Chapter 527
Spike looked at the pool with no water. If a human were to dive in head first they would die. A vampire wouldn't die, but it would still hurt like hell. Still, this was where Lorne said to go. This "leap of faith" would take Spike to the trials. Spike knew Buffy's concern was her sister, not the world. She wanted no part of the battle between good and evil if her little sister was on the other side. But maybe, if Dawn got her soul back, Buffy would be more willing to fight. Spike made the leap and found himself in what looked like a castle. A valet was here to greet him. The valet took Spike's shirt and shoes and explained that, in order to restore Dawn's soul, Spike would have to complete three trials. In theory the first two were child's play. For the first one a door would open, Spike simply had to walk through it. For the second trial there was another door, they would even provide Spike a key. He simply had to use the key to open the door. Spike knew there would be a catch for each one, but the valet wouldn't reveal more. The third trial was more complicated, it had to be seen for itself. The valet dissapeared, and the gate opened. A large demon emerged, and attacked Spike, this would be the catch. Spike put a sword into the demon, but the gate closed. The demon got up, alive. Everytime Spike killed this demon, the gate closed. It took Spike an hour to figure out a solution. He put the chains of the gate around the demon's neck and pulled. With him unable to follow Spike walked through the gate. When he reached the second room he saw crosses on the floor. That would hurt a vampire. He didn't see a key, but he saw a thing with water. Spike knew that had to be holy water. The key was likely in there. As fast as he could Spike ran across this room, knocked over the water, grabbed the key in the air, and ran to the door. This was painful, but it could've been much worse. As Spike reached the final room the valet explained the third trial. For Dawn to get her soul back, Spike had to accept his own soul back. Spike could simply leave without his soul, noone would stop him. But if he did, this door would never be open to him again. Spike thought about this. He said he'd come here to bring Buffy back into the fight, save the world. But he also didn't like to see her hurt so bad. He actually cared about Buffy Summers. But was he willing to accept his soul? All that guilt, remorse? But, for better or worse, Spike knew he'd have to make a choice, once and for all.