Chapter 13
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Buffy and the others remained suspicious of Ethan. But then Dracula showed up and told them what happened.
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Holtz: Is it true that Steven is your ally?
Dracula: Yes. He wants to free his mother, I need to free my allies.
Holtz: In my younger days, when I was ambitious, I sought you and your council. The legend was, you had destroyed or imprisoned them in a power struggle.
Dracula: An unfounded and false rumor.
Giles: Ethan says he worked for Wilkins, but that he was rogue when he sent them away.
Dracula: Wilkins has been an ally at times, but whatever arrangement Ethan has with him I know nothing about. In any event, I have Dawn and Steven now.
Buffy: Where are they?
Dracula: Safe, for now. I needed their blood for the ritual. It was only a few drops, I am willing to return them safely, provided your friend, I believe her name is Willow. I want Willow to release the barrier and free my friends.
Ethan: Perhaps I could perform the spell.
Giles: Why are you so eager to do this Ethan?
Ethan: I'm trying to earn some brownie points with you and your friends.
Dracula: In any event, Ethan cannot perform this particular spell. It must be Willow Rosenberg. Bring her to this cave tomorrow night after sunset. I will release my hostages after she unlocks the barrier.
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After Dracula left Buffy and her group discussed their options.
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Buffy: We have to get Willow here to perform the spell.
Giles: Why Willow. Dracula could have used Ethan, a combination of money and fear would have made Ethan comply.
Holtz: I have heard legends of this "Council of the dead.' They were before my time, but the stories said they went searching for the Hellmouth. They wanted to use its power to gain more power for themselves. They had a battle, I don't know with whom. But they lost and were imprisoned to rot away.
Buffy: Then it probably wasn't the Master who imprisoned them. He spent centuries after searching for Hellmouth.
Holtz: Whoever imprisoned them, the legends say that they are kept there by the blood of Christ himself. In any event, I do fear what would happen should twelve powerful vampires suddenly be free.
Buffy: So do I. Here's a thought. If Dracula tries to revive them, it would still take them some time to recover. I can slay them while they are still weak.
Holtz: I love Steven more than anything, but can we risk it?
Faith: There's something else to consider. Dracula says we need the Council as allies against the Master. Bad as these guys might be, they don't want the whole world to be destroyed.
Buffy: I stopped the Master in the old world, I can do it again.
Faith: From what I hear, you got lucky, once.
Holtz: Even if the Council helped destroy the Master, they would cause much destruction after.
Faith: I think Willow would help to free Dawn either way. All the president-elect would have to do is tell her and she'll come. It sure as Hell won't be for him or me, but she will do it for Dawn.
Giles: And I'm not going to stop Willow from saving Dawn and Steven, but we need to be prepared for what happens next, just in case Buffy's idea fails. I'll research what I can.
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Giles did indeed research what he could about the Council of the dead, particularly their imprisonment. He found a reference in an ancient text, it translated as "Life holding death in place." It seemed that, to the authors of this text, vampires represented death. Only the blood of life, very unusual life, could keep these vampires trapped. This got Giles thinking, Holtz said that he had heard legends that they were imprisoned by the blood of Christ himself. Maybe that was just legend, but it did get Giles thinking. Maybe there was a reason why Dracula needed their blood specifically. Dawn started her existence as a mystical ball of energy. Steven was born of two vampires, a first. Neither of those two were supposed to exist, at least not in human form. If the stories of the immaculate conception were accurate, that was another birth that shouldn't be possible. If it took the blood of an unusual birth to keep the barrier up, it might take the blood from unusual births to take the barrier down. Giles found another reference, it said that the barrier was life, and that this life could not simply disappear. It suddenly occurred to Giles exactly why Dracula needed Willow, why Ethan couldn't do this spell himself. Giles tried to call Willow to warn her.
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Willow came to the cave, along with Buffy, Angel, and Spike. Surprisingly Dracula was not outside the cave, he was inside. Dawn and Steven were nowhere to be seen, but there were two vials of blood on the ground.
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Dracula: You will need that blood for the ritual.
Buffy: So now you're trapped inside as well.
Dracula: Indeed. I feared that it would take a little time for my fellow council members to revive, and you and your friends would slay them while they were helpless. They are recovering, but are still formidable.
Buffy: Where's my sister and her boyfriend?
Dracula: Inside, away from my friends. As long as we are able to walk away, they remain safe. But unless Willow performs the spell, we will feast on their blood.
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Willow knew she had little choice, she performed the spell. It was a powerful spell, requiring all of her attention. Noone even noticed Willow's cellphone ringing. Whatever Giles was trying to warn them about, it was too late. The spell was so intense that Willow lost consciousness. Dracula retreated further into the cave to find his friends, and Buffy followed him. This might be her only chance to rescue Dawn and Steven. She told Angel and Spike to stay outside, and protect Willow. If the spell didn't work she could still exit the cave, Spike and Angel could not. But after Buffy went inside Spike got a thermos of blood and prepared to go inside.
