Chapter 3:
Cheerleading
"So, how's witch-watch goin'?" I questioned the others, a couple days later.
"We're still not sure it's of the witchiness," Buffy informed me, a little annoyed. "It could be something else! Giles said that people who go all kablooey are usually angry, so it might've just been Amber herself doing it!"
I nodded at that, my own foreknowledge handing me the answer, but that would be a rapidly depreciating resource, so it was good that they were thinking critically about it. "There is a shit-ton of magic about, 'cause of the Hellmouth, so that's not outside of the realm of possibility. Bit of the ol' pyrokinesis," I quipped. "But… was Amber upset when she ignited?"
"Not… particularly," the Slayer admitted.
Willow jumped to her defense, "But maybe she was just holding it in. Girls do that, you know."
"Everyone does that, Wills," I shot back. "So, I heard they posted the results." Looking between the two blondes, I inquired, "So, either of you part of the Pom Pom Parade?"
"Yep!" Harmony grinned, before wincing, "But, uh, Buffy didn't make it. Sorry."
"Not your fault, Harm," the other blonde replied, clearly not happy about it, but trying to move on. "Though Amy didn't make it either. Super upset about it too. If anyone catches fire next, my money's on her." She paused, hearing her own words, "Not that, like, I want her to, just-"
"I get what you mean, Buffy," I smiled teasingly. "We're working off a single incident, and you need two points to make a line."
"Yeah," she smiled, a little relieved. "It's just normally the two points are on someone's neck, ya know?"
I shrugged, "Yeah, mosquitos buzz around the surface, but there's a lot more here than just Vamps. That said, being able to do something about it's a nice change of pace."
That caused the Slayer to frown, Buffy's first instinct to poo-poo her own abilities, but she couldn't exactly do so without sounding like a complete asshole, which I was both aware of, and poking her with slightly.
"Uh," Willow questioned, looking around the hall, "should we be talking about the, uh, thirsty ones here?"
I waved around us, "No one's paying attention, and, even if they do, Sunnydale Syndrome means they're gonna forget about it in an hour anyways. If you're not already firmly in the know, you're not gonna be," I paused, seeing the opportunity, "though… we might not be immune to it either, whatever the greater effect is. Eh, take it as it is, I guess."
The redhead's eyes widened, "You mean our brains could be getting washed right now and we wouldn't know it?"
"Lightly lathered at most," I joked, "but… maybe keep hitting the books, Wills, and see if there's some kind of warding, protections, stuff like that we can look into? I've got my Shroud, which helps, but while I've poked some cosmic corners, I'm very much not in the know 'bout a lot of this."
"I could also have a Shroud," she pointed out, giving me puppy dog eyes.
Jesse perked up, "Wait, you can share? Hook me up!"
I winced, but before I could respond, Buffy stiffened, head on a swivel as she tracked something only she could sense. "Hey, does Cordelia seem off to you?"
"What, did she smile without someone being humiliated?" I responded, getting a snort of laughter out of Willow.
"Hey, Cordelia's got some good points," Jesse argued. "She's hot."
"She is," Harmony agreed, as we all turned to watch the girl in question. "And she smiles when she looks at herself sometimes!"
Buffy glanced back at us, as the girl in question messed with her locker, but was unable to open it. "Is that even her locker?"
"How would I know that?" I questioned.
"Oh, no, it's not, her locker's over there," Willow provided, pointing across the hall. "She likes to make fun of me in the morning when she's done with her locker if I'm still around," she added.
"… Lovely," I sighed. "Just ignore her, Wills. It's what I've started to do, and it's been doing wonders for my mental health. Well, those and the superpowers. Either way, Buffster, Buffy?" I questioned, the Slayer having taken off after Cordelia at a jog.
Quickly moving to follow, I asked, "Your Slayer Senses tingling?"
