Author notes: sorry for the long wait and thanks to all people who reviewed this chapter or marked this story as one of their favorites.
- Madison family home, Sunnydale, Friday 4 November 2011, 22:45 -
Amy took a deep breath as she took the phone. From his armchair in the sitting room, her father was giving her a thumbs up as he hit the mute button on the TV's remote. She dialed the number and waited anxiously.
She looked at her dad as the phone rang in her ear. He had lit another of those cigars he had grown so fond of since Halloween. Of course, smoke wasn't toxic for Shedim, so it wasn't like he risked cancer. This wasn't the only change. In the past few days, his war magic had been rebuilding his body. The way he moved too had changed, she thought as she watched him get up to fetch a book from a shelf. No more middle-aged desk jockey but… yes, she knew who he looked like: The Comedian in the Watchmen movie.
And it's not only physical resemblance. I can really imagine him lighting a cigar with a flamethrower, just like the Comedian in the movie…
"Mr. Dillon?" she asked, hearing the salutation on the phone. "I am sorry to call this late, but I need to talk to Aphrodisia. I have… nightmare problems."
Her Dad had been the one to convince her to do it. It was logical in the end. If someone could help her with that, it would be Byleth, the Demoness of Nightmares. From what he had told her, hunting bad dreams was something she and her vassals were doing in Hild's dimension, for a fee of course.
She sorely needed it. Between the stress caused by Sigyn's memories trying to integrate with her own and the fact that Loki was sleeping with another woman, some of the insecurities she had thought dealt with had come back with a vengeance.
Anything but another night being tormented by my mother's ghost…
Aphrodisia was soon on the phone and Amy proceeded to explain a little of her problem, waiting for the demoness to name her price. She paled as she heard it.
"One minute, Aphrodisia… Dad," she said, covering the microphone. "She… wants me to go to her house and spend the night. I mean…"
"You mean in her bed," he replied, looking up from his book, grinning. "I remember a time… of course Byleth was not a teen then…"
"Dad! Not helping!"
"Sorry, pumpkin. You may have Elohim blood but you're my daughter, so I expect you to behave like a well-bred demon girl. This means that deciding if this particular exchange of favors is worth it is up to you."
"But… that's… whoring…"
"Pumpkin, a few days ago, you saw me shoot a man's testicles while singing 'Wie einst Lili Marlen.' So, do you really think that I care about human morals?" he said, his grin reminding her this time of Gomez Addams.
"No… and I don't think that Sunnydale is still a part of the United States," she replied, maybe a little too eagerly.
"Splendid! Tell Byleth I said hi and… enjoy yourself!"
She nodded slowly and uncovered the phone.
"I'll be here in five minutes," she said.
- Dillon family home, Sunnydale, Saturday 5 November 2011, 08:10 -
Buffy scratched the back of her head as she looked at the house in front of her. She had sifted through Mara's memories and her demon part had come up with this solution. She needed advice and she doubted that her mom would be completely rational on the matter. Giles being part of the problem, he was out of the question. She really needed someone with no preconceptions on the topic and that excluded Willow and Xander too.
That and Will is busy with Xander, she thought with a smirk.
Xander had been stuck since Halloween in a situation he was really not prepared to deal with: having a loving family. From what little the tired teenage god had told her at school, his mom was trying to make up for all those years she had been a terrible parent and going all mama cat on him. There was also the problem that his father was making up for the abuse to his mom… and that thanks to Heimdall's eyes, walls had not mattered when the half-asleep Xander had wondered about the noise made by a cat in heat Thursday night. Thankfully, Willow had a plan to make him feel at least a little more normal and had been busy preparing something with Alice's help.
She rang the bell and soon saw the door open, revealing a teenage demoness with black cat ears and tail. Buffy noted the t-shirt the girl was wearing and… probably nothing else under it. Her Slayer enhanced senses also picked up a distinctive smell that made her blush a little. She savored the sensation, knowing it was something that was hers. Mara's jaded views were already coloring her own far too much.
"Hello Aphrodisia," she said. "I know that we haven't been…"
"That was then, and this is now, Buffy," cut in the demoness with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Cordelia's throne is faltering while your star is rising, Daughter of Satan."
Buffy looked at her feet, embarrassed. It was true that the way people looked at her at school had changed. Her status was not 'psycho loser' anymore. It felt rather like what it had been before she was called as the Slayer, back when she was Hemery High's Queen Bee. She really wasn't sure what to think about it.
