September tenth dawned, and I found myself in a bit of a quandry. I'd been here a nearly a whole day and nothing had struck me as particularly funny or good for long-term entertainment other than the plan to imitate Lucifer. The food was worth sticking around a while (at least long enough to get a good sampling of it), but what else was there to do while I waited for the joke to play out? My other avatars were doing all the fun stuff, like storming Pylea and learning new magic. Even the clones that hadn't disbursed yet were probably having more fun! Wasn't getting older supposed to make me more patient?
I could probably track down and deal with Mayor Wilkins, Glorificus, the Initiative, the Circle of the Black Thorn, the Senior Partners, and the First Evil (depending on its exact nature) in a few hours if I really wanted to. There was the Judge, a statue with a sword in it, the Sisters of Je, a bunch of random student shenanigans, Joyce's brain cancer, and so much more. How many experiences fighting evil could I deprive the Scoobies of before they were unable to handle anything that hadn't been shown in the series, though? I wasn't going to stick around forever, after all. And this was getting boring. I was going to have to start sending significantly less powerful avatars or ROB someone if I wanted to entertain myself.
I made breakfast as I pondered, and sent Tara over to offer rides to school for Buffy and Dawn if they wanted them. Joyce could use the time to settle into her new job I was sure, and I was heading to the high school anyway. Another stop wouldn't be any trouble. Dropping a holy smite on the entire planet would be briefly entertaining I mused as I scooped bacon onto a plate, but wouldn't be long-term fun. Come to think of it, I still hadn't achieved true mastery over magic or shapeshifting by the standards I'd imagined before Washu came to get me.
These days all of my magic was done with universal energy and divine power for anything that didn't cover. That was a lazy solution, though. I wanted to be able to create true life, planes of existence, devastating offensive spells, and all sorts of fancy shit with magic alone then branch out into doing it with psionics and chakra and all those other wonderful things. For that I'd need to bypass my Gamer ability and use actual mana rather than the catch-all I usually used the term for. My brow furrowed, and I handed a loaded plate of breakfast goodies to Sarah. Tara was already back and eating at the table. What did archmage status really mean to me, anyway? Being stupidly powerful was part of it, but adaptability was more important. If it weren't for my ridiculous efficiency and regeneration my mana reserve probably wouldn't be all that impressive.
Shapeshifting was another area that I'd wanted to master and hadn't come anywhere near. Oh sure, I could take just about any form I wanted even some that were completely non-physical. That wasn't the point. I wanted to be able to create, absorb, and modify anything and everything with the power of my changing ability alone. Cancer? Force it to mimic the healthy cells around it. Nasty beast attacking me? Eat it and gain its power. Gaping wound? Fill it with more shape-shifty stuff. Rock slide? Also eat it and gain its power. Or something. Maybe ooze out around it? The point was that I couldn't yet simply eat things and gain their forms, powers, memories, and whatever else I wanted. I also couldn't simply co-opt bodies with the power of my will or inflict changes on others without magic. The only way I could think of to satisfy that goal would be to do it all with psionics, life energy, and soul energy.
I'd become a Builder at some point, too. The itch to create was always there now, just under the surface. I'd barely done anything with it, in my opinion. What was a car or some minions when compared to the epic flying castles, planet-covering nano-machines, Dyson spheres, and other crap I'd imagined when I was younger? Elysium and Bastion were nice and kind of in the same league as a floating castle if you squinted. There was also an idea for an ultimate melee weapon I'd been toying around with, but I'd need to find a collapsing or otherwise doomed plane of existence to forge it. Thor's hammer would have nothing on the Dagger of...something or other. What did you call a knife made from the border between reality and unreality made manifest? How long would it take me to forge an entire dimension and the surrounding void into a blade? Could I still make it transform into a shovel?
When all that was done I wanted to give someone else the chance Washu had given me, too. Maybe I'd start with one of the versions of myself that had been following my adventures in writing, but eventually I wanted to do something slightly less egocentric too. The challenges Washu had presented were at first fascinating, but just weren't enough to keep me interested anymore. I'd only done one of them, in the end. Come to think of it, the Civilization challenge reward would help me get through these rough spots where I didn't want to interfere too much.
All of that was in the future, though. For now I'd just go along with things and see what happened. This was basically a vacation after all. I heard the front door open as Tara returned with the Summers daughters in tow. They'd been ready to leave but waiting on Joyce, who'd been grateful for the extra time to arrange things. They eyed the bacon longingly, Dawn actually taking me up on my offer of a little extra and we left as soon as breakfast was finished. Just for fun, I gave Dawn a beautiful conjured feather with a hint of my divine aura and an indestructibility enchantment to wear in her hair. Tara smiled at the gesture, Dawn looked confused, and Buffy looked faintly suspicious.
Buffy wasn't terribly fond of the school librarian. She didn't want anything to do with the supernatural anymore, and here was a brand new Watcher as if she wasn't still mourning the loss of her old one. The vampire victim the day before and the attack that night had rattled her though. One of her new friends was in the hospital but would recover in time, and both Xander and Willow were now aware of her past and what little she could tell them of what went bump in the night. When the three walked into the library before first period and found him white as a sheet and smelling a little like liquor she wasn't impressed. This whole town was weird.
She fingered the cross she'd received the night before, keeping it in her pocket for now. That guy had been creepy too, but at least his gift had helped save her friends. Giles spotted her immediately, and it only took a little convincing to allow the other teens into the conference he called in the library office. He sat down and started leafing through papers and books scattered on the desk, then turned his eyes to them when he had a neat little pile assembled. Xander fidgeted, Willow subtly elbowed him in the side, and Buffy sat wondering what had the new guy spooked.
