Chapter 28
Giles has news for us that he’s identified the type of demon with help from Spike given Buffy was resting again when he brought back the books. Xander, Spike and Willow head off to find the demon. Willow has some sort of locator spell variant she’s cooked up and she wants to be with them in case the demon moves they can still keep track.
Giles has brought some supplies with him from The Magic Box, but all we can do while we wait is chop and prep things that need it, and put them aside, wrapped in plastic and then all those wraps sealed inside a Tupperware box.
I hear the door to Buffy’s room open, but she doesn’t come downstairs. Dawn must have gone in to check on her.
I light another sandalwood incense on Osiris’ shrine and spend a few moments in silent contemplation of thanks before the picture.
I hear tape pulling in the other room which calls my attention, and I look over to see Giles is wrapping duct tape around the Tupperware of spell components. He takes a marker and writes several warnings on the wrapper to not touch and leave alone.
He comes and lights another sandalwood incense and puts it in the holder on the Osiris altar, “Have you seen Buffy?”
“No; but I think Dawn went into her room.”
Giles nods and sits down on the couch picking up a book but then pausing.
“Are you going to ask me about Willow again?” I ask him.
“I was thinking about it.” He admits.
“What she’s been using the magic for today has been helping Buffy.” I point out.
“I know.” He sighs, “Makes it hard to raise concerns.”
I nod, “I worry she’s demanding again, though.” I explain, “It feels wrong in some ways to be thanking Gods and Goddesses for interceding for her when she’s not.” And for asking Demeter to heal a flower to show a friend that magic magic exists in a fuller way than pagans generally think. If Demeter cared She wouldn’t have done it, I remind myself, which means Miryam must be okay at least by Her standards.
Halloween is coming up, my brain reminds me, maybe a dumb supper for Joyce would be something Dawn and Buffy would like. I’ll have to check when the closest full moon to Halloween is.
Giles nods, “If we could work out who she’s even called on.”
“True.” I shake my head, “It’s all so complicated.”
“Life usually is.”
If Giles was about to say anything else, it’s cut off my Buffy’s door slamming shut and Dawn stomping back to her room and slamming that door as well. I bolt up and then allow myself a few deep breaths and walk up the stairs slowly to give Dawn a little space before I knock on the door and ask her if she needs to talk about what’s going on.
“I don’t know.” She mumbles, but she opens the door.
“You want to just sit for a bit?” I ask her.
She nods.
I go into her room and sit on the bed, and she leans her head on my shoulder. I wrap my arm around her shoulders. Dawn leans her head on my shoulder and sighs. She doesn’t cry but does give out a couple of shuddering breaths.
“She said she doesn’t have a sister.” She says, softly.
“That’s the hallucinations talking—” I try.
“But it’s, like, her perfect universe, isn’t it?” she says, sitting up, “Both Mom AND Dad are there, but, but I’m not—because I’m a freak of monkly origin—I’m not really real.”
I hug her tightly and now she cries on my shoulder. I hold the back of her head, “No, no, sweetie, you are more than real than a lot of people I’ve encountered. You are precious. The hallucinations seem to be trying to act her ties to this world—to drive her mad. Of course, they’re going to cut her off from her precious remaining family.”
“How is poison even doing that?” she asks.
“I’m…not sure.” I realize. Unless it’s giving psychic connection to—is it the demon itself? Is it just the way the hallucinations are manifesting in her mind because of all her feelings.
“More research?” she says, sniffing and wiping her nose.
“Maybe…”
Giles has very little additional avenues for information, and not much extra to go on because these demons are from a different dimension that rarely interacts with ours. He speculates there must have been a crack at some point that let some of them out and then it was sealed. Some of the documentation was damaged and can’t be read.
“He’s not the boss either is he?” Dawn speculates, “The Mm’Fashnik, now him or her.” She amends, “They had to be summoned by whoever did that robbery…”
“Fair.” Giles remarks, “and good point.”
Dawn smiles and nods.
“I don’t imagine they’ve been able to get much information out of the demon though.” I point out given Xander left with the tranq gun they used to have in case Oz escaped in werewolf form.
Just then the back door opens. Xander and Spike walk in bracing the demon on either side as though they’re hauling a drunk friend home. Willow follows them inside holding one hand firmly in a fist in front of her. She’s using it to control whatever spell holding the demon between them.
Once they’re inside the house she turns the spell into a levitation one and they follow his floating form down into the basement, soon there is the sound of chains rattling and clinking below us. There’s a small commotion for a moment, but as we’re approaching Willow calls up and says everything is okay. Now I can hear Spike and Xander straining, and the chains grinding against each other, as they’re locked in place.
“Okay!” Xander calls up, “We got it.”
Dawn starts to go down the stairs, but Giles and I stop her. Giles pointing out that there are things about to happen with the demon that she probably shouldn’t see.
“I already saw the thaumogenny thing get beheaded.” She remarks.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, “That doesn’t mean you need to see whatever has to be done to this demon to get the antidote.”
Dawn pulls a face, and makes a big show out of sighing, “Fine. Fine. I guess I’ll go be responsible and do the rest of my homework.”
“There’s a girl.” Giles remarks.
She sticks her tongue out and goes upstairs, but she’s not stomping and no doors slam, though the sound out of the room a moment later sounds more like she’s talking to someone on the phone rather than actually doing any homework. Safer to leave that alone for right now, though, given she’s out of the way of whatever is about to happen.