"What?" she asked, distracted. "I… maybe? When Vampires are around, sure, but…"
"But the world is stranger than you know," I completed, paraphrasing her Watcher, causing to the girl to pause a half second, before nodding. The others moved to follow, as we saw Cordelia get behind the wheel of a car, in the bit of parking lot fenced off for Driver's Ed. Buffy started to slow down, but I didn't hesitate to shove her forward, to keep her going, her enhanced reflexes getting her going again without so much as a stumble, though she did send a slightly offended look my way.
"Spontaneous combustion plus losing control over a ton of Detroit steel is a bad combination, Buff," I explained, the car Cordelia was driving suddenly backing up and running over a couple signs set up on the pseudo-track. My partner's eyes widened, as the bewitched girl hit the gas, and we both hauled ass, keeping our abilities just short of supernatural, as the car broke through the fence and screeched to a halt in the middle of the road.
Everyone inside stumbled out, and I helped the others in the car, while Buffy, as Cordelia stood there, screaming, for no apparent reason, vaulted the hood of the vehicle, grabbed the brunette, and pulled her out of the way of the incoming delivery van which had swerved to avoid the car.
Glancing over at the pair, as Cordelia freaked the fuck out over not being able to see, yep, her irises had completely clouded over, rendering her blind. Buffy, unnerved, looked to me, and mouthed 'Giles?' to which I nodded.
"Witchcraft!" the librarian declared. "Blinding your enemies to disable and disorient them is, is classic!"
I cleared my throat, everyone gathered turning to look at me, as I announced, "Someone pick up the phone because I called it!"
The Watcher sent me an annoyed look. "Yes. Quite. But coincidence, while it can wear the guise of insight, does not contain its substance. No, the question is, who would wish to curse Ms. Chase, and why?"
"Well, they probably met her," Willow offered, Giles giving her a disapproving look. "Oh, was that my outside voice?"
"Honestly, the list of people who don't wish harm upon Sunnydale's self-appointed queen bee is likely shorter," I stated.
Buffy frowned, "I don't."
"You're new, don't worry, that'll change," the redhead sitting next to me reassured the Slayer.
"I don't either," Jesse argued.
"That's because she's hot," I shot back, and, after a moment's thought, he nodded in agreement.
Everyone turned to look at Harmony, who was ostensibly Cordelia's friend, the ditzy blonde taking a moment to realize the implication, before offering, "Well, it wasn't like, forever harm, right?"
"Yeah, the curse only lasted a couple minutes, which means we're dealing with a hedge witch," I agreed.
Harmony blinked, "So… she doesn't shave?"
"Well, ah… a 'hedge witch' is not, strictly speaking, a formal title," Giles began, striding away to grab a book from the stacks. "It's more… descriptive. Folk terminology. Meant to designate a more ordinary sort of practitioner of the arcane arts, if any who enact such things could be said to be ordinary."
Buffy lifted a hand, like we were in class, suggesting, "So… like, witch-lite? Diet witch?"
"No, not precisely." Giles responded, bring the tome back and opening it up, flipping through its pages. "The 'hedge' part is quite literal, originally. In old rural communities, the hedge marked the boundary between the village and the wilds beyond. On one side, you had people, fields, order. On the other, forest, spirits, things best left undisturbed."
Willow blinked. "Oh, they were in a liminal space!" I nodded, but the others looked confused, and, a little embarrassed, the girl added, "Like, threshold-y."
"Exactly," The Watcher agreed, pleasantly surprised. "A hedge witch was someone who worked at that boundary. Not a grand coven leader or a high ritualist, lacking in great power, as Mr. Harris suggests, but a solitary practitioner who dealt with charms, remedies, curses, blessings… the more practical bits of magic. Healing a sick cow, blighting a bully's crops, persuading the local spirits not to drown anyone this year."
I chimed in, "Blinding the bitch who made it onto the cheer team instead of your daughter."
Giles paused, but, despite himself, stated, "If one was to use a modern lens, that would not be… inaccurate. In their workings they used what they had on hand. Herbs, simple rites, the odd bargain with whatever lived in the woods. They 'walked the hedge', as it were, between the human world and the unseen one. Not powerful in the sense of, say, a major warlock, but very experienced at nudging small things, quietly, over time."
Buffy crossed her arms. "Blinding someone is small?"
