Julius Caesar
The Slayers were in the middle of one of their most critical battles yet. The girls had one another’s backs, as any move made by one of them was closely scrutinized and cheered on. Their adversaries were older, more experienced, and less quick to anger, more strategic. But the girls had youth, enthusiasm and mad skills on their side. They had taken a few direct hits, but they had handed out even more fatal blows. The scent of victory was in the air. Slowly but surely they were grinding the Watchers into the ground.
It had begun with what Giles had suggested would be a short presentation on the anticipated make-up and M.O. of the Slayer Retrieval team. He had proposed that he, Robson, Faith and Wood set off as soon as practical to begin collecting up the identified Slayers, first from England and Scotland, followed by Ireland and Wales, then France, Spain and Portugal over the subsequent weeks. With any luck they would have collected the girls on Andrew’s list by the end of the first month.
However, Giles had appeared neither surprised nor even particularly bothered by the vigorous debate that had erupted over this proposal. In fact he appeared to sit back and play Devil’s advocate as the two sides argued the relative merits of both the original motion and the various counter suggestions that were being put forward by an astonishingly united, passionate, and articulate group of young women.
As the Slayers systematically questioned and refuted the size, make-up, name and planned schedule of the proposed retrieval group, their suggestions began to form a cohesive and viable alternative. Rather quickly they won over the younger Watchers, who subsequently sat bemused on the sidelines, until, as the shape of the Slayers’ proposal came together, they began to add weight to the girls’ argument.
The room buzzed with excitement as suggestions were offered up, discussed, debated, amended and recorded. Buffy grinned as Dawn and Caridad executed a high five while Matthew tried his hardest not to let a pout settle over his handsome face. Behind her, Vi had her hand up and was frantically vying for attention.
It took longer for Davis, Robson, Edwards, Collins or even Robin Wood, who having been raised by one was schooled in the ways of Watcher traditions, to let go of their entrenched ideas about ‘the way things should be done’. Giles on the other hand, appeared to be challenging the girls’ pitch initially, but it soon became apparent that his questions were offered more to motivate their analytical thinking and justifications and his smile just got bigger with each valid rebuttal and confident assertion coming from the Slayer camp.
Eventually, the proposition had been put together and presented. Several ‘Recruitment Teams’, as the girls wanted them to be called, would work in confined geographical areas. The teams would consist of two or three Slayers and just one of the younger Watchers. Where possible a team would include at least one person who was familiar with the culture and language of the candidates.
The girls argued for connection and empathy over experience and authority, maintaining that it was better to have a team that the candidates could relate to and feel comfortable with than one that would intimidate and confuse them further given the already scary circumstances they now found themselves in. The new Slayers used their own experiences to illustrate this point and it was hard to argue with them.
They would make contact with the girls first, a quick, snappy interview session that would explain who they were and establish a relationship through their shared experiences. Each girl would be offered the opportunity to train at a first class facility, gain a recognized qualification and have a ready-made career available to her when she graduated. They would be invited, along with one or two family members, to attend a presentation that would be held at the end of the interview period.
If the team could contact and interview three or four girls in a day, a presentation held on the third night might involve ten or more candidates and each girl’s guests. The presentation would briefly outline the special gifts and responsibilities each girl now possessed, with demonstrations from the Recruitment Team and any of the candidates that felt comfortable enough to participate. They would be informed that these new abilities could not be traded in or given away and that the down side was that without training, knowledge or backing, they would now be at risk from the many supernatural creatures that would wish to seek out and destroy them.
However, the emphasis would be on the extraordinary nature of these unique gifts and the exclusive opportunities provided by the Training Academy – physical training to help them defend themselves and others from attack and academic training to help them strategize and plan and in every other way survive and lead full lives in this new world they were now part of. Emphasizing exclusivity and opportunity over coercion and duty would also add an element of elitism to the programme.
Finally, as a sweetener, if they had a close friend or sibling who was interested and met the entry criteria, scholarships would also be available for Sackville College, the Watcher’s Academy – kind of a two for one package deal and laying down the future foundations of the sort of successful support network that the Scoobies had provided for Buffy.
The use of several teams would allow for greater coverage in shorter time frames. The new girls, after they’d completed a fortnight’s induction period, could then augment team membership, allowing for both greater relevance when recruiting and exponential growth in the number of teams operating.