He started with the standard introductory speech. "The world is older than you know," and all that. Willow had lots of questions, while Xander and Buffy mostly just let the conversation flow for their own reasons. Buffy related what had happened the night before with both the mysterious man and the vampire attack and Giles promised to look into it. He didn't look any less stressed than he had before, and Willow offered to help with research after school. They left the library when the warning bell rang, with Giles muttering about the Harvest and wondering where he'd heard it before.
It wasn't until later in the day when they returned to the library and Buffy asked to use the phone that things got really weird. She needed to call both her mother and Wren to arrange a late ride home, but she was just about finished talking to her mom when Wren walked into the library with Dawn and Tara. Wren startled and looked down at the floor as if he could see something underneath, then smiled slightly before scanning over the people present. His eyes lingered on Buffy for only a moment longer than her friends, but locked on Giles with purpose. Wren's head tilted slightly to the side as if listening to something only he could hear, and the librarian clutched at his arm as if in pain.
"Hello Buffy and friends. You weren't out front waiting, so I decided to ask if anyone knew where you were. A girl named Harmony pointed me here. Do you need some time? I can take Dawn and Tara home and come back for you later."
Giles stared at the man, his eyes wide behind his glasses and a wisp of smoke starting to come curl out from under his left sleeve. Buffy and to a lesser extent Xander looked between the two suspiciously, Willow blushed faintly but said nothing. When Giles finally spotted the feather in Dawn's hair he inhaled sharply and looked back at Wren with determination, still gripping his arm.
"Buffy, why don't you and your friends stay here for a while longer? I'm sure I can arrange transportation for you or you can walk. There's no need to make this gentleman go out of his way, but we do need to finish the...study session," he said as casually as he could. Nobody in the room missed the smoke or way Giles refused to take his eyes off of Wren, but the young man only looked mildly concerned.
"You might want to get that looked at, sir. Maybe running it under some cool water would help? As for rides home I can take Dawn back and stay near my phone in case your transportation doesn't work out. Buffy should probably ask Joyce about the change in plans though, since I doubt she knows this gentleman," he pointed out, gesturing to Buffy who was still on the phone. A quick check with her mother revealed that yes, she really would rather pick them up herself or allow Wren to do it rather than a complete stranger.
Wren's expression grew more concerned as Giles started to turn a little red and whatever was burning in his sleeve started to smell like cooked meat. Giles continued to stare, but Wren let Buffy know he wasn't busy and would come to get her if she called. He was going to bring Dawn and Tara home and start on dinner. The three of them left with a final admonition to Wren that Giles really should do something about his arm. As soon as the library doors closed the man dropped to the floor and frantically tugged off his jacket. The arm of the shirt beneath it was blackened around the inside of his elbow, and the teens watched with worry as he ripped the fabric off to reveal a spot of skin that looked badly sunburned.
Giles gaped at seeing it so something must have been unusual, but really the damage wasn't that bad. Xander eyed the exit warily while Willow repeated first-aid instructions to herself on the way toward the first-aid kit. Buffy just had a headache. Why couldn't her life be simple again? Once Giles was situated with some burn cream and a bandage he explained both the call he'd gotten from the Watchers' Council and what he'd learned about the Harvest. Buffy broke down in tears, and the terrified duo of Willow and Xander gave as much comfort as they could. Giles made tea and sipped from a flask.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was fated to die at the hands of the Master, Lucifer was her next door neighbor, and he'd just taken her little sister and one of her new friends home for the evening. Wait...didn't Tara live with him? Satan was boarding with one of her friends! Could they trust her, then? The existential crisis went on for hours, and she eventually called her mother to pick her up. Riding with the Devil didn't sound like a good idea. Now if only she could figure out a way to warn her mother that Dawn wouldn't immediately contradict, since he always dropped her off last and picked her up first...
The next morning was awkward. Buffy didn't want to say anything in case they were wrong and the guy hadn't done anything overtly creepy other than the possibility he was responsible for Giles's burn, but she also really really didn't want the Devil to drive her or her sister to school! Unfortunately it sounded like Joyce had already made plans with their wonderful neighbor for that, and they were having lunch later too! Wren was apparently a fan of art and wanted to get a look at the gallery before it was inevitably filled with what he called "church-sponsored rubbish." Buffy herself didn't know a whole lot about art except that her mother wasn't terribly fond of religious stuff either, but she couldn't help thinking it was just another sign that things weren't quite right with the guy.
The car ride was awkward, with Wren listening to some really strange songs she'd never heard of of a mix tape. One of the songs had the vocalist repeatedly yelling "I feel like a monster!" and Wren singing along with the lyrics, including an eerily good impression of the one time it came out in a weird demon voice [1]. She shivered, Dawn grinned happily, and Tara gave Wren an exasperated look that ended with him fast-forwarding to some sort of Irish folk song instead of listening to the rest of Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper. When they arrived at the high school Buffy stepped out shaking slightly. Back in Black hadn't rattled her quite as much as Monster, but leaving Dawn in the car with the man to head to her school while they both sang along to Hotel California wasn't helping. At all. She ended up dragging Tara to the library to answer some questions.
Tara's open admission that Wren was an angel who'd saved her and her mother while cursing her father and brother nearly made her wet herself. When Giles asked why she'd so readily admitted it her answer was no less worrying: Wren had told her she could trust each of them and one other person in the school by name, and that they were allowed to know what he was. The other person who was allowed to know? Janna Calderash (also known as Jenny Calendar), who had come to Sunnydale to keep an eye on a vampire cursed with a soul. Giles was twitching and stuttering by the time Tara left, Willow and Xander were both spooked, and Buffy just didn't know what the hell was going on anymore. She was supposed to die according to a prophecy, but from what Tara had said she was also under the protection of the fallen angel. What. The. Fuck.
[1] : The band Skillet actually formed that same year, but wouldn't release Monster for another three.