Giles hesitated. "Given its short duration, yes. A moment of inattention, perhaps paired with something inspiring misfortune, leaving the majority of the injury to be inflicted through other means. An older example would be a huntsman struck blind at an inopportune moment in a hunt, allowing the dangerous beast he sought to put down to put him down instead. With the symptoms cleared, especially if the hunter was alone when he perished, no one would be the wiser."
Willow paled, "Could, could it also make other people not help?"
"It could pressure them not to, why, did you feel something amiss?" the Warlock, though he had not informed the rest of us of his capabilities, inquired.
"No, but, we didn't really do anything, while Buffy and Xander just sprang into action!" she replied. "We were all like 'huh, that's weird', and they were all like 'Zoom!' And it was really heroic!" she added, sending us both encouraging smiles, "but, like, even Mr. Pole just left her in the street, while he helped everyone else, and, yeah, she's Cordelia, but…"
"But one would think a teacher would see to his students well being," Giles completed. "Perhaps you are onto something."
Jesse waved a hand, "But, then, how come they didn't get whammied?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but Willow beat me to it. "Because they've both got resistances. Buffy because she's the Slayer, and Xander because of his Shroud. Which, we could also have too, just sayin'," she pressed.
"Again, we'll talk later, because it's kind of a big deal," I informed her, Giles pausing, sending me an odd look, before nodding in slightly relieved agreement.
"So, uh, Amy's mom, is, like, a hedge witch?" Harmony questioned, getting us back on topic.
"If she is a witch at all, she would be closer to that tradition, yes," the librarian quickly asserted. "Domestic, localized, focused on the home and the immediate community. Which is, ironically, precisely why we should be concerned. A hedge witch is less likely to summon an apocalypse and more likely to… ah… bend everyday life to her will. Especially if she feels wronged."
Willow swallowed. "Oh, so, like, definitely messed with us. And she's not 'end of the world' scary. More 'your whole life sucks now and you can't prove why' scary. Maybe even 'and your friends can't help you' scary, if they weren't, you know, our friends. Uh," she looked at Buffy, "we are friends, right?"
"Totally," the Slayer agreed. "Don't worry, we'll watch your back."
While the nerdy girl smiled at that, Giles shook his head, "If this is, indeed, a hedge witch, then these sorts of things match their methodology. Slow, insidious, and personal. I must admit, jumping straight to immolation would be out of character, which is what dissuaded me from such a suggestion, and over cheerleading of all things, but temporary blindness, combined with a luck curse and a non-interference bane… that is far more in line, though such things would normally take a small coven."
"A small coven normally," I corrected. "Here on the Hellmouth, we're soaking in infernal essence, which means anything that pulls from ambient Mana is going to get one Hell of a boost. And one that's highly aligned with fire, curses, and all things malignant."
"So how do we stop her if she's of the badness?" Buffy questioned.
"Go to her house, confront her, she tries to turn someone into a newt we gank her," I offered. "We've got two magically resistant frontline fighters, and an Arcane Advisor, it's pretty straightforward."
Willow blinked, "Wait, when you say 'gank', do you mean kill?"
"… Yes?" I replied, confused. "You know, like we did to several dozen vampires last week?"
"But, but Amy's mom isn't a vampire," the redhead argued.
"No, she's an attempted murderess who's so far tried to kill two innocent girls," I argued. "Well, innocent-ish. One definitely innocent. Either way, that's got her on the 'detain for questioning, put down if she tries to kill us' list, and definitely slotted into the self-defense category. Hell, if she's innocent, she'll probably want to help, to stop the inquisition, though that'd be unexpected, especially if they're Spanish."
Buffy, too, clearly wasn't comfortable with this, questioning, "But, we might be completely off. I mean, what if it's Amy who's casting the spells? She could've learned from her mom, and if her mom finds out we're looking for her daughter, she's gonna go all momma bear on us, even if she is innocent herself!"
Before I could point out that, if she attacked us rather than try and peaceful resolution, she'd still deserve what she got, Giles chimed in, stating, "There is a way to test. You need some of the subject's hair, a little quicksilver, and Aqua Fortis."