The girls’ enthusiasm provided a strong inducement but it was the rationality behind their suggestions that won the older Watchers over and in the end the vote was unanimous, the teams would be set up and set off within the week.
As a sense of satisfaction settled over everyone, Giles made his way back to the front of the room, an enigmatic smile gracing his face. He stood there for a few seconds, casually making eye contact with each of the puzzled individuals before him.
“Well done everyone. I am delighted with the outcome of this discussion. Not only have you come up with a practical and highly feasible solution to the challenge of recruiting the new Slayers, but also you have truly worked together to come up with this concept. The Slayers have found their voice and the Watchers have learned to listen to their opinions – not an easy task for the old school practitioners among us who were taught that the Watcher should have control, while the Slayer, no better than a tool, should meekly comply.”
“Yeah, well that never worked for you in Sunnydale either did it Rupes?” Spike asked wryly, as the Scoobies chuckled in agreement.
“No Spike, it certainly didn’t and in fact, that is I believe, a huge part of what has made Buffy so successful. Without her instincts, strategic skills and downright bloody mindedness, many of the battles we faced would have been lost.”
Buffy smiled at Giles, his acknowledgement finally laying to rest so many of the issues that had arisen between them during the final weeks of Sunnydale.
“However, we didn’t always make it easy for her,” he continued. “Too often we didn’t listen to her, we questioned her decisions, made her doubt herself, abandoned her. We forced her to become much more insular and secretive than she needed to be, compelling her to ‘stand alone’ like the old Council axiom. I was guiltiest of all.”
The room was heavy with introspection, as its members considered Giles’ somber words. Several heads hung in remorse.
“But at other times, particularly in the early days, we worked together, supporting her, helping her, and we triumphed through team effort. We didn’t always get it right but the idea was spot on. And that’s what I witnessed here today as you formulated the plan for Slayer recruitment, and that’s what we need to utilize to create a new organization for the twenty first century.
We need an organization that is founded on respect and fairness. Everyone has a role to play, but we must never forget that these girls have been Chosen and they have abilities and instincts that grant them our professional respect and personal regard. But neither should we ignore the contributions of our magic wielders, our researchers, our teachers or of our families and friends. Everyone counts. Now more than ever it will be crucial to create strong squads with robust connections between squad members and with their support personnel so that we can begin to utilize these vast resources in the most effective and fulfilling ways possible.”
Giles spoke with outmost conviction as cries of ‘hear, hear’ rang out around the room.
“I expect the people in this room today to form the genesis of our new organization. We will have enormous challenges ahead of us: how to house, train, educate and deploy such large numbers of Slayers; how to quickly and efficiently replace our decimated stock of Watchers; how to fund this massive venture; and how to ensure that we are able to effectively work together and communicate with one another. But in this room this morning I was fortunate enough to witness the very real beginnings of what I believe could be a powerful executive council.
If we can find common ground among a diverse group such as this, in a relatively quick, painless and successful way, this bodes well for the future of our organization. There are many decisions that are yet to be made, positions that need to be allocated, and roles that need to be defined. But those jobs will keep us busy throughout the afternoon and evening, and I think right now, lunch is calling us. So before we break up for the morning, could we give some thought to a name for our new organization, a name that reflects what we do and how we do it?”
“What about just ‘The Council’?” Davis suggested.
There was a chorus of groans from around the room, mainly from the girls.
“Remember to treat all suggestions seriously and with the respect they deserve,” Giles cautioned.
“Fine Giles,” Buffy spoke up. “Great idea Cecil, but apart from carrying too much negative baggage from the past, I don’t think its informative enough. People won’t get what ‘The Council’ is all about from that title.”
“Well, how about ‘The Slayer Organization’?” said Kennedy.
“That perhaps leans a little too far the other way, not taking into account the other members of the team and giving the public too much information all at once.” Giles countered softly.
“Okay, then what about the ‘International Legion of Warriors’? It’s descriptive, and references the Sagaria Prophecy,” said Andrew hopefully.
“Bit of a mouthful ain’t it Jimmy Olsen?” Spike said.
Andrew glanced at Spike, delight and discontent, alternately schooling his features as he reacted to the vampire’s choice of sobriquet.
“And possibly a little incendiary for public consumption.” Giles added.
“What about something with ‘Guardians’ in the title?” Willow said thoughtfully.
“Hmm not bad,” Giles muttered, “particularly from a public point of view, although it might create some confusion internally with the group of women who created Sagaria. Which reminds me, we must look into the Guardians, they must have a recorded history somewhere.”