"Joke apart, we're both Darkflames," continued Byleth. "So, what can I do for you, cousin?"
"Eh… I wanted… listen, Byleth, I need a favor. You are the most ruthless bitch Mara knew, and you have such a devious mind that snakes look at you in reverence…"
"Flatterer," replied Aphrodisia with a radiant smile. "Please, enter freely and of your own free will."
Buffy was about to make a remark about quoting Stoker in Sunnydale when she remembered. This was a traditional demon greeting and Stoker had – at least in Hild's dimension – written Dracula after his encounter with Belial.
She followed the teen inside and kicked off her shoes before following her upstairs, trying not to think about how Aphrodisia's tail was lifting the hem of her t-shirt. She knew that Mara was a woman of experience who did not care about the gender of her lovers, but she was trying to hold on what little was left of the old Buffy. A virgin Buffy who wanted her first time to be special, and hopefully with Angel.
"Do I…"
"It depends on your definition of disturbing. As your body language is telling me, you guessed what I was doing but I don't mind the interruption, actually. Had you not come, I may not have stopped in time for Mom's arrival in one hour or so."
"Arrival… she's still human, right?"
"Yes. Dad and I hope to sway her… you want my advice on something, right?"
"Yes. I need someone more or less neutral, and I just know that you will see the… political ramifications."
Another smile while the Demoness of Nightmares tapped her lips with her right index.
"Then I think we can deal. I need some help with Mom in the morning. Deal?"
"What would I have to do?"
"Relax, I won't ask you to hold her legs while Dad ravages her," she replied with a little laugh. "No, I actually just need you to hang out doing girly stuff this morning and part of the afternoon. We need Mom to be relaxed and believe everything's normal so we can ease her into it."
"And not have her believe we're just demons wearing the faces of our former human selves," replied Buffy with a sigh. "You want to convince her to Ascend?"
"Yes."
Buffy wasn't sure she liked it, but she needed Byleth's opinion, and she knew that the human relatives of the people Halloween transformed would have to be dealt with, one way or another. If they didn't, Sunnydale's security would be in danger.
"Then, deal."
"Good."
They reached Aphrodisia's room and Buffy was startled as she saw the bed inside it. The issue wasn't the furniture itself. It was a nice queen size bed, though she would probably have argued about red satin sheets before Halloween. They had to be caused by Byleth's influence. The problem was the smell of sex and the naked girl playing with herself in the bed, eyes closed and face harboring a dreamy smile.
"A… Amy?" she said, her mind connecting with the vision in front of her and recognizing the girl in it.
"Byleth?" asked the girl, opening her eyes slowly. "Oops," she added as she recognized the blonde in the room's entrance.
Amy quickly covered herself with the sheets, but Buffy could see her face. Amy wasn't ashamed or even embarrassed. She had just covered herself so that the heavily blushing Buffy felt less uncomfortable. In fact, the witch turned fallen goddess looked more relaxed that she had been in weeks.
Those marks… yes, Sigyn.
"To clear up some things, Amy called me last night about dream-related issues," said Aphrodisia as she sat near her on the bed. "As I was in a sore need of getting laid, I told her to come here, and we took care of each other's problem."
"Your Dad didn't… I mean Amy's," replied Buffy, noticing Aphrodisia's grin. "Knowing Belial, he probably had a camera ready."
"My Dad's Baal, Buffy. He was actually the one to tell me to call Aphrodisia… I will tell you because I know you will understand. My nightmare was about my mother."
Buffy looked straight into Amy's eyes. She remembered how she had met the then teenage witch a year ago. Amy had been trying out as a cheerleader, or so they thought. They had finally discovered that Amy's mother, the witch Catherine Madison, had stolen her daughter's body. The witch had been so obsessed with her dream of being a famous cheerleader that she used magic to remove the opposition. Things had ended badly, Catherine dying when one of her spells had been reflected at her. Since then, Amy had been left with magical powers and little guidance on the matter.
"Understood but… aren't you supposed to be the Goddess of Fidelity or something?"
"Loki is probably lying in Belldandy's arms as we speak," she replied, exasperation easily heard in her tone.
Buffy started to shake before she finally erupted into laughter. The idea of Miss Prim-and-proper with the Lie-Smith… priceless. Loki would not be satisfied with holding hands like she and that hu… she took a deep breath, finding back her control. This had been a complete 'Mara' moment.
"Sorry, it's not about you but…"
"I guessed that," said Amy. "I know that Mara has some reasons to find Bell irritating."