"That's just mercury and nitric acid," Willow quickly stated. "We can just get that from the science lab!"
Reading from the book, he added, "'Heat ingredients, and apply to witch. If a spell has been cast in the previous forty-eight hours, the witch's skin turns blue.' This would work just fine. Oh, and you'll need some eye of newt."
"Then that's what we do," Buffy declared, giving me a challenging look. "We've got biology with Amy, so we'll handle it tomorrow!"
"So, ignoring the fact that you wish to apply the powerful fucking acid combined with the extremely toxic metal to what might be an innocent girl's skin," I stated, Willow's eyes widening as, of course, she didn't realize what the ancient tome was suggesting, she just took it at face value, "you're also assuming that she doesn't cast her next spell before then. And, on top of that, you're banking on how, after two failed murder attempts, our rogue witch doesn't discover that, pardon the pun, third time's the charm. Especially if Harmony's the target, seeing as she's on the Cheer Squad."
"I, could we water it down?" the redhead suggested.
Giles removed his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment before replying. "Well, ah, in fairness, the text was written at a time when quicksilver was as likely to be scraped out of a broken mirror as refined in a proper laboratory, and what they referred to as 'aqua fortis' would have been… considerably less pure than what you'd find in a modern chemical laboratory. Given the fact that we have not announced ourselves as witchfinders, we can more closely control the dosage, and the exposure without arousing suspicion. A very small quantity, properly diluted, on a limited area of skin, and with immediate neutralizing agents on hand, would be… somewhat unpleasant, certainly, but should not be permanently damaging."
Putting on his glasses, looking pained, he stated, "So yes, we can 'water it down', up to a point. A single drop of quicksilver, and, let us say, ten drops of aqua fortis in half a liter of water should function, though the effect will be less vivid. That said, any bluing upon contact will be evidence enough of supernatural activity without causing more than minor burns. I would prefer no damage done to a possibly innocent girl, however we are, after all, dealing with someone who has already made two attempts on the lives of your classmates for, and I can not stress this enough, cheerleading. In that context, a brief, carefully supervised sting of acid is regrettable, but not, I'm afraid, entirely unjustifiable."
"Or," I stressed. "We could just go to Amy's house and talk to her mom. Don't trust her, don't turn your back on her, but just talk to her about how, since Wills and I were friends in middle school, we saw how hard she was taking the entire Cheerleading thing and wanted to check up on her."
"No," Buffy decided. "We need to be careful, so we'll test first."
And that, apparently was that, as far as the others were concerned.
I knocked on the door, the house just oozing 'Witches Cottage' energy, at least for California. I mean, when your place has a decorative iron fence that only separates your entrance from the sidewalk, but doesn't cover the sides of your yard, you're just trying too hard.
No one answered, but before I'd left school this morning, dipping out on my classes because fuck it, I saw that Amy had driven a very nice car here, and, yep, no car in the driveway.
Rolling my eyes, I extended a tendril, of Shroud from my ear like a stethoscope, I knocked again, and, from the yelp inside, and the crying… Yep.
Retracting them, palming the lock, a tendril flipped the lock and I armored up, but kept the faceplate of the helmet clear. Opening it, I stepped in, my metal boot clicking on the hardwood floor.
"Amy, it's Xander," I called out. "From school."
"G-Go away!" an older woman's voice called out. "Y-You should be in school!"
Orienting on the sound, ready for magical bullshit, the basic hexagrammic wards weaved into my suit untested, I stepped into the living room, where someone was curled up on the couch, trying not to cry.
"So should you, Amy," I stated kindly, more of this episode coming to mind as I did so.
"A-Amy, I'm not Amy, I'm Amy's mom," the woman tried to argue, turning around, before shrieking, seeing me.
I paused, looked to my sword, and retracted it, as, honestly, it wasn't needed right now. Pulling back my helmet as well, I told the middle-aged woman before, "Yeah, so… Magic exists, but you already knew that, didn't you Amy. Did you even show up to school this year at all, or has it been your Mom this entire time?"
