"The Ascending Serpent…" Spike mumbled to himself. "Well that doesn't this sound like a barrel of fun," Spike's eyebrows furrowed in concentration and his lips pressed into a single like as he continued to read. "'Ey, I think I've got something," he remarks to Giles, standing up and striding over to the older man. He placed the book in Giles' lap and pointed to the section describing The Ritual of the Ascending Serpent.

"Dear Lord," Giles whispered under his breath. "To become a true child of Set, one must bathe in the blood of the dual champions of light," he said to the others in the room. "Someone is trying to take the form of Apep, the Serpent Lord of Chaos."

"Another apocalypse to be averted," Spike rolled his eyes and slouched back down in his chair across the room.

"This serpent, Apep, is there anyway to kill him, if the worst is to happen?" Angel asked, closing his book and joining Giles to look at the volume he had in his hands. Inside the book depicted Apep as a giant serpent, with a head of flint.

"Once he reaches apotheosis, well, it is said that Apep is over 15 meters long…" Giles read, dully. "If it comes down to a fight between us and the reincarnation of Apep, the world may very well be plunged into chaos forever."

"Then we go and rescue Buffy before this ritual goes down," Spike suggested. He was already tired of this conversation and it didn't seem likely to let up anytime soon. He gruffly tapped a cigarette out of his pack and lit it with one smooth stroke to his Zippo.

"The ritual cannot be completed without a second champion. The Cult of Set clearly believes that Buffy is the first champion, but who is the second?" Wesley asked in a near whisper from his chair in the corner of the room.

"Angel is the next logical guess," Giles concluded.

"Or maybe Faith," Angel agreed that he was the second champion, but didn't want to be left out of the fight-nor did he want to concede that maybe Spike was a champion for the Powers that Be.

"'Ey, what about me 'ere? I died to save the world. That's gotta count for something! More than that rogue Slayer has done, at least." Spike was peeved at the oversight. Was nothing ever good enough for these ponces? He was good enough for Buffy to call a champion, he had to remind himself of her words the night before he had sacrificed himself.

"Yes, Spike, but Faith didn't spend over a century tormenting Europe before deciding to change sides all for the love of a woman," Giles scolded.

"If I recall, Angelus did most of the tormentin'," Spike prodded, taking a deep drag on his cigarette and blowing it out in front of him with a deep sigh. "As for the reasons I've chosen to become a white hat and all, I've got my reasons, and Buffy wasn't the only one. If you think I'm just going to go back to my evil ways without her, you've got it all wrong. I've changed, and I don't need your validation to know that." Spike was on his feet and moving towards the door without a backwards glance before the group even had a chance to react to his speech.


Buffy woke to the sharp burn of cord digging into the soft flesh of her wrists where they were tied behind her back and a dull ache between her shoulder blades. The strong scent of wet dirt and the soft sound of a waterfall assaulted her senses. She struggled to stay still and not attract any attention while she tried to recall what had happened the last time she had been conscious.

"Well, well, well, Sleeping Beauty is awake," came an unfamiliar voice from behind her.

Buffy licked her dry lips and tried to turn her prone form towards the voice, but only succeeded in pressing her face into the soft ground and flopping like a fish. A firm hand gripped the cord that was binding her wrists together and hauled her into a sitting position.

"You're not exactly Prince Charming," Buffy retorted as the owner of the strange voice knelt in front of her.

The scars on his face seemed to pucker and turned white as he scowled at her, displeased with her at the first words out of his mouth. He lifted his hand to strike her, but was interrupted by another voice behind him, this one female.

"She has a mouth on her, doesn't she? At least she'll die bravely," commented the woman. "Untie her, it is past time she eats," she ordered, with the stature and air of confidence of nobility. The tray in her hands was held gracefully between long, elegant fingers and smelled of roast meat. Buffy drooled slightly, her stomach clenching in anticipation of food. "There are guards posted at the entrance, and you're deep in a system of caves. If you try to escape, we'll tie you back up and force feed you. Are we clear?"

Buffy nodded in agreement, knowing she hadn't eaten in days and wouldn't have the strength to fight off the two vampires in the room without any weapons, let alone the ones posted at the entrance. Her restraints were cut and she gladly rubbed her wrists and stretched her aching limbs.

"Join me," the woman gestured to a table on the near side of the room and places her tray of assorted meats and cheeses down.