"How is it at home with the old Blood'n'Guts?" she said, remembering a nickname Baal had earned during the Atlantean wars.
"Well… sure he is a little… who am I kidding, you have Mara's memories, you've seen Baal's handiwork over and over. He may be a complete psychopath by human standards, but he is an honorable psychopath. How to explain? Before Halloween, I was just living at his house and did my best to avoid him and his girlfriend. I was a witch, and I could see the fear in his eyes, the fear that I could become just as bad as my mother and that he would be powerless against it."
"But with your Dad having Baal's power, everything changes… well, I could say you're preaching to the choir," said Aphrodisia.
"I can imagine that both your dad and Buffy's mom are handling things differently now too… Buffy, I don't know how it is for you, but I can tell you this: I feel safe now. Thanks to Halloween, I can tell my dad and my… future stepmom about my problems and I know they will understand me. More than all, I know that they would stop me if I started to become like my mother. Dad is pretty insistent on me being a 'well-bred demon'."
"Aphrodisia… about our deal…" asked the Slayer.
"Do you think having the opinion of an Abaddon member who also knows the ins and outs of Heaven's politics could be useful?" asked back the cat-eared demoness.
"As a matter of fact… yes, but also because Amy knows a lot about the old Sunnydale while keeping her distance from most factions."
Buffy quickly explained the deal with the Slayer and the Watchers' Council so that Aphrodisia was up to speed. She did her best to keep a lid on the inner slut she seemed to owe to Mara's tampering with the Slayer while the two girls dressed up, not caring at all that she was watching. She then explained about the control spells normally laid on the Slayer and gave them a rough outline of how Mara had patched them.
"So, your problem is what to do with Giles," said Aphrodisia while she cast a spell to tidy up her room. "Why don't you ask your mother about it?"
"She's too involved. She's avoided Giles like the plague these past few days… before Halloween she would have scolded him. Now… with Hild's power and ruthlessness at her command… My Watcher would face the risk of ending as a burnt stain on the ground."
Aphrodisia looked at her sheets as the stains of the night were magicked away. What she had done with Amy had been… surely not something her former human self would have done but, in the end, it was rather tame. Just a little exchange of favors between two schoolmates and it wasn't like Amy had not been a willing participant despite some initial reluctance caused by leftover human morals. She would work with her on that, free her of those shackles to make her a well-bred demon indeed. In fact, she was even thinking about making the fallen goddess her official girlfriend.
Buffy's problem now… that was serious stuff. It was the kind of secret society conspiracy Byleth had loved to play with which was why the Slayer had come to see her. But with this, lives were at stake, and not only in a 'we failed to save them' way. Her decisions could very well mean that people would have to be murdered. For this, she would need to delve further into the part of her that was a demoness older than humanity. For this, she needed to be a cynical, sadomasochistic bitch.
"When I started to help Dad with the Abaddon, I told him that Giles could be a valuable source on Terran demons," said Amy. "Dad said niet. He thinks Giles is a security risk."
"Why?" asked Buffy.
"To quote him: 'If that bloke was still human or an Eloah, I could work with that. But he's a Shedu and that means I cannot trust him'."
"Interesting," said Aphrodisia, "and I understand why. Do you, Buffy?"
The Slayer frowned. It wasn't a question of the 'demon bad' stereotype. Both Byleth and Sigyn knew better than that. It had to do with the way a Shedu's mind worked. She thought about the changes she had herself gone through and… yes, she understood.
"It will all depend on the exact wording of the oath he swore when becoming a Watcher," she said.
Her shoulders sagged as she suddenly felt very tired. Since she arrived in Sunnydale, Giles had supported her and she was pretty sure that he had sanitized his reports to the Council, arguing with himself that if the work was done her way, form didn't matter. But now… as a Shedu, Giles could not break his word, including the oath he almost certainly swore when becoming a Watcher. Maybe it was worded in a way that would allow him to wiggle around the letter of it… or maybe not. In the meantime, she could not trust him.
"Another point: do not underestimate your mother," said Aphrodisia. "If Baal thought about it, she also did."
"May I?" she asked, pointing at the tablet on Aphrodisia's desk.
"Sure."
Buffy used the item, quickly finding the icon allowing it to access Nidhogg and casting her password spell into it. She navigated through the files until she found something that had not really interested her until now. It was the names of the members of the Dark Cabinet, in other words her mom's government.
"Giles is on the Dark Cabinet's roster."
"Something I forgot to follow… Prince, Envoy or Tribune?"