"I, I…" she stuttered, before breaking out in tears, collapsing in on herself. "It happened after my first report card! I only got one B!"
Reaching a tendril out to close the front door, I moved next to the distraught girl who'd been bodysnatched by her witch of a mother, and helped her sit down, rubbing her back, and, when she curled into me to cry, retracted my armor so I didn't touch her directly with the Shroud, glad I had regular clothing on underneath.
Asking a few questions built a bigger picture, and not only was Catherine Madison a witch, she was the wine mom equivalent of a witch, a true Boomer Dweomer, not actually using her magic to fucking help anyone other than herself, and teaching her daughter jack shit.
What's that, perhaps help your daughter develop useful skills, perhaps even bond with her? Nah, fuck that, bully and abuse her, demand her to perform at a level which she'd never actually taught her daughter how to achieve, that's the ticket! Just nag, insult, and emotionally and physically abuse Amy into somehow developing those talents ex nihilo, and that'll totally work! I'm sure that Catherine didn't have any kind of support herself and obviously just emerged fully capable, like Athena from Zeus' brow!
… This might've been a bit personal, and not just from Xander's own situation either.
Regardless, with a promise that, no, I was absolutely going to banish the fuck out of her mother to go deal with the kinds of dark forces she'd called upon to fuck Amy over, and without the bargaining power the bitch had before, I broke into the witch's attic workshop.
"Fucking Barbies, really?" I sighed, grabbing the talismans, which were all ongoing spells, and, while you could just break them all and hope for the best, we had a Watcher who knew what the fuck he was doing, at least with this world's magic system. Biting the bullet for the Pocket Space, the basic one was only five points, which I was absolutely going to make back later, and which let me store everything of arcane value, including the cauldron.
I also had her grab some flour, salt, water, and a splash of cooking oil, manifesting a bowl to mix up with before smearing it into the engraved pentagram, creating a hair-dryer to dry it in seconds. "Ritual circles require clean lines to properly channel the energies, especially as they're actually usually built in five or more dimensions with the three-dimensional parts the anchor, and salt is one of those 'all or nothing' things, where the ritual either needs to be made with it in mind, or it can't have any, as it's an arcane conductor that'll fuck up energy flows. Throw in salt's purifying element, which is why it's the gold standard for anti-infernal wards, and try a Maledictum with it present and it's, at best, just not going to work," I explained, "at worst, cause a really nasty feedback, which if your tormentor isn't a complete idiot, she'll try it freehand instead of using a compromised circle for."
"O-Oh, okay," the girl in a woman's body stated, clearly terrified, but doing her best to hold it together.
"Alright, let's head back to school, the Librarian's a wizard, and he can undo this bullshit," I told her.
Amy, freezing at the thought of possibly running into her mother in her own body, asked, fragile hope in her tone, "P-Promise?"
"I promise," I reassured her. "One way or another, we'll save you, and Catherine will face justice. Now let's go."
Leaving the house, going through the back-door in case the front was trapped in case she tried to escape that way, it was easy enough to make a motorcycle from my Shroud, the conservative, comfy clothing Amy was wearing making sure she didn't actually touch it directly, and soon enough we were back to Sunnydale High, heading in through the back, entering the Library.
"Oi, Giles, I was right!" I called out.
"Yes, yes, no need to-" he started to state, freezing as he saw my companion. "Mr. Harris, please don't tell me you did what I think you did."
"Probably not," I shrugged. "Giles, meet Amy Madison. Her mom's a witch, like I said, and she body-jacked her daughter since November. You're our magical expert, so I figured you'd be the one to reverse it."
I could practically see the man's brain lock up for a moment, before he slowly nodded, aghast. "Good Lord. I… I could, though I'd need a great deal of research. If I had access to her mother's workspace, that would help greatly."
"Already raided it," I reassured him, and, with a wave of my hand, the empty table was filled up with the loot I'd nabbed. "Not sure the specifics, but it seemed like she mostly worked in basic bitch sympathetic voodoo derivatives."
