Chapter 7
Disclaimer: I'm like my favorite horse. I didn't do it!!
...
Chapter 16
Maria Evans slowly came back into awareness. The last thing she remembered, she was being attacked by the thing that had ambushed her and her friends in the sparring room at the Academy. That wasn't supposed to be able to happen. The schools were supposed to be protected. Nonetheless it had, and she was really surprised that she wasn't dead right now.
"Hssst, hey," Maria blinked in groggy surprise as Vashka poked at her. She was supposed to be dead, too. "Wake up, sleepyhead."
"What…?" Maria sat up and grabbed her head, groaning. It felt like she'd been rammed into a brick wall. She looked around. Not only was everyone else alive, they were all free and looking fine. Vashka sat next to her, the brunette Russian glowering, and Jennie and Karen were across from them on the mat. They were all staring at something behind her.
Turning, she saw the reason for their stares. Anne Montgomery, the teacher they'd been waiting for, the one that had been late, was grinning at them cheekily from her spot on the floor.
"Hello, ladies," she addressed them, "and welcome to my class."
"How…Why…?" Karen spluttered in outrage.
"The how is a secret," and a small blackout spell from Willow, Buffy thought silently, "The why is very important, however."
"I thought you were a combat instructor?" Vashka snarled. She was still smarting over her easy defeat.
"Combat is a different class," she smiled, and then became grim, "I'm here to teach you about something much more important."
"About death?" Maria asked grimly, remembering the words that had been said right before she'd been knocked out. "Because we've all seen it."
It was the unfortunate truth. Life in the Academies was fun and, for the most part, safe. But every Academy had had at least one death. Either as part of training or a girl that had graduated. As safe as the Council tried to make them, the girls were still Slayers and that carried a certain amount of risk.
"Not about death," their teacher replied, "I'm sure you've all had the 'Death is my Gift' 'speal." She'd heard about it from Willow. One late night mention of it to Andrew back in Sunnydale and now it was mass marketed. Jeez!
"Oh yeah," the girls replied en masse. Andrew could be a good teacher when he toured through but his lectures tended to ramble on. He always seemed to get distracted by his own vague movie references.
"Right," Anne nodded, "And death is a very important part of being a Slayer. It permeates our very being. Another person's death leads to our being Chosen, normally," she cocked her head and grinned at them at the inside joke, "And our death will lead to the next and on and on."
"There's also the fact that we cause a lot of it," Vashka snorted, "At least of the demon variety."
"True, very true. But do you think death is the only gift we've been given?"
"Well," Jenny ventured, "We've got the whole superpower thing going on."
The rest of the Slayers chuckled, even Anne.
"That always helps," she laughed, "But even a normal person with no superpowers can kill a vampire. It just takes a little more effort. Fear," their teacher looked deep into each of their eyes and they felt pierced to their souls, "Fear is the other gift."
A moment of silence engulfed the room as the Slayers processed this. Then Vashka burst into laughter.
"What the hell kind of two bit philosophy is that?!"
The teacher they knew as Anne waited until their laughter petered out. An uneasy silence settled as the girls realized she wasn't kidding.
"What did you feel when I turned out the lights and took you down one by one?" Her voice was deadly serious. "You felt fear. You were afraid for your lives. I took a place you were supposed to be safe in and I turned it unsafe. You'll never feel completely comfortable or complacent here again."
"You all reacted to the fear differently. Some with anger," she looked to Vashka, "some with confusion and panic," Jennie and Karen looked down, shamefaced, "and some with logic," her eyes sought out Maria. "All of those reactions are natural, but wrong."
"How so?" Maria asked.
"Fear exists for a reason," Anne explained, "It tells us when we are in a dangerous situation. It is our body's way of telling us there is something out there that we are not consciously aware of. You need to learn to slow down and listen to what your body is telling you, to use all your senses. But fear can also be used as a weapon."
The girls stirred, feeling the truth of her words.
"It is what makes the Slayer so effective. Not how many demons you kill. There are too many of them, even for all of us. It is our ability to inspire fear in them which keeps them in line. You must do for the demons exactly what I did for you. You must take them by surprise and make them scatter. Make them afraid."
The four Slayers say back, stunned a bit.
"That is what this class is about," she told them now that she had their full and undivided attention. "It's about fear, how to deal with it in yourself and how to use it to your advantage."
…
"Brother?" The tall, skinny man named Titus stood pulling apart a piece of string in the big, red trophy room.
"What is it?"
"I have a problem, brother."
"Oh?" The shorter man, Zeak, put down the pen he was writing with and looked over.
"Yes," Titus pouted, "Someone's taking away all my fun."
"How so?"
"It's the little ones, the pretty toys I collected. I'd gotten a few and then someone went and let them out before I could play with them."
"Hmmm?" The short man frowned, considering. "Do you have any information on whom? Was it the Slayers?"
"Well," Titus scratched his head frantically, "I kind of killed the guards before they could tell me anything."
"Titus," Zeak sighed, putting his head in his hands, "You know what I told you about keeping your temper…"
"But I was so angry!" Titus tried to explain, "They had let my pretty toys escape. My hands just moved before I could stop them."
"Titussss," Zeak growled, getting irritated and causing the thin man to cower back.
"I'm sorry, brother," he pleaded, "I'll never do it again. I swear!"
"If it weren't for mama…," Zeak grumbled the often repeated phrase, setting back. Then he sighed, "It seems they caught onto us a little faster than I expected, but that's okay. I accounted for that possibility. I want you to step up to the next level."
Titus seemed excited, but nervous. "Are you sure, brother?"
"Of course I am, Titus," Zeak's voice was firm as he explained, "The only reason your scared is because they're Slayers. But you have to understand. Slayers aren't the bogeymen that everyone thinks they are."
"They kill so many of us because we're so disorganized. But if we work together and approach the problem logically, even Slayers aren't that scary anymore." He grinned ferally, flashing his fangs, "They're just meat, like any other human."
……………………….
Author's Note:
Don't kill me, here it is! No real cliffhanger this time, so don't start shooting again. I swear, you guys can't take a joke! (wink)
This chapter was all about how I always thought the Slayer really operated. If you think about it, one girl couldn't really stand against all the forces of darkness. So I figured they rated on a Q-ship type of strategy. Basically that means that they would lure the demons out by looking completely normal and then strike at them. This would cause the demons to be wary of any "normal looking" prey. (For a more thorough explanation of Q-Ships I suggest British and Dominion Warships of WWII)
Their tactics, even with so many, would also have to resemble that of Special Forces strike teams rather than conventional infantry. Dash in under cover, hit the target with devastating force, then escape without capture. This causes fear and panic and, when it works, if particularly effective against a larger force.
But enough with boring explanations! My normal shout out to all the reviewers, you guys keep me going. Thank you. I would like to add a special thanks to La Fin du Mond and Lone Voice, you guys are so cool. Also, to my ever present reviewers, Crzy4Anime and Shadow High Angel, a special ROCK ON!
Omake next time!