"Tribune. His area of expertise is Deamonea Affairs."
Sigyn and Byleth both looked pensive. There were three kinds of members in Hell's government. While all members were appointed by Satan, custom dictated that she accepted at least one member from each Compact, which could be either the Prince or an Envoy selected by the Compact. The Tribunes were on the other hand people appointed to handle a specific matter or project. While they lacked the weight of a compact behind them, the Tribunes had a right to veto decisions from general departments that impacted on their area of expertise.
"From what I've seen, the Seven Compacts stayed the same. Dad is 'again' the Prince of the Hadad Compact, which means I'm in too," said Amy while raising a bull and lightning bolt lapel pin. "Not sure if all Princes have already been chosen, but that's not important now. Did Giles join a compact?"
"No, he's an independent… but I remember his alter ego is quite important in Deamonea… I wonder," replied Buffy while checking more numbers in Nidhogg. "Deamonea Shedim make up seventeen percent of our population. What's interesting is that they didn't form a Compact… not sure about Houses, but the names I see look familiar, so I don't think we have anything major."
"Most of them must be scattered in families from our side, and minors like us were integrated by default in our parents' House and Compact… I need to see something," said Byleth as she took the tablet from Buffy's hands.
She started to navigate expertly through the menus while the two other girls came to look over her shoulder. She accessed the list of bills passed by the Dark Cabinet since Halloween.
"That one," said Amy, pointing to an item on the list. "The Native Bond Act."
Amy quickly opened, and the three girls quickly read through the bill's text.
"And another part of my personality is down the toilet," said Buffy, sarcasm heavy in her tone. "I speak legalese."
"Hear, hear," said Aphrodisia with a smirk. "So, in essence…"
"The bill was passed on the Second of November and immediately ratified by the Council of Princes. It goes further than the 'parents are responsible for their minor children' we're all used to. It means that Nidhogg records are reflecting family bonds from before Halloween. It means that Deamonea Shedim are by default integrated into Hell Houses if a bond exists," said Amy.
"Immediately ratified… of course!" said Byleth while snapping her fingers. "Damn it! I was too busy with school and lost my touch! Think about it: with so many Deamonea Shedim, if they form a Compact, it will be a major political force…"
"So, the Princes and Mom made sure it would never happen, using pre-Halloween blood bonds as an excuse."
"It's not that bad," said Amy. "I mean, would you like it if your parents were just strangers? I know I'm a little biased, because you know how Elohim feel about belonging to a group, but still…"
"Still… you're right," said Buffy. "So, back to Giles. His Tribune posting is obviously about smoothing all the edges with Deamonea Shedim until we're one big, happy family. While it's just temporary, it's important enough to not bruise egos."
"Also, it means he has Abaddon bodyguards," said Amy. "Given Dad's comment…"
Buffy started to think quickly. She wasn't sure she liked how her mom had changed since Halloween, but this made her wonder if the steel she was seeing these days had not always been there. She remembered a time in Los Angeles. An exposition and some of the artists had been a pain in the ass. Her Mom had managed to make them feel important while making sure no actual decision would go through them. At that time, she had approved and taken notes so that she could apply that in school politics. It was not a side of Joyce Summers Buffy had seen often… until Halloween played with her mom's neurotransmitters and replaced human guilt with Shedu willpower.
"Mom will arrive soon," said Aphrodisia, looking at her watch. "So, this is my advice before the three of us have to play the normal human teenage girls for her. First, what's the classification level on the Slayer's specs files?"
"Private file, access to me only."
"I'm sure you have some nasty private firewalls, but you need some added security. Tell Satan to have them classified with Nessus clearance level, access to her, you and maybe Dad. Anyone with those specs can hack you, girl. You can bet that Tezcatlipoca and the other Yohual-Tecuhtlin are already looking for it."
Yohual-Tecuhtlin… she remembered that name. It meant something like 'Lords of the Night.' They were one of the Seven Compacts, mostly made up of the demonic side of various Mesoamerican pantheons. They… weren't nice people.
"So that they can gain leverage on Mom… understood. Regarding Giles?"
"Do not trust him, at least for now. Explain the problem to Willow, Xander and any other member of your old group, not mentioning anything about the Dark Cabinet. See their reactions, then report to Satan. I know it sucks but we don't have a choice. I will work with my Dad to put together a report on the Watchers' Council. What I can tell you for sure is that this kind of secret society does not like it when an asset becomes a liability. Killing you in hope that they can activate an untainted Slayer is the logical course of action for them."