"Voodoo, more often referred to as hoodoo, is actually far more than it's depicted to be in modern media, and often involves the invocation of Loa, or…" he trailed off, as I smiled. "Right, you'd know."
Amy chimed in, "He, he also filled in the circle on the floor with paste. Um, he used flour and salt?"
At the sharp look from the Watcher, I shrugged. "Purification elements and curses don't mix very well."
"Perhaps you do not require the tomes you've inquired about as much as you suggest," the man noted sourly.
"Oh, no, I'm really shooting in the dark here," I reassured him. "I can just read mythology and have the rarest of superpowers, pattern recognition."
For a long moment, Giles just stared at me, before looking away, sighing, and commenting, "I cannot tell you how much it pains me to admit you are not incorrect."
"Well, let's focus on putting Amy back in her own body," I directed.
"Yes, let's, though," he hesitated, glancing at the woman, "you do know the moment we do, we will have a very upset witch on our hands." I lifted an eyebrow, extending glowing blue tendrils from my back. "Ah, yes, as long as you're prepared," he offered.
With that, he started quickly going over the books, finding the one he needed in moments, flipping through it, nodding and going, "Ah, very good. We'll need a few supplies from the science lab, thankfully they are still studying frogs, and the counter-ritual will be quite easy, breaking the chained connection. She's tuned all her workings into the same pact, which means we sever it, we sever them all, though she will by no means defenseless."
"Good thing neither am I," I replied, the bell ringing. "And that's the end of class. You go get the materials, I'll hold down the fort, and we'll get this done before the Mad Cat gets home and discovers I've pissed in her metaphorical cauldron."
The librarian blinked, commenting, "Quite. Ms. Madison," he nodded, quickly striding out, even as Buffy and Willow walked in.
The redhead perked up, going, "Xander! They said you were out sick!"
"Yeah, sick of waiting," I shrugged. "Girls, say hi to Amy."
"But, we just met Amy," Buffy stated, looking at the 'older' woman warily.
"No, you just met Catherine, who bodyjacked her. I assume the test was a success?" I questioned.
"It was!" Willow stated. "Turned blue and everything!"
"And did she see it turn blue?" I pressed.
At that, both girls suddenly looked away. "Well, yeah, but since I had to wash it off of her, it was kinda obvi."
Looking at the blonde, I asked, "You applied it?" At her nod, I commanded, "Check to make sure you still have everything of yours. No lost jewelry, cut hair, anything."
Cautiously, the Slayer did so, freezing as she grabbed a mirror, and gasping, "She cut my hair! Who does that!?"
"I mean, we did, to her," Willow offered, before gasping herself. "Wait, if she's a witch, and she has Buffy's hair, that's, like, really super mega bad, right!?"
"If we weren't solving the problem already, I'd be assaulting Amy's house right now before Catherine can lay a death curse, as she now knows you know about her," I informed the pair, before adding, "No offense, Amy."
"O-Oh, no, kinda wish you had weeks ago," the other girl replied.
"Sorry we didn't know you weren't, well, you," Willow apologized, clearly feeling guilty. "We just didn't hang out like we used to, so I, didn't, uh, realize that you, ya know."
Amy scoffed bitterly, "Hard to hang out when you're doing drills for three hours a day."
Something about that, though, twigged me as wrong. "Wait, drills? Not routines?"
"I, no?" the possessed girl responded. "Just the same things, over and over again, but it was never enough."
I turned to Buffy, "That how you train for cheerleading?"
"Not in the slightest," the Slayer responded. "Like, it's good to move, but it's not just moving, you gotta have the right attitude, and how you move through your routine, you know, like, pep, and stuff!"
Willow's face screwed up in confusion, "But, how were you supposed to be a cheerleader without the cheer? Or the leader? Unless…" She gasped again, "Xander! I think her mom was always gonna, you know, Freaky Friday her!"
"R-Really?" Amy questioned. "Then, then it wasn't because I failed?"
"Even if you had, that wouldn't make what she did to you okay," Buffy reassured the girl.