“Actually,” Matthew called out hesitantly, “we may have already found out a bit about the Guardians. Unwittingly, I might add, as we were carrying out a little more background research into Sagaria and the Scythians. And there’s a fair bit of conjecture involved.” He paused as Giles raised an eyebrow, willingly him to continue.
“Well we, that is Colleen and I,” a smattering of partly stifled giggles broke out behind them at this and a crimson heat stole over Matthew’s cheeks, “We, we were quite taken by the story of Sagaria.”
Colleen, conveniently sitting next to Matthew, turned back from glaring at her friends and added, “I went to Matthew for help with the research. See my babusya, my Grandma, originally came from Kiev in Ukraine, and she always told me tales of distant warrior ancestors who rode the steppes on horseback and defeated all who challenged them. I did a project on Ukraine at high school and found out that she was referring to the Scythians so your presentation three weeks ago really got me curious. Matthew agreed to help me access the materials and we’ve been spending all our free time since then reading up on the latest research and theories about the Scythians and also uncovering legends and myths.”
“So where do the Guardians come into your story,” Willow asked.
“Well, that discovery was a bit further down the track,” Matthew took over. “First we found out all we could about the Scythians. They were nomadic pastoralists who occupied large areas of what is now Ukraine, Russia and Central Asia during the first millennium B.C. They were an ancient Iranian people who were renowned for their horseback hunting and warfare.”
“As we read, we kept finding references to Amazons,” Colleen interjected, “as in the mythological race of female warriors. There seems to be heaps of evidence that the Amazon myth was based on tales of real warrior maidens – probably Scythian. And recently discovered burial remains have proven that Scythian women certainly fought as warriors, dressed and armed no differently than the men. When the men went off on hunting raids, the women would have remained behind, ruling over and defending their people and their territories. These women would certainly have fought in battles if they had to.”
“And Greek travellers coming across the Scythians may have taken back accounts of whole tribes ruled entirely by women. Their stories would have formed the basis of the myths,” Matthew added.
“And their connection to the Guardians?” Buffy prompted.
“Well, the Amazons, have also been given the credit for inventing the battle-axe or sagaris, although the weapon was linked with both Amazon and Scythian tribes by Greek historians. When we read this we started to wonder about Sagaria and the Guardians, so we dug a little further,” Colleen shared.
“Next we discovered a tentative link between the Amazons and the cult of Artemis. Artemis was Goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness and young girls and she was worshipped throughout Ancient Greece. She had many names and was worshipped by many of the ancient peoples, with temples erected in her honor throughout the known world.”
“But several historians seemed to think that Artemis herself was appropriated from an older mythology. Then we found out that the origin of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, has been attributed to the Amazons. Which was pretty strange given that Scythians in general did not build shrines or temples, and Artemis was not one of the deities they regularly worshipped. Well not that we knew at that stage. The only info we had was that they had worshipped a pantheon of eight Gods, but only the names of six were ever listed, and none of these were equated with Artemis.”
“But then we came across a description of ancient esoteric practices contained in a series of letters written by the Greek historian Herodotus, that had been found in a package of papers rescued from the old Council buildings. It had been translated centuries ago but didn’t seem to have much relevance to any Slayer business so had been left moldering away in a vault.”
“Davis remembered it,” Matthew nodded in the older Watcher’s direction, “when I asked him if we had any studies on Scythia. It held the key to tying all this information together. Amongst Herodotus’ descriptions was a list of all eight deities, with a mention that worship of the final deity, who happened to correspond to the Greek Artemis, was carried out by the Scythian women alone, its purpose and practice shrouded in arcane rituals and ceremonies. The name of that final deity was Sineya.”
There was a gasp of recognition from around the room and a muttered “Bloody Hell,” from Spike and some spectacle polishing and an “Oh dear Lord,” from Giles. Buffy’s eyes were gleaming with excitement, her mind racing ahead of the information they’d been given. It seemed too much of a coincidence that the Scythian Goddess could have exactly the same name as the first Slayer.
“It’s not inconceivable that the Scythian women or Amazons as others referred to them, may have kept their rites and practices, and eventually even Sineya’s temples, concealed, initially from their outsiders and then from their own men. The temple priestesses, who may have initially served at the temple for short periods of time, could have ended up devoting their lives to protecting the rituals and symbols of Sineya’s temples. Over time this may have evolved into an entirely secret cult, dedicated to upholding the hidden central purpose of the order,” said Matthew.