"I don't like it, but the part of me that has far too many black ops under her belt agrees…" replied Buffy with a sigh. "After that?"
"Once we have enough intelligence on the Watchers, we can decide if we can find an agreement, if we can subvert their organization or if they have outlived their usefulness. Note that what to do with Giles and what to do with the organization don't necessarily need to be the same. We could convince him to defect or to become a double agent."
Buffy felt the headache coming as, once again, her human memories were trying to tell her that planning the murder of people was bad while her brain chemistry saw it as an efficient solution to a problem. With her own life and her family's security pitted against some faceless Watchers… what was left of her humanity was losing. She had to attack the problem in a Shedim way, to find something that would allow her to wiggle around the letter of the issue.
There are procedures to renounce a Nidhogg-recorded oath. They're painful and humiliating by design, so that people don't become careless, but they exist. Giles's not necessarily lost. As for the other Watchers…
"You're not liking it," said Aphrodisia. "What are you thinking, Buffy?"
"'Tirez les premiers, Messieurs les Anglais,' or something like that. I won't start this war, but I swear that I will finish it. I promise that I will listen to Mom on the matter too."
"The first is not my favorite tactical choice but I can see why you want it in this case. This way, the Watchers will clearly be the betrayers," replied Amy. "No oath that can limit your own maneuvering?"
"No and you have my word on this. All my agreements with Giles about the Slayer stuff were on a case-by-case basis, so I can do as I want now… I have a question for both of you. Aren't you scared about what happened? Of what we have become?"
"No, for the reasons I told you before," said Amy. "I'm more scared about what will happen when we clash with the Watchers or others like them… but if I have to kill to survive and protect my country… and by that, I mean Sunnydale, so be it."
"Sometimes angry about not being clearly asked if I wanted it, yes, but scared, no," said Aphrodisia. "Because now I have the power to fight instead of just wondering when the monster that put a corpse in my locker will finally come to get me."
- Giles' flat, Sunnydale, Saturday 5 November 2011, 09:26 -
Rupert Giles poured himself a cup of tea and looked at his reflection in the entrance's mirror. The mirror itself was here for two rather evident reasons if you knew who the real Rupert Giles was. It functioned as an easy way for him to check if someone standing beyond the threshold was lacking something vital, like a reflection. It was also positioned to allow him to glance at the door from the living room table.
Currently, he was more interested in his own image. He nodded, satisfied to see that he looked pretty much like his old self except for the demon seals on his brow and temples. Getting rid of the beard and pointed nails had been easy. The tail and horns had required a little more research. Thankfully, Jenny had eagerly provided him with the required spell, the same one the Shedim of Niflheim used in the past.
This brought him to another point, one that left him somewhere between amazement and terror. The spell was no simple change of appearance. It played with a concept called 'base form' and created a structure allowing the Shedim to shift between two alternates with a mere thought. Even DNA was altered, the horns and tail genes deactivated. This latter point had been included to make the creation of human-shedim hybrids easier, but it had also meant that Shedim of the following generations were often born without them, depending on the shape of their parents when they were conceived.
Biology… Malphas, the Shedu Halloween had 'paired' him with, was a centuries-old sorcerer. At first, Giles had thought that would make him similar to some figures he had read about in Watchers accounts, like the Count of Saint-Germain or Jiang Ziya, humans who extended their life through occult sciences like alchemy. He had forgotten to take biology into account.
Human magic was mostly about manipulating external energies. It needed caution and respect for the forces you played with. Shedim, on the other hand, were intrinsically magical creatures. Spells that a human needed several days of preparation for so that his life force was not consumed by the act could be done in an instant by a Shedu, with only some fatigue as consequence. For greater things, they had created Nidhogg so that they never had to call on an external source they did not control. It was more or less the same for the Elohim.
The only downside he had found with it was that Shedim were incapable of casting white magic, just like the Elohim could not use black magic at all. In the end, it did not matter much. Both species had designed variant spells that allowed for similar end results but relied on different means. It was like using a sword or a mace. The outcome was the enemy's death but how you fought with it and the kind of damage dealt changed. Both species had also designed a process to allow defectors to, in Jenny's words, 'reverse the polarity of their magic,' using either Nidhogg or Yggdrasil to override the defector's natural tendencies. The visible manifestation of that process was a simple shift in color of the brow seal, from blue to red or the opposite.