"Exactly," I agreed. "But, yeah, Catherine was likely looking for an excuse. And, when you didn't give her one, she made one up anyways."
Which caused the girl in the woman's body to burst into tears, though relieved ones, as I patted her on the shoulder, and Buffy moved to hug her, Willow, unsure, at a jerk of my head, patting her other shoulder consolingly too.
Jesse and Harmony walked in, then paused. "Uh, should we come back later?"
"Amy's mom stole her body, we're gonna undo it, and I'm gonna handle it, you can stay if you want," I summarized.
The pair both considered that for a moment, looking at each other, Harmony jerking her head, Jesse wiggling an eyebrow, Harmony smiling and nodding, and Jesse telling us, "See ya tomorrow!"
"See ya," I wished the pair, trying not to laugh.
Soon enough, Giles returned, and Amy collected herself.
"Okay, be aware that you're gonna switch back, which means there's a non-zero chance you're gonna suddenly be driving a car," I warned. "When you switch, stiffen, don't jerk, and then head home if you're not already there. I'll swing by afterwards to confirm that she's gone. I'll also help with the missing person's report you'll file in a week, to make sure everything goes well. And don't worry, it's Sunnydale, they're not gonna look into it. Okay?"
"O-Okay," she agreed, and I motioned for the others to step back, as I extended Shroud tendrils until I made a cage around her, not touching her, but waiting.
Armoring up, I waited, the Warlock chanting, over a bubbling flask, "The center is dark. Centrum est obscurus. The darkness breathes. Tenebrae respiratis."
He's translating on the fly, I realized, but, meh, the repetition might strengthen the counter-ritual, if anything.
"It's, it's working!" Amy gasped. "She's, she's home, just got there, and, and she's angry."
"Good," I stated, as he continued the ritual, sacrificing a bit of his life-force to do so, which was… actually pretty hardcore, though if I was right it was a temporary drain.
With a final flash of light, I could tell the spell hit, as Amy's entire demeanor changed, the woman shooting me a venomous glare, as the wards on my armor flared, two sputtering out completely, but the third holding, if for a moment.
"You-gluckgluckgluck!" the witch started to sneer, but I was having absolutely fucking none of that, as the tendril cage snapped tight, Shroud strands shoving themselves down her throat like she was the schoolgirl she wanted to be, except instead of a teen drama she found herself in a hentai instead.
I swamped her with more, even as they, inside of the cocoon of dark blue, shoved themselves in every available orifice, including her nostrils, the telekinetic blast of force she tried to free-herself with disrupted, because good luck maintaining concentration with that bullshit going on if you hadn't trained.
And Catherine Madison didn't seem like the type who trained unless she absolutely had to.
The muffled, wet screams were more than most Vamps could manage, and she got off something that caused the other to flinch, while bouncing off my Defenses, which meant it was likely Mind based, but that's all she managed before-
Ding!
Catherine Madison, Tier Five, damn.
That meant she was on my level.
This… could've gone really badly.
But that's why you gank the mage first, I thought, with no penalty as she was a named character, not arguing with the sixteen, actually fourteen point four, points, bringing me up to a solid eighteen.
Ten of which instantly went to picking up Possession Resistance, because, clearly, that was a threat. Thankfully, I didn't suddenly get freed, so it was purely preparatory, but absolutely something that was needed.
Willow picked herself up off the ground, as did Buffy and Giles, and I realized that TK Burst might've been stronger than I first thought, the redhead asking, "I, where is she?"
"Gone," I shrugged.
Buffy glanced around, "I… is it weird that I expected more?"
"Nah, that's normal. Not everything needs to be a massive battle," I teased. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get a monster for you to battle to the death some other time. Maybe a couple vamps to play with, if you're up for a patrol tonight."
That got me a narrow-eyed look, as she was pretty sure I was messing with her, and to be fair I was, but she just shrugged and went, "Works for me!"
"You… ate her," the Watcher stated carefully, exhausted from his working, but clearly unsure how to take my method of execution.
