Chapter 9

A strange quiet filled the Summers’ home, all its occupants transfixed by the glow that seemed to illuminate every surface it touched.

They watched in wonder as the light seemed to pull back into itself leaving a soft ribbon of green floating above them.  Slowly, with a serpentine grace the ribbon began to flow from one person to the next.  Colours sparked and flashed as it settled momentarily upon each individual, wending its way around them like liquid.  The light seemed almost as though it were a living entity, it continued its search until it came to Dawn.

Joyce gasped as the colour deepened and the light seemed to pulse like a beating heart.

Dawn closed her eyes as the form reached her, frightened and yet at the same time eager for what might happen.  Joyce’s gasp made her open her eyes once more and she stared in wonder as the light surrounding her seemed to reach out towards Spike, finally encompassing him within its glow as well.

Without thought the pair rose to their feet in unison and moved into the centre of the room.  Spike plucked up the book of Dasnmahel as the moved, holding it open so that the light could fall upon its pages.  Dawn turned to inspect the pages as symbols and ancient writing began to appear upon their surface. 

Dawn began to speak, her voice strong and clear as her words filled the room.  “Before man, before earth, before time there was the Key.  Then came The One, who used the Key to mould the dimensions.  In each The One created earth.”  Above them several small balls of light separated themselves and began to drift about the room.

“The earths were still and barren so The One used the Key to create life.  On one earth there came demons.” A figure of a demon drifted towards one of the balls of light.  “The One chained them to their earth giving them only what they would need to exist.  On another earth The One created man in his own image, as with the demons The One chained them to their earth.”  A human figure formed from the light and settled near another of the balls of light.

“Man was strong and powerful, and resented being chained to his earth.  He shouted his defiance to The One and struggled against his bonds.”  Dawn turned from the book, lifting her face to study the small balls of light floating about the room.  “The One realised that man had been gifted with too many powers and was displeased.  The One expelled that earth into the dark.”

The ball of light with the human figure next to it faded into a dark swirling mass, hovering silently in a corner of the room.  “The One reformed man, making them in his image but with none of the power that he had given the demons and god-like men.  He did not bind them to their earth, and gifted them with a lush and generous world in which to exist.”

A human figure floated across to another ball of light and the Scoobies watched in awe as it transformed into a rich tapestry of colour, a perfect representation of the earth on which they lived.

“The demons and god-like men looked across the dimensions with jealous eyes.  They saw the world that The One had gifted to the humans and noted the absence of chains to bind them.  Their eyes turned to their own earths and their hatred grew.”  The demon earth began to darken above them, drifting closer to the dark ball hovering in the corner.

“Soon the occupants of the first worlds began to search for a way to free themselves from their bonds; they whispered to each other across space.”  The two dark masses floated together until they were almost touching.  “The god-like men soon found a way to free themselves from their chains, the demons whispered of their desire to be free as well.  The god-like men broke their chains and the two began to work in concord.”

The two dark masses merged together and began to drift towards the earth.  “The One saw this and wept at the evil in their hearts.”  Droplets of blue light began to appear between the dark and light balls, forming a barrier and stilling the dark balls movement towards the earth.

“The god-like men and demons seethed over this barrier to their goal.  They began to surge forward, battering at the dimensional wall as they searched for a weakness.  One of the god-like men noticed the Key floating unattended and snatched it from the air.  Greedy hands directed it at the barrier, using the Key to tear at it and allowing the demons and god-like men to overrun the earth.”

The scene continued to play out above them, the dark figures multiplying and attacking the light ones near the earth.  “The One saw the chaos that the god-like men and the demons created, he saw his Key being used to punish man for his favour.  The earth burned.”

Flames began to surround the ball representing earth, screams of pain and anguish echoed from the walls.  None assembled faltered though, all intent on the pair before them and the scenes being played out.  “The One began to fight the god-like men, searching for his Key.  The demons used his distraction to prey upon man.  Finally after many millennia The One had managed to expel all but one of the god-like men from the earth, the one who remained proclaimed herself goddess and fled into the bowels of the earth where The One could not reach her. Before she escaped, though, The One managed to snatch the Key from her hands.  The goddess cried out for revenge and vowed that one day she would again wield the Key.”