He came back to his table, looking at the dossier on it. It was Buffy's Slayer file. Since Halloween, he had seen the changes in her and the others. Joyce was of course the one he was the most worried about. Before Halloween, he had thought that the later Buffy's mother would understand how the real world worked, the better it would be. He regretted that choice now. Had he approached her a year ago, taken time to explain things to her, to get her used to Buffy's role, maybe she wouldn't have made that pact with Hild.
"No use crying over spilled milk, I suppose."
He remembered the human Joyce. There had been strength in her that was sure, but also kindness for everybody. Hild had taken that kind woman and corrupted her. He wasn't sure of how, but he guessed that it had to do with Buffy and her desire to protect her daughter. Hild had offered her the power to change things. The arch-demoness had just omitted to tell the poor woman that she would become a monster.
Joyce still had kindness but, once again, biology had to be taken into account. As a Shedu, feeling empathy for strangers was unnatural to her. Her human memories were struggling but it was a losing battle. Ironically, it wasn't Joyce's ignorance that was dooming her. Hild had on the contrary made sure that she would understand what was at stake. Her ruthlessness, the speed with which she was shedding her humanity away, was a direct consequence of that understanding. Acting quickly and brutally was for her the surest way to build a safety zone for the people she was responsible for, her family and the transformed people of Sunnydale.
Buffy had changed too, though she seemed to hold on to her humanity better than her mother. She knew that Halloween had been a one-way ticket, and she was trying to make do with her new situation without losing herself to Mara. Her morale seemed in fact to be better than before. Still, he had no idea what her being a Shedu meant for the Slayer, and she had dodged his attempts to discuss the matter.
Maybe it was like she had said the day after Halloween. Maybe she was the last Slayer, unaging and with unprecedented power. But then, what if she finally lost herself? What if she turned dark? He… he loved her as the daughter he never had but he had to consider his duty as a Watcher.
He knew what the Council would tell him to do. He had delayed informing them, arguing with himself that he could not do it safely. Joyce had severely limited his options by making him part of her Dark Cabinet. It had not been something he could refuse given his pairing with Malphas. The Shedim of Daemonea were looking up to him, expecting him to defend their interests so that they were not considered as second-class citizens in the new community. But it also meant that he was now a public figure whose actions were under constant scrutiny.
The problem was that the more he worked with the Shedim and Elohim, the more he found them to be… sympathetic monsters. They had a conscience even if it worked differently from that of humans. They loved and hated just like humans. He remembered it quite vividly… how much Malphas had loved his wife and his pride as he held his newborn son in his arms. Even now, Giles felt some of that love each time he saw the young Amanda Ditchik at school, the girl that had been paired with Vine, Malphas's granddaughter. They had a complex culture, laws and a history spanning millions of years. There had been wars, but also accomplishments that dwarfed anything done by humanity so far. The idea of destroying this was intolerable to the scholar in him.
He rubbed his brow seal. He knew what Yggdrasil and Nidhogg were built for. They were still in infancy, but their power was growing and so were his own through the first category license he had been granted. The supernatural factions of the world could not afford to ignore them. He was sure that the Council would react badly. He could try to warn them, to tell them but he also knew that they would think he was compromised. He had to find another solution.
He went to a bookshelf, taking out a diary. It was not part of the standard Watchers' Diaries but something that belonged to the Giles family. They had been Watchers for a long time, and they held their own archives. Those contained references to events that had been expunged from the Council's official history. One of those was sometimes whispered about as the Schism. Roughly a thousand years ago, an internal conflict nearly tore the Council apart and a group of 'heretic' Watchers split off. Many priceless archives were lost during that conflict, including the ones concerning the Slayer's creation.
The heart of the conflict had been involvement regarding human evil. Orthodox Watchers were against interfering while the heretics thought that something had to be done. The conflict ended when the Council, ignoring for once its own non-involvement rules, rigged events so that the Pope declared a crusade against the Cathars who were sheltering the last of the Heretic Watchers. This had not been without consequences. Relationships between the Council and the Knights of Saint Jude, the Catholic Church's demon hunters, went from somewhat amiable to icy cold after that point. The two organizations only cooperated in the direst cases nowadays.
Giles knew that some of the field Watchers thought that the Council in London had lost contact with reality, that they had no idea how today's world worked. They were too few and isolated to brew another Schism… unless he did something about it. If he could steer Joyce and the Shedim toward protecting humanity from the 'standard' demons…
- Harris Family Home, Sunnydale, Saturday 5 November 2011, 09:41 -
"Thank you for helping me with this, Alexander," said Jessica Harris as they both proceeded with a much-needed clean-up of the house's garage.