"The Shroud ate her, or banished her, or… I'm not actually super clear on the specifics, it might be a micro-ritual, either way, same as the vamps, no longer an issue," I replied, looking at the arcane supplies. "You mind if I leave cleanup to you, Giles? You'll know proper practices for disposal of arcane waste, and I want you to give the books a once-over in case there's any memetic mines in there that Wills or I might stumble upon."
"Memetic…" he echoed.
The redhead, who'd been eyeing the books, perked up, "Yeah, 'pertaining to beliefs or learned behaviors', which means… Wait, dangerous beliefs? That's a thing, Xander?"
"More of a catchall for 'thing that goes off when you read it,'" I explained. "Still not sure on the specifics of this entire 'witchcraft and wizardry' thing, and I figure waiting for the go-ahead from our resident magic man is the safer choice."
"Witchcraft and wizardry are two completely different disciplines which…" Giles started to correct, before seeing my smile. "Yes. It would be best if I gave them a once-over. How has your progress been on the tome that Mr. Harris, lent you, Ms. Rosenberg?"
The nerd winced, "Ah, it's… kind of boring?"
"Good," I stated, to her confusion. "Magic that's fun and exciting is magic that's really easy to overdo, which never turns out well. Be the tortoise, not the hare, Wills, or else you'll end up as someone else's lucky rabbit foot."
"As mixed as the metaphor was, your friend is correct," Giles agreed. "Many a youth has suffered many a loss by going off on some arcane adventure half-cocked. If you truly wish to study the occult, an overabundance of caution is infinitely preferable to a paucity of it."
She pouted, but neither of us were moved. "…Fine. But, Xander, why'd you go get Amy? The real Amy, not the fake one. Buffy told you not to."
"And?" I questioned, seeing the issue already forming, and nipping it in the bud. "Buffy is my friend, I think, not my leader, not my commander, and certainly not my boss. If she had a good reason, I would've listened, but her reason was just 'Nah, I don't wanna', so I gave her opinion equal weight to that which she gave mine, and we both did what we wanted to do. Which, it turns out, I was right to do so, because if we hadn't jumped on it Buffy might've died, and if she didn't outright, that would only be because she's the Slayer. That makes her tough, but not infallible, and, honestly, if we're using that metric?"
I flexed an shroud-covered arm, the pseudo-organic dark blue plate glistening under the Library's lights.
"She should be listening to me."
Waiting a moment for emphasis, I retracted the armor, and added, "But might makes right is fucking dumb, which is why I'd listen to her if she made a good argument, just like I would Giles, or you. So, Willow, I'm not going to ask for an answer right now, but I want you to think, and ask yourself, why did you think I had to listen to her? And if your answer is just 'she's the Slayer', then by that logic she should listen to Giles because 'he's the Watcher', which she clearly doesn't, so Ethos is right out, Pathos is finicky at the best of times, so consider it with Logos, and get back to me, okay?"
The girl blinked, before looking concerned, and slowly nodded. "I… I'll do that. And read the book you got me. Sorry for not…"
"Show me you are by studying it like you're going to be tested on it, because you will be," I stressed.
The statement both shocked and slightly excited her. "There's a test?"
I waved to the remains of the chair that'd held the witch, shattered in her struggles, and the genius connected the dots.
"…Oh."
"Oh," I agreed. "Now, if you two will excuse me, I'm off to tell an abuse victim that she's finally free. Honestly, not bad for a couple days work."
AN: And the show continues! This chapter was commissioned by my a number of great supporters, though over half of it was funded solely by @Dragonhulk ! This is the next part of Kommission-A-Palooza, and I'm putting the finishing touches on the last bit of The Waifu Thief's next chapter right now, which you'll be able to read early through my Patreon and Subscribestar pages if you want! The next chapter of this story is in the Kueue, though not for a bit, funded entirely by @Fellgar , with the chapter after that at 321/499. As with all of my commissioned works, if you'd like to see where this continues past that point, you can commission a chapter, either through crowdfunding, or commissions, on my Ko-Fi found HERE! I hope you liked it, and you have a great week! Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Bowburnit, pseudoanon, Mizuki_Stone and 224 others