Dawn gasped as the light surrounding both herself and Spike began to churn, pulsing through them both.  “Man had watched The One as he fought against the god-like men, and cried out for him to give them the Key so that they could battle the demons that covered the earth.” 

Dawn drifted one hand lightly across the pages of the book, the images leaping from the paper like small electrical pulses.  “The One feared that man had been corrupted by the evil of the demons and god-like men, he imagined the destruction that man could do if he were to be given the power of the Key.  Because of this The One hid the Key with the purest among men, charging them with its care and protection.  However, not wishing to cause his favoured children more pain he plunged his hand into the strongest of all demons and drew out its heart, telling man to give it to their strongest warrior.  The men drew back in fear, none wishing to take the heart of a demon into their body.  From the ranks of man a girl stepped forward offering herself as vessel to the demon.  The men fell upon her, chaining her to the earth so that she would be bound to her fate for eternity.  They released the heart of the demon and it devoured the girl, filling her so that she was no longer of man.  The girl was condemned to exist among men but to never be a part of them, always separate, eternally fighting the demons which remained.”

Buffy stared for a long time at the figure of a small dark haired girl who stood tall and proud, heavy chains binding her to the earth.  “The first slayer,” she whispered.

At her words the light flashed, causing the others to shield their eyes from the brightness.  When they could finally see again Dawn and Spike lay unconscious in the middle of the floor.

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“Ok anyone else think that was weird?”  Xander sat in his chair staring at the prone figures in the middle of the floor. 

Upon realising that the two were unconscious Joyce immediately started to make them more comfortable, quickly followed by the others.  Cushions were plucked from chairs and furniture was shoved aside.  Giles checked Dawn’s pulse, sighing in relief when he felt the strong steady beat, when it came to Spike he surmised that due to the fact that he wasn’t dust the vampire would be fine as well.

“It was kinda like the story of creation wasn’t it?” Willow offered.

“Except for the demon parts,” Oz agreed with his girlfriend.

“Yes, well, over the years there has been much debate within the council about the origins of the slayer.  One theory has been that the line stems from demon kind but that theory has mainly been dismissed as being the malevolent ramblings of disgruntled members.” Giles watched Buffy carefully as he waited for the ramifications of what they had just learnt to hit her.

Buffy sat beside Spike, staring at his face, as though trying to see herself in him.  “You know I always denied it, but…” she looked directly at Giles.  “I think part of me always knew.  I want you to research, Giles.  I want to know what kind of demon I am.”

“Not a demon, luv.” Spike struggled to sit up, groaning at the pain the movement caused.  “Bloody hell, feel like I got hit with one of those electric shock things.” He cast his eyes towards Graham. 

Graham lifted his hands in mock surrender. “Wasn’t me.  Sit still for a while and give it time to disperse.”

Spike nodded before groaning at the sensations the movement created.

“So I’ll just lay here like this for a bit longer then?” Dawn opened her eyes, not daring to move much more.

“Better to be safe.” Graham moved to kneel beside here.  “It shouldn’t take much longer to wear off.  That’s if it works the same as the shocks the initiative used to use.”

“You just stay still, Bit.” Spike turned his head slowly to look at his girl.  “I’ll let you know when I start feeling better.”

“’k,” she whispered before closing her eyes again.

Giles cleared his throat, “Umm, Spike, what did you mean when you said that Buffy wasn’t a demon?”

“What I meant, Watcher, was she doesn’t feel like a demon.” He sighed when he saw the others puzzled looks, well everyone except Anya and Oz who merely sat there quietly nodding their heads in agreement.

 “It’s like this; demons can pick up on the energy that other entities put out.  It’s kinda like everything has its own signature, a Grimslaw demon will feel different to a Kulak demon and so on, humans and animals feel different too. Its how most demons hunt; we can sense where the prey is.  Red’s boy there puts out a strong werewolf vibe.” 

Oz nodded. “Yep.”