Xander wasn't sure what he should feel. For the last few days, his mom… had been so mom-like that it was scary, and it was even worse with his dad. He knew that it was all because of the alien beings that screwed with his parents' heads, just like Heimdall had screwed with his. Well, to be fair, the Asgardian had been quite civil on the matter. Because of his power of sight, he had strict values on personal space, and he had more or less given the memories he left the teen the feeling of a well-studied book rather than letting him wonder which ones belonged to which life. There had only been a few knee-jerk reactions the day after Halloween, but they had quickly disappeared.
His parents, on the other hand, had changed spectacularly. Anthony Harris was now working seriously, having been put in charge of Sunnydale's many cemeteries by the Mayor. Anpu's professionalism and serenity had just seeped through him and… one of the freakiest moments was when he had apologized to his son for being such a failure and sworn on Ma'at to do better.
"Mom… do you know why To… I mean Dad spends all his time with Anpu's dog head?"
"Yes," she replied with a sigh, the sandy-furred cat ears pointing out of her hair lowering a little. "He's doing it for you. He thinks that you associate his human face with the bad way he treated you, so he prefers not to wear it. A constant reminder that he changed, if you prefer. It also makes things easier with his job. Thanks to that cursed show, the ghosts in Sunnydale's cemeteries know who he is at first sight that way."
Xander could not prevent a little smile. The day before, her mother had said things about smiting the screenwriters of a certain science fiction show because of its depiction of the Egyptian gods. His Dad then immediately proceeded with scratching the top of her head. The sight of his mom purring was not something he wanted to think about, particularly after what he inadvertently saw Thursday night. Still, a small part of him reasoned that it was better than the abuse she suffered at Tony's hands before Halloween.
He opened a trunk. He remembered this one. It was the one with his grandfather's old things, many of which dated from the war. It was where he had found the old fatigues he had used for Halloween. He sniggered a little, having just remembered something out of Heimdall's extensive military knowledge.
"What is so funny?" asked Jessica as she went through a box of old vinyl LPs.
"No… well not nothing," he said, remembering that while the joke would be lost on the old Jessica Harris, it was a different matter for Bast.
Some myths described her as a house cat, a domestic goddess but it had not always been the case. In fact, the interpretation that made Bast and Sekhmet aspects of the same goddess was correct. The lioness goddess Sekhmet was who she had been when part of Heaven's army, the Wrath of the Eye of Ra. Bast was her 'civilian' identity, but it didn't mean that the skill wasn't there anymore. Like Willow had told him, his mom was the Elohim equivalent of a retired Special Forces Colonel.
"I just realized that before Halloween, I did not differentiate between stuff from World War Two and the one from the Vietnam War. I used granddad's old fatigues with a toy M-16. It was…"
"It was cheap, and we were not rich," she cut in, her hand on his shoulder. "Things will go better now. Mikael… I mean Michelle Kendall asked me to help her putting the Valkyrie recruits back into shape."
"By the way… did you see Harmony? It's not that I am particularly fond of her but… did something happen to her?"
"You didn't try to 'look' for her?" she asked, making air quotes.
"No… eh, some of the girls seem to think I'm the biggest pervert in the Multiverse. Cordelia… well she is also Peorth now, so you can imagine…"
"I wouldn't mind you looking at me," said another voice from the garage's entrance.
He turned his head slowly. The voice was familiar of course. He had known her since kindergarten but what she had just said was so un-Willow that… She was on her bike at the entrance of the garage, leaning slightly forward and giving him an ample view of her cleavage. He had seen her change since Halloween. He had seen how Urd had ripped apart the shy shell that made Willow do things like safely hide under a ghost sheet for Halloween. He had seen her trade barbs with Cordelia in public the day after, creating a shift in school politics. He had seen how easily she slipped into her infamous 'resolve face' now, a face that had people whisper, saying she was her mother's daughter all right.
Jessica Harris was looking too, trying to reconcile her memories. She had read in the file Mikael had given her that Urd was her son's friend Willow, but it was another thing to see the result. As Bast, she knew Urd. She had known her when she was a brat freshly debarked in Asgard as a consequence of the peace treaty. As she had retired from active Valkyrie duty, the Allfather had assigned her to the girl's security detail. She remembered running after her, trying to teach her godly manners. These had been… fun days, she had to admit. In a way, she was glad that Urd had helped the shy waif her human part remembered to blossom… though she would now have to monitor her son's relationships with her more closely, given the way she teased him.
