Chapter 12
The gang had finished getting the basement
ready for Spike and Rebecca to move into and were now congregated in the living
room waiting for the pizza to arrive.
No ‘noise’ had been heard from upstairs for
some time and Buffy was debating on whether she should go and hurry the couple
along.
The others were watching with amusement as
Buffy stared at the ceiling, rose from her seat to walk to the stairs, stopped
and muttered to herself, shaking her head as she would return to her seat to
once again to stare at the ceiling.
She had done this five times so far and even
Xander was softly chuckling at his friend’s antics. Buffy, of course, was completely oblivious to
what she was doing.
Buffy looked at her startled “What?” she
frowned back up at the ceiling “Maybe someone should go get those two?” Buffy gave the gang a confused look as they
all started to laugh loudly.
Tara had almost reached the stairs when the
doorbell rang “Pizza’s here guys” she laughed as she heard Dawn and Xander
racing each other to get to the door first.
Rebecca sat on the edge of the bed, eyes
closed as Spike knelt behind her brushing her hair. Both looked freshly showered and
Rebecca’s stomach growled loudly “I’m
starving.”
“ ‘m not” announced Spike as he pulled
Rebecca’s hair back and leaned down to kiss a neat bite mark on her neck. He watched
Downstairs Dawn and Xander were in a
competition to see who could stuff the most pizza into their mouth. Giles was beginning to turn green at the
sight, especially as the pair were attempting to taunt each other in the
process.
Xander began to choke as Dawn triumphantly
stuffed another slice into her mouth “Imf wfin”.
Dawn began a little victory dance as she
attempted to now chew and swallow the contents of her mouth. As she danced around the chair she noticed
Rebecca’s look of horror as she spoke to Spike “That’s not how you’re supposed
to eat that is it?”
Xander jumped up and pulled Rebecca forward
to sit before the pizza. He then
proceeded to instruct her on the intricacies of pizza consumption.
Rebecca eyed Xander warily as he rambled on
about flipping, folding and other dubious concepts.
Buffy rolled her eyes and leant down to
scoop up a slice “Here like this” she smiled at the Rebecca’s expression as she
had her first taste.
Rebecca still looked uncertain “It’s
different” she took another bite her face scrunched slightly as she
contemplated the taste “it’s quite enjoyable though.”
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The remains of the day darkened into evening
as the group finished their meal. Dawn
gathered up the remnants of their meal as the others armed themselves for their
evening’s excursion.
They were soon on their way towards the
cemetery, Buffy and Rebecca in the lead, Dawn,
Giles cleared his throat a little before
beginning to speak “I noticed the marks on Rebecca’s neck earlier”
“Yeah what of it”
“I assume that this means that you have
renewed your bond with each other via a claiming.”
“You’d be assuming correctly then watcher”
Spike straightened defensively waiting for words of condemnation to begin.
“I think that was a very wise decision”
Spike stared at him in amazement
“You should be able to sense any changes in
Rebecca’s essence, an early warning system so to speak” Giles clasped Spike on
the shoulder “It would be helpful if you could strengthen your bond as much as
possible.”
Spike looked at Giles in shock “Watcher, did
you just tell me to bite my wife more?”
Giles fiddled with his sleeve cuff ‘Damn
he missed his glasses right now’ “Yes well, Rebecca will need to
...umm…reciprocate as well, to keep the claiming bond at its maximum
effectiveness.” He began to tug at his
cuffs earnestly “You will of course keep me apprised of any changes you detect
in Rebecca’s essence.”
“No probs Rupes old man” Spike strode off to
catch up with his wife, coming up behind her and lifting her from the ground
and over his shoulder as she squealed at him to put her back down.
The trip to the appointed meeting place was
uneventful, as it was still too early in the evening for much demon
activity. The group stood and stared at
the huge structure that stood before them.
“You’d have thought with all the years of
patrolling I would have noticed this hulking big mausoleum before?” Buffy stood hands on hips as she surveyed it.
“That’s because it’s usually cloaked” Anya
stepped out of the doorway. “If you’re all ready” she held the door open and ushered
them through “right this way.”
They gathered in the center of the mausoleum
and looked around. It was amazingly
clean with no dust or cobwebs noticeable.
Anya shut the door firmly behind them, as
she turned to face them the door faded away to be replaced by stone. “Please remember that this is a peaceful
community. There will be no slaying, and
as some of the inhabitants human than other do not” she looked pointedly at Xander
“You will treat them ALL with respect.”
Anya seemed to remember something then and
she moved to a nearby sarcophagus and withdrew a brown cloak. She handed it to Spike “It will be daylight
but this should protect you until we get indoors. It was specially made for use by vampires so
it should provide you with better protection than a blanket.”
Spike nodded his thanks and donned the robe,
drawing the hood low over his face.
Anya then moved to the back wall, as she
extended her hand a door materialized.
Anya swung it open “Welcome to Midian”.
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The group stepped through the door to be met
with brilliant sunlight and lush forest.
A path wound its way from the steps of the mausoleum into the forest,
the sound of running water met their ears and as they moved down the path a
small stream came into view.
As they rounded a bend they saw the village,
the houses seemed to sprout from the trees themselves. Dawn gasped “it looks like something from a
fairytale.”
“In a way it is” Anya smiled as several
small children ran past on their way for a swim. “The Midian forest is a place of magic. It expands and retracts to accommodate those
who reside here” She moved to stand before one of the massive trunks. “Do you all want to stay together?”
The group nodded their assent.
“Alright you will all need to place your
palms on the trunk for a moment.”
They moved to stand around the trunk, palms
touching the rough bark. The surface
seemed to pulse beneath their touch, almost like a heartbeat. Anya motioned for them to move away. They all watched in awe as the giant began to
shift.