Spike nodded towards Anya.  “’An’ the whelps’ bird… she’s human but there’s something else, it’s faint, hovering just under the surface.”  He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating.  “Feels like vengeance demon.”

Anya nodded.  “That is very good; I was a Vengeance Demon for many thousands of years, only recently human, though.” She turned to address Giles.  “Some demons are hopeless at getting the subtleties in difference.”

“Yeah, well, the Slayer is kinda like that, registers as human, but with something else underlying it.”

“That sounds a bit like the feeling I get when a baddie is lurking.” Buffy frowned as she processed this new information.

“Probably one of the left over traits, luv.” Spike flexed his arm, sighing with relief when he only experienced a mild tingling.  Testing his other limbs he slowly climbed to his feet before turning to Dawn.  “’s ok now Nibs.”

Dawn opened her eyes, pouting at him. “Don’t wanna try.  Just wanna stay here with the non-hurtiness.”

Spike gave her an indulgent smile before grinning wickedly and reaching a hand down towards her. 

Dawn squealed and rolled out of the way. “Ok, ok, I’m getting up. Just no tickling.”  Once on her feet she glared at Spike.  “You’re evil!”

Spike beamed proudly, “Thank you, Niblet.

“For all the pretty lightshow, it didn’t really give us much information though.”  Willow frowned.  “I mean Spike had already told us that the woman chasing him and Dawn was a god, we just didn’t know that she was from another dimension.”

“We didn’t know about Buffy either,” Xander added.  “That’s new.”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t really help us does it?” Willow frowned for a moment.  “Ohhh unless the demon they originally used was as strong as the god-like men.”

“Maybe if we could find out what sort of demon it was we could find another one and kinda sup up the Buffster.” Xander saw the look of horror on Buffy’s face.  “Or not.”

It is actually quite a good idea, Xander.” Giles held up a hand to silence the protests of Buffy and the others.  “If we know the origins of the slayer line we may be able to discover as yet untapped resources that Buffy could utilise.”  Giles softened his voice.  “Buffy you know that I would do nothing to endanger you unnecessarily, however, if we were able to increase your abilities without reducing your humanity it could only be of benefit.”

Joyce moved to wrap her daughter in her arms. “I think Mr Giles is right, Buffy.  Knowledge is power.”

“Alright but if anyone even mentions shoving a demon heart in me I’m gonna get testy.”  Buffy relented.

“What about Dawn?  The whole idea of getting that bloody book was to find away of getting rid of the threat to my girl.”  Spike growled at them, getting frustrated at the lack of results.

“Please calm yourself, Spike.” Giles tried to reassure the vampire.  “Although the book offered us no definitive answers as to how to rid ourselves of this hell goddess, it did give us some direction.”  Giles began to jot down notes, eager to recall as much information as possible.  “We do know that she comes from a different dimension and that she needed the Key to make her way here.  We also know that The One was able to dispel her brethren from this dimension without the aid of the Key.  Therefore we may be able to find a way to do the same thing.  We should also look into how the monk you told us about was able to draw Glorificus into his body.  We may be able to use that to our advantage as well.”

Spike gave a curt nod, “’preciate it, Watcher.” He turned to Dawn. “Ready?”

Dawn nodded her head before motioning to Graham. “What about him?”

“Coming, soldier boy?” Spike didn’t wait for an answer, merely grabbing Dawn’s hand as they made their way to the door.

“Hey, wait!” Buffy raced to block the way. “Just where do you lot think you’re going?”

“Gotta find a place to stay, Slayer.  Sun’ll be up soon.” Spike watched her with amusement.

“Oh no you don’t, mister.” She grabbed his shoulders and spun him back towards the others. “Dawn is supposed to be my sister, remember?  She can march herself upstairs and into the brand new bedroom mom set up for her… and you can sleep on a cot in the basement and Graham can have the couch for the time being.  You lot are staying where I can keep my eye on you.”

Spike spun round to smirk at her, his tongue curling behind his teeth as he slid his hands across his abdomen to hook into the waist-band of his pants.  “You can put more than your eye on me if you like, Slayer.”  He ran his tongue across his lips before laughing and returning to the living room, leaving a furiously blushing slayer in his wake.

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