"Willow," she said calmly. "Should I give you those lessons on the propriety expected of an Elohim princess once again?"
"No need, Mrs. Harris," she replied, dismounting from her bike. "I just owe Xander for all those years he considered me as one of the guys."
My life is about to become hell, thought the boy as he felt the metaphorical knife being thrust expertly through his ribs and twisted viciously. Willow without any shyness or babble filter and with Urd's snark and teasing habits instead? He was skipping Limbo and plunging straight to the Ninth Circle here.
"I was coming to see if Xander would be available tonight," she continued. "We're planning on a movie night with Buffy."
"Buffy… according to my security reports, she is Satan's daughter," said Jessica with a frown.
"Which makes her my kinda half-sister… which is something we are still getting used to," replied Willow. "You can relax though, Auntie Bast, we won't be at her place so there's no risk of us meeting my mom."
Jessica let what she was holding fall as her eyes examined very intently Willow's brow seal, looking for any sign of red among the blue. Bast knew why Urd's education had been tailored in a certain way as per the Allfather's orders. She had found it unfair, but she knew the consequences. Urd could not be allowed to have divided loyalties, not with her rank and power. This meant that she had been taught to despise her demonic heritage, including her own mother.
No, not taught, she corrected herself, feeling suddenly dirty. Conditioned.
"I am not sure I can approve, Willow," she said, deciding to file the thought away until she could discuss it with her husband. "It seems that you have inherited a lot of Urd's shamelessness."
"What if I tell you my sister will play chaperone?"
"Your sister?" asked Jessica, remembering that Willow was an only child before Bast's knowledge offered other possibilities. "I see, you mean Belldandy. Then, yes. Where does she live?"
"You know where the old Bric & Broc factory is? Near Tracy Street?"
"I think so, but this is not really… the factory itself?"
"Completely refurbished. This is my sister's phone number," she replied, writing something down on a piece of paper. "Her human name is Drusilla Carpenter. She lives with her companion William Pratt and my other little sister Alice."
"Alice being Skuld. Who is William?"
"Eh… Xander, do not get mad or say you won't come near there. I know how Heimdall…"
He frowned, noticing her embarrassment. This guy had to be someone who Heimdall had a problem with. He quickly went through the list and there was one name standing on top of it.
"Loki," he said coldly. He remembered how Heimdall chased after the Sky-Walker after he had stolen – again – Freyja's necklace, the Brisingamen. It had been the beginning of their enmity.
But, as he quickly read through the memory, he realized something and thanked the fact Heimdall had not made him live through his memories, made him feel the hatred the Watchman had for the Lie-Smith. The way Heimdall had asked Sigyn to renounce her husband, tried to bully her… He looked at Willow, remembering the whispers about Urd, how she was considered tainted by some… including Heimdall, though he had never said it aloud. That wasn't him. He wouldn't be a bully. He would not spit on Jesse's grave by becoming the kind of person who made their school years hell.
"Will… I promise to give it a try. I'm not Heimdall and, as Xander, I think I understand why Loki behaved like he did."
Jessica felt conflicted. When she thought again about some of the events of those days, using her human values, some things were suddenly making less sense than they did for Bast who had a purely Elohim upbringing. For the Elohim, bullying people into getting back into the fold was normal behavior.
"Mom?"
"Sorry, Xander. Just remembering that one of Bast's good friends once told her how much he liked McCarthy's methods. Have fun tonight. I will call Belldandy to tell her it is all right for you to sleep over if you want. To get back to your question regarding Harmony, she is an active Valkyrie now. I am afraid that there is little left of the human she was in her. Lind just…"
"Crushed everything with her usual subtlety," finished Willow, looking sad.
"By the way Will… why didn't you just… call?"
Her face was suddenly very near his own with a small smile that reminded him far too much of Hild.
"Because my dear Xander, I wouldn't have had the pleasure of teasing you if I had," she said, waving her right index finger in front of him. "Also, I was on my way to the pharmacy. I need some ingredients for a potion I'm working on… See you tonight, Xan."
She got back on her bike and left. He caught his Mom's smile.
"Mom?"
"Alexander, if you are asking yourself what is left of the old Willow in her, the answer is more than you think. Willow, like Urd, is a very stubborn girl who wants to leave her mark on the world. Urd mostly gave her the self-esteem she needed."
"So… I'm doomed?"
"Knowing Urd… probably."