
"Would they rent me a space in exchange for me animating some type of guardian."
"What are you thinking?"
"A reinforced mannequin, it wouldn't be capable of independent thought like Toulon's or mine. But it should be capable of defending the property under set conditions."
"Like if a alarm is triggered?" Angel asked.
"Exactly," Willow replied.
"If they don't, I may know some others who would be interested if you don't mind working with some peaceful non-humans." Angel replied.
"Let's start with the storage units first." Willow replied. "But that might be a good way of raising funds in case of emergencies."
"Alright I will test them out, as for the rest of this it should be easy to find." Angel replied. "It will take a couple of days." He cautioned.
"I don't know if I have a couple of days." Willow said. "I can probable get what I need for the Snow Queen from the schools science department, Nymph will require a visit to the gardening center, and Rascal is essentially set I may wake up tonight just in case."
"That might be best." Angel said looking hopeful.
"Wait here." She said as she got up. She quickly gathered up the make puppet and the syringe holding a dose of the formula. She made her way down stairs and set everything out on the coffee table. "Here we go." Willow breathed as she injected the formula into the puppet. Once the formula was fully absorbed Willow held her hands above the puppet and started chanting in what Angel assumed was ancient Egyptian, but it sound almost blurred. Willow slumped slightly after she finished, her hands dropping to her side. But Angel's attention was on the puppet that had sat up and stretched. "Hello, little one." Willow greeted as she sat forward offering the puppet a hand up. The puppet took her hand and pulled himself up, he then proceeded to bring her finger to his lips before turning to consider Angel looking him up and down.
"A little flirt isn't he." Angel said as he stared back at the puppet. The puppet responded by pulling out his swords and started spinning them.
"No going back now is there?" Willow mused.
"Nope,"
"I have to face Giles tomorrow." Willow added.
"You can handle it." Angel said as he stood up. "I got to go catch up with Buffy. See you at the library tomorrow?"
"Yeah, she doesn't know about the puppets, only that you have been giving me a hand moving things around." Willow cautioned. Angel nodded and made his way back upstairs in order to exit the way he came in. "Come on Rascal, Tomorrow is going to be a long day." She sighed as she picked up the puppet and carried him upstairs.
_
Willow warily made her way into the library during her afternoon free period half hoping she would find Giles alone and half hoping she wouldn't. Depending how you look at it was her fortune to find Giles alone sorting books.
"Giles," She said catching the older man's attention. "I need to talk to you about something."
"What is it?" Giles asked as he looked towards her.
"Have you ever heard of someone called the Puppet Master?"
"Andre Toulon, a magician and puppeteer who had ties to the resistance during Wold War 2 in Germany. I don't have a lot of information on him." Giles mused as he looked off into the stacks like he was trying to recall what book the information could be found in. "He didn't exactly run in the same circles as the council." He joked.
"There have been three Puppet Masters after his death and several before he coined the title Puppet Master." Willow replied. "And to be honest they were animators not magicians, though some of them did develop some skill in other types of magic."
"What do you mean by animators?" Giles asked as he pulled off his glasses and moved towards her.
"Through the use of a formula and mystical chants they are able to bring inanimate objects not only to life but also to a limited amount of sentience in some cases." She explained watching him.
"Good lord." Giles breathed as he cleaned his glasses. "How have you come to know this?" he asked.
"I am the third." Willow admitted.
"How?" Giles asked setting his glasses aside and continued heading in her direction.
"A friend of the family died and left everything including the girt and the tools needed to be the Puppet Master." Willow explained backing away.
"Willow, why are you afraid of me?" Giles asked as he stopped and held his hands out in an I am harmless gesture.
"Do you know what they were called before Toulon created the title?" Willow asked hugging herself.
"No what?" Giles replied.
"The Head Priests of the Demon God Sutekh." Willow replied sadly.
"My dear girl," Giles stated as he surged forward and wrapped his arm around her leading her to a chair. "I will need to recheck my sources but I don't believe there is any record of Toulon taking part in any form of cult activity."
"No what he actual did was help break the cult, but he also desecrate several bodies gathering the ingredients needed to bring his creations to life." Willow replied.
"What do you mean?" Giles asked he stretched across the table to grab his glasses and a notepad.
"The key ingredient for the formula comes from the brain of either a human or an animal." Willow replied. "While Toulon never killed anyone for their brains others have."
"Anyone in particular?" Giles asked as he slipped his glasses on.
"Neil Gallagher, he used Toulon's original puppets to kill his research partners, I used the resulting formula to wake up one of the puppets he commissioned, just in case those original puppet resurrect Toulon, who in turn will make more formula, meaning he probably will be sending out his puppets to kill people specifically to collect a silver of those poor peoples brains." Willow rambled.
"Slow down." Giles demanded. "Now what is this about a puppet?"
"Since receiving all of this, I have reactivated a taxidermy dog that my direct predecessor animated, he is a Pekinese named Leroy, and last night I animated a puppet called Rascal." Willow replied.
"Who all knows about this?" Giles asked.
"Angel, he knew Toulon apparently." Willow replied. "When I revived Leroy my first reaction was go find you. I ran into him on the way to your apartment."
"How do you know where I live?" Giles asked.
"I looked it up in case of an emergency." Willow replied. "Since then he has helped me get a handle on everything and move many heavy thing up and down many stairs."
"Redecorating?" Giles asked absentmindedly his mind going over what he had learned.
"I am setting up a workshop in my basement." Willow replied. "What are we going to tell Buffy?" she whispered.
"A little at a time," Giles replied. "After classes let out I want you to go home and collect Rascal was it?"
"Alright." Willow said "Should I bring Leroy to or would that be a little much."
"Let's wait on that." Giles answered.