“And the priestesses became the Guardians,” Buffy guessed.
“And their central purpose was to protect the lineage of warrior women that had descended from their goddess Sineya, and the weapon that they fashioned for their use.” Giles proposed.
“Sagaria, noble Sagaria,” Andrew sighed.
“Yes, it seems the most likely scenario. They fashioned and named the weapon and blessed it in Sineya’s name, infusing it with divine properties. Then they sat back, watching tribes come and go, nations rise and fall and whole civilizations wax and wane. They followed the deeds of the Slayers and the Watchers, covertly giving help or guidance where needed, waiting for the time when the weapon would be required. All of this they did in the name of their goddess.”
“But, if I remember my history correctly, the Scythians only appeared 3000 years ago, and the Song of Sagaria was estimated to be at least 2000 years older than that timeframe,” Giles argued.
“A good point boss,” Colleen said, “but there are two possible solutions. One, that the prophecy was created long before Sagaria itself. Or secondly, and this again is pure speculation, what if the Amazons were, at an earlier point in time, quite separate peoples from the Scythians. In fact maybe not a race of their own, but only the remnants of one, or maybe just a small group of Sineya’s priestesses and followers who originated from Mesopotamia, Egypt or even somewhere in continental Africa. Perhaps they were fleeing their original homeland, charged with protecting Sagaria and the worship of Sineya, or Artemis as the Ancient Greeks came to know her.”
“So, slowly, over hundreds, maybe thousands of years, they could have made their way northeast from West Africa, up and around coastal Northern Africa, through Egypt to Mesopotamia, settling down at various points in time, possibly even for a generation or two. From there they would have travelled into Persia and then into Central Asia, where they arrived at the central Eurasian steppe.
The inhabitants of that region, ancestors of the Scythes, were readying themselves to travel north into the great steppe. The Sineyan’s would have been absorbed by those people, all the while maintaining their Sineyan cult, passing it on to the fierce warrior women of the Scythian tribes.” Matthew sat back, his history lesson for the day complete.
“So the Guardians were originally the Amazonian mystic high priestesses. That means the Scythian Amazons were like the first ever Slayers,” Xander mused. “I wonder if they were as hot looking as Xena?”
“Well look around you Harris,” Spike said, “If these girls are the descendants of the originals, then I’d say the Amazons were just as hot as the Warrior Princess.” He chuckled quietly as Buffy nudged him in the ribs and growled, “Hey watch it, we are the Amazon warriors.”
“Hey, that’s it,” Dawn said excitedly. “The name of our new organization. You’ve got the Guardian side, which represents arcane knowledge and magic rituals and the warrior side, representing the Slayers and non-superpowery fighters. We are the Amazons.”
There was a general chorus of agreement from around the room and Buffy nodded approvingly at Dawn.
“ So what shall we call ourselves?” Willow asked. “‘The Amazon Organization’, no that doesn’t sound right, ‘The Council of Amazons’, oh no that’s worse.”
“What about adding a word that tells people we are also involved in research and education.” Robson suggested.
“Hmmm, like Institute or Foundation?” Wood asked.
“Yeah or even League or Society,” Davis added.
“And what about add a word for everyone to know we are organization all over world, like Global or International,” Chao-Ahn suggested haltingly.
Everyone sat trying out various combinations, and mumblings echoed around the room.
Finally Buffy said, “I think the primary name should be something simple and easy to remember, like ‘Amazon International’. It could be followed by secondary descriptors that give people a hint about what we do, like ‘Global Guardians’ or ‘Defense Institute’.”
“Hmmm, ‘Amazon International’,” Giles said thoughtfully. “Short, catchy, strong sounding and relevant. I like it. And,” he added, “We could use the acronym A.I. as shorthand amongst ourselves.”
“Oi, isn’t that the abbreviation for the Poofter’s old detective agency?” Spike grumbled.
“Yes, I do believe it used to be. But I don’t think he’s using it anymore so we’ll just borrow it.” Everyone laughed. “So, what does everyone else think? Would you be happy working for “Amazon International’?’
The consensus was unanimous, and spontaneous applause broke out as Andrew typed it out on the screen in large font, with the descriptors underneath in small italics.
Amazon International
Defense Institute and Global GuardiansThey happily filed out of the room to lunch, the designation plastered boldly across the front of the room. A new day had begun.