The trunk pulsed and shimmered, branches
moved and began to entwine. Leaves as
big as a person formed shaded verandahs as windows and doors began appearing;
eventually a door began to form at the base.
Anya smiled at the expressions on their
faces “Amazing isn’t it.” She moved to
the door placing her hand upon the bark once more “Thank you my friend.” She turned back to the others “The tree changes
its form to accommodate those who it will protect. The first time you enter you must thank the
spirit of the tree.”
As each member moved forward and gave their
thanks the tree seemed to pulse and glow once more. They moved into the heart of the tree and
found themselves standing in the centre of a large bare room.
Anya proudly began to explain how the tree
would adapt for them “The tree has taken an imprint of your essence, when you
leave Midian the tree will revert to its original form. However, if you return it will sense you as
soon as you step through the door and be ready by the time you reach the
village. Each room is designed to adapt
to your needs.” Anya moved to one side
“For example if you want to sit” a large
sofa began to rise from the floor, lush green leaves spring up as padding “A
seat will appear.” She sank gracefully
down onto the chair “All the rooms are the same.”
Dawn jumped onto the sofa beside Anya “Wow
this is better then the one we have at home.” She bounced a few times to
emphasis her point.
Anya stood “The elders will be ready for you
in a few hours, so I suggest you have a look around before the meetings
start.” She grabbed Giles’s hand and
pulled him towards the stairs that spiraled around the inner trunk. “Let me show you to your room Rupie”
Xander watched the couple move up the stairs
“I might go and have a look around outside, anyone want to come with?”
The others declined each wanting to explore
their new lodgings more fully.
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Xander stepped back outside squinting
slightly at the bright sunlight. He
surveyed the village before him; beside the fact that all the buildings were
formed from trees it looked like an old English country village. People moved about tending to their daily
business, there were some demons that he’d never seen before but all of them
offered him a wave and a nod or a friendly hello as they passed.
Xander set of in the direction of the
stream; he heard a large roar and turned to see a fierce looking demon bearing
down on a small human looking child. The
creature’s massive mouth was lined with razor sharp teeth which it was snapping
hungrily at the little girl.
Xander ran forward trying to reach the girl
before the monster. The creature had
just swooped up the screaming child when Xander realise that the child was in
fact giggling as the creature tickled her mercilessly. He pulled himself up self-consciously as he
realised that the girl was in no danger.
The creature put the girl down and she was
off running once again “Come catch me again Unca Drew” she ran past Xander
squealing with laughter. The huge demon
lumbered past giving Xander a wink as he once again chased his laughing niece.
Xander smiled to himself as he turned back
towards the stream ‘Gotta remember. Demons good here. Demons good’ It
was then that he saw her. She was
leaning against a tree at the edge of the village watching him. She was wearing a white sundress that seemed
to float around her. Her long black hair
fell to her waist in thick curls and she looked up at him with the prettiest
brown eyes he’d ever seen.
The girl smiled softly at him before moving
forward “Hi, you must be one of the Slayers friends” she offered a hand “I’m
Bo, short for Isabo.”
Xander stared at her his mind blank, Bo
laughed and grabbed his hand “And your name is?”
“Harris” He shook his head slightly
“Alexander Harris. Xander for short,
although its not that much shorter” Xander knew he was babbling but couldn’t
help himself.
Bo
laughed again as she extricated her hand “Hello Xander, so my little niece gave
you a bit of a fright?”
Xander's face started to color “Yeah um sorry
about that, just used to, you know, demons being the bad guys.”
“That’s ok Xander” Bo turned to watch her
niece once again “Sometimes I think Isabella can scream loud enough to wake the
dead.” She smiled back up at him
again. “So where were you headed?”
“I uhh thought I might go find the stream”
“Do you want some company” Bo looked up at
him coyly
Xander felt heat suffuse his face again
“Sure, if you want” they began to walk towards the stream. “So that guy back there?” he left the
question hanging.
“Drew? He’s Issy’s dad’s brother.” Bo went on “Mathew, Issy’s dad, is a Shartala
demon and her mum is human.”
“Oh ok” Xander couldn’t imagine any human
wanting to be married to a demon like that.
“I remember when Katie first met Mathew” Bo
smiled at her memories “We were all quite surprised when she bought him
home. We all thought he was far too good
for her.”
Bo bumped her shoulder against him and
Xander realised that she knew what he was thinking. “Sorry it’s just, not used
to it is all.”
“It’s alright Xander; Katie grew up here, so
what someone looks like on the outside doesn’t even register.”
“What about you, did you grow up here?”
Bo shook her head “No I didn’t, but I’ve
lived here most of my adult life.” She
sat down beneath a tree on the edge of the stream, one of its large leaves
moving to shade her.
Xander settled down beside her “So what,
that’s been a few years then”
Bo settled back and smiled secretly “A few”
Xander watched in appreciation as Bo lifted
the hem of her dress slightly and let the sun dance over her legs. “So what do people do here? Do you have jobs? Things like that.”
“Yes Xander.
Midian is like any other village, we have shops and churches and
schools. The people here are just a
little different.”
“Do you work?” Xander watched as Bo stood and moved stand in
the stream the sunlight dancing on the water around her.
“I’m a teacher actually”
“A teacher, wow” Xander sat forward and let
his eyes run over her “I wish my teachers had looked like you.”
Bo laughed as she splashed him “Come in the
waters great” with that she fell backwards under the water. Xander's breath caught in his throat as Bo
stood up her dress clinging to her in all the right places. “What’s the matter Xander” she gave him an
evil smile “You afraid of a little water.”
Xander was not one to let a challenge pass
so he sprung up and grabbed Bo by the shoulders as he pulled her back into the
water with him.