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Angel: What are you doing?
Spike: Dru's in that cave, I have to go save her.
Angel: Even if Willow destroyed the barrier, you can't let her go free.
Spike: You turned her, you made her into a monster. We owe it to her to try and save her.
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Despite Angel's protestations Spike went into the cave in search of Drusilla. Buffy soon found Dawn and Steven tied up. They were weakened from slight blood loss it seemed they would be fine. Both were grateful at Buffy for freeing them, but Steven refused to leave just yet. Dracula had been willing to keep his word, he had given Steven a thermos of blood.
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Buffy: What are you doing?
Steven: Get your sister out of here. I saw my mother's skeleton, I won't leave her.
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Dawn was angry that after all they'd been through, Steven was still determined to free Darla. But she went out with Buffy. When they got out, they noticed that Spike wasn't here. Angel noticed that Conner wasn't here either.
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Angel: Where's my son?
Buffy: He went looking for his mother. I'm not entirely sure if the barrier is down.
Angel: Maybe, but I can't leave him behind.
Buffy: I know, go.
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Angel rushed inside, and he saw Steven giving blood to a skeleton, that was dressed like a Catholic school girl. It was becoming more human looking. Angel still had deep reservations about freeing Darla, but he knew that his son couldn't leave his mother behind, and Angel refused to leave his son behind. So together, they both began carrying Darla out of the cave. On their way out, they saw Dracula helping the other members of the Council out of a secret exit. The barrier had previously prevented them from leaving this way, but now the barrier was apparently down. This was probably bad, but Angel knew they would have to deal with this at another time. They got Darla out, Buffy and Dawn were still protecting Willow. Spike wasn't out yet, he must still be searching for Drusilla. In any event Angel and Steven brought Darla back to Angel's apartment. She soon began to regain consciousness. This was mother and child's first reunion since the night he was born. They almost felt like a real family.
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Darla: Conner, is that really you?
Steven: My name is Steven, actually. I am your son.
Darla: Your father wanted to name you Conner, he wanted you to know your Irish heritage. It's so good to see you again.
Steven: It's good to meet you, both of you.
Angel: How exactly did you give birth?
Darla: It was not easy, I feared he would die in my womb. But then the demon Sahjhan offered to help me.
Angel: That doesn't make sense, Sahjhan feared that Conner here would kill him one day, he wanted you dead.
Darla: I think he feared I would stake myself to protect my boy. So he wanted me to give birth, wanted me to experience the pain of childbirth and to be weak and hungry.
Steven: He thought you would eat me?
Darla: I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted, but I couldn't do that. I love you Conner.
Angel: That must have been when Sahjhan went with plan B, got Holtz.
Darla: I was still tempted, so I begged Holtz to take you away from me. He did, and imprisoned me in that cave to starve.
Angel: I'm a little fuzzy on what I did after that.
Darla: For over a year you visited me from outside, brought me blood. But then you said you couldn't let me ever leave, part of your soul I guess. You gave me a stake, said I could end my own life when I was ready. I vowed revenge against you, at any rate I refused to give you the satisfaction.
Spike: And what about Dru?
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It was then that they saw that Spike had come in.
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Spike: Was Drusilla imprisoned in the cave with you?
Darla: No. I saw her, a couple of months before I gave birth. She said she was disgusted by my for giving life. That I was going against our true nature. The Master probably would have agreed with her, so she went in search of him. She did mention you Spike, apparently when you heard I was pregnant, you started talking about being a father. Drusilla said you got soft on her. I'm sorry Spike, but I think she just left you.
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Giles was watching over an unconscious Willow. They were alone, he had even freed Ethan and told him to leave and never come back. When she woke up, Giles had some important news to tell her, it should be done in private. Finally she woke up, and promptly vomited.
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Willow: Could you do me a favor, and not tell anyone that I vomited.
Giles: Of course.
Willow: I guess that spell took more out of me than I thought.
Giles: That's one way of phrasing it. There's something you should know. Holtz said that, according to legend, the barrier was set up using the blood of Christ.
Willow: I'ma Jewish Wiccan, I don't believe in that.
Giles: Well whether or not that part is true is debatable. But I do believe the original spell was used with the blood of someone from, an unusual birth.
Willow: Why do you say that?
Giles: Dracula needed Steven and Dawn's blood to destroy the barrier because, they were both born in unusual ways.
Willow: Makes sense. Did you ever find out why Dracula needed me to perform the ritual, why he didn't just have Ethan do it?
Giles: Actually yes, and I wanted to talk to you about that. As best I can translate, the barrier was set up with, the energy of life. And this particular energy, couldn't simply dissapate. It needed to go somewhere. When you cast the spell, you absorbed this energy. This probably isn't how you expected to one day hear this, I'm just going to come out and say this, Willow you're pregnant.