A Childe Awakens

Phoenixheart79 aka Carl/theblondiebear

A Childe Awakes - Chapter 7/18

"The Totem of Tilock? Are you sure?" Giles asked, studying the artifact standing on the coffee table.

"Absolutely. Harmony blurted it out right before I staked her and the others seemed wicked pissed at her for mentioning it."

"You staked Harmony?" Xander interrupted.

"Way to go!" Willow cheered "The tramp had it coming!"

Buffy had to smile, "Yeah, but now I’ve cut off a handy supply of information. I tell you, her mouth just keeps on moving. She’s a bigger snitch than Willie, but it just got put down to her stu..."

"Buffy!" Giles cut her off "Are you absolutely certain about the totem?"

Sebastian stepped forward from the corner where he’d been cleaning his sword, a long Katana which rested idly in his hand as he stood next to Xander, who shuffled about nervously in his seat. "Yes. Harmony, was it?" At Buffy’s nod he continued, "Harmony was clear when she said that. And Buffy was right, one of the others was bloody pissed off with her for saying that. Why do you not looked convinced?"

"Well, the totem was said to have been lost centuries ago. The few watchers diaries from that time and local legends all say that the slayer seized it before it’s power could be activated. They tried everything they could think of, but they couldn’t destroy it. Finally it was thrown into a volcano blessed by the old gods so as to prevent it’s retrieval. It was cast away from man and demon for all eternity. If that’s incorrect then we have a problem Buffy."

"Why?"

"Because the totem is a focus. From what we have here, it appears to have been broken down into many pieces. When assembled it will act as a focal point for power. Every vampire ‘consecrated’ with the mark of the totem will have greater strength and speed."



Buffy looked at him, "Giles, they’re vampires, they already have superior strength and speed."

"Over humans, yes, but not over slayers. Buffy, the totem will give every vampire who bears it’s mark the same strength and speed as a slayer. You would lose your one advantage and face an army of equals."

Buffy looked shocked and stood quiet for a minute. "Oh." Her face betrayed the shock she tried so hard to hide. Then her face set in stone, she turned to face the gathered crowd, the scoobies and the slayers in training.

"Then we stop them. We know what they want and what it will do. We scour this town from top to bottom, and then we destroy it once and for all."

"Buffy, I’m not sure it can be destroyed. We may have to send someone away to dispose of it again, throw it into another volcano perhaps."

"Giles, we can’t. We don’t have the people. Hell, we barely have the people to deal with everything that’s happening right now, without sending folks away on errands. We destroy it. Besides, we have one advantage they didn’t have back then," her gaze drifted to Willow, "the single most powerful witch the world has seen in a century."

Willow blanched. "Buffy, I can’t. To destroy that, would take more power than I can channel at the moment. When I was all vein-y and black haired, I touched on a lot of knowledge and I can tell you, without doubt, that there’s no way I can destroy that thing."

Kennedy laid a hand on the witch’s shoulder, "I’ll be with you, I’ll be your rock. You can do it, I know."

Willow smiled wistfully, "I wish I could, but I can’t." she looked up at Buffy, "Honestly Buffy, I can’t do it."

"Can’t or won’t Will? This is to serious for you to put your self-doubts first! We’re your friends, we’ll help you..."

"Like you did last year, Buffy? Only Giles, a coven and Xander stopped me from ending the world. We were lucky!"

"This isn’t the time to be scared Will! Everything will be fine, we’ll keep..."

"NO!" Kennedy’s voice, hard and cold, cut Buffy off in mid-sentence, "She said she’s not ready, hasn’t got the control to do it, then she doesn’t do it!" The slayer glared at the young wiccans’ lover, the anger and hatred in that moment almost palpable.

"Kennedy’s right." Giles’ voice was soft, almost apologetic. "Buffy, we cannot push Willow into this, it would likely destroy her and us."

"Giles! What else can we do?"

With a soft chink, Sebastian laid his sword on the table. The blade was engraved with intricate symbols, strange axes, repeating over and over. A serpent ran the length of it, wrapping around the axes. "My watcher, before the explosion, gave me this. He said the engravings were mystical, that if suffused with energy, would make the blade unbreakable and give the sword the ability to destroy anything."

Giles’ hand reached for the Katana. "May I?" Sebastian nodded and he picked the weapon up, twisting it slowly in the light. "I recognise this now. It’s from the watchers’ armoury, isn’t it? The Sword of..."

"Exvirillion. Yes." Sebastian nodded.

"Well, this is most fortuitous. To have this now. I wonder, how did your watcher..."

"Mr Winseldon."

"Ah, Gregory. How is he?" Sebastian looked to the floor momentarily, then looked Giles in the eye.

"He was at the council, checking one of the prophetic tomes. Technically, he was on assignment with me, so wasn’t listed as been there. But we had received word that I was actually mentioned in one of the volumes, but it had always been assumed to be a mistake and so ignored. He was investigating that, when...."

"When the council was destroyed." Giles said softly. "I’m sorry. Anyway, I wonder how he had got this released. The council normally hoards such treasures, afraid they’ll be lost for eternity if allowed to be used by a slayer. I tried a few times myself, but to no avail."

Sebastian reached out and turned the sword over in Giles’ hand and pointed to a small patch of engraved writing, "It says ‘In the hands of a childe, the darkness will part.’. Mr Winseldon convinced them that it had been intended for my sister and so now, rightfully, was intended for me. With everything that has been building back home, the council relented. They needed someone ready to defend Queen and country. That was four months ago now, I’ve been training ever since in it’s use. Then the explosion happened and almost everything was lost. The remnants of the council handed me that parchment which I brought here."

"Fascinating. Willow, could you empower these runes? If I understand the markings correctly, it’s not so much a spell as a transference of power from yourself to the sword."

Willow still looked uneasy, "I’m not sure. Maybe. Can I?" she held out her hands and Giles laid the sword in them. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and bobbed her head slowly in agreement. "It’s not a spell. This sword is like a sponge. All I would have to do is open my barriers for a moment and it would do the work, taking the power it needs from me."

"Can we do it now then?" Buffy asked, "Destroy it now, before they assemble it."

"I’m afraid not Buffy. I translated that parchment Sebastian brought over. It’s actually an excerpt from a watchers diary, over seven hundred years old. Most of it didn’t mean much to me, in fact none of it made any sense until now. It says that ‘the equalizer may only be destroyed once whole’. Until you discovered this," he indicated the artifact on the coffee table, "I had no idea it referred to the totem."

"You’re saying we have to let them put this thing together before we can stop it?"

"I’m afraid so." he removed his glasses and cleaned them softly.

"Are you crazy?" Anya’s voice cut through the room like an knife through a gut. "Vampires, strong and nasty, we don’t need to be making them stronger. It’s suicide!"

"Yeah!" A number of the slayers in training chorused in with.

"It’s the only solution Anya." Giles cut in.

"It’s lunacy is what it is! I’m going home, lock myself up safe and sound where no super vampires can munch on my moist flesh!" With that she up and left the room, then the building.

Buffy looked to Xander, "You can go with her, if you want. Make sure she’s okay." Xander merely shook his head, a wry smile playing across his features.

"Nah, it’s okay. She can look after herself. Besides, I’m sensing a plan brewing, and I’m kinda hoping I get to be key guy again."

Buffy smiled, but shook her head. "Afraid not this time. We’re all key guys this time around. Here’s what we’re gonna do...."

Back To Chapter Six

Home