madimpossibledreamer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
madimpossibledreamer) wrote2024-12-10 10:01 pm
madimpossibledreamer) wrote2024-12-10 10:01 pm
Entry tags:
Come Home to Roost
Main Points:
Buffy/Devil May Cry
Chapter Summary: Giles explains his less than aboveboard past to his charges.
Word Count: 1394
Rating: Teen
Giles should be speaking up, he knows, but it’s an effort, just like everything else, and while he’s trying to dredge up the motivation Buffy finds her words first. “I don’t know, but I don’t think the workers were the problem. Or our fellow carnival-goers, for that matter. Willow here encountered the fortuneteller who definitely knew more than she was saying. Giles, you’re the nerd, and Xander, you’re the trinket guy. You should show them, Will.”
“She’d given me this amulet, and it feels magical, but I don’t know how to use it,” Willow announces, placing an intriguing artifact on the table, but it’s difficult to move.
Xander’s on his feet almost instantly, devil’s reflexes finally directing his nervous energy in a useful manner. “Oh, uh, hey, that reminds me of something. Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Xander disappears into the shadows on the wall even as Giles musters the effort to take a closer look. It’s certainly an artifact of some power, and might help her to properly channel her abilities, which will certainly be safer for everyone in the long run, more through learning the discipline needed to use such an artifact than anything inherent in the jewelry itself. So, it appears, not all of them were in on it.
The half-devil reappears, floating up out of the shadow cast by a chair as it ripples like water. He’s holding up a gemstone, a cut sodalite. “I found this. Just picked it up. I didn’t have a clue what it was for, but it felt important.” Likely because it was shiny; the boy could be very much a magpie in nature, at times. Well. It’s easy to dismiss, but it does happen to be a spiritual stone. He fits it into the left crescent moon-slot, closes the amulet again, and glances up with a grin of triumph. “Whaddya know, it worked?”
“Is it safe?” Willow asks—so she might, in fact, be absorbing some of the lessons he’d tried to instill about safety. Xander pouts in her direction, though. On one hand, he shouldn’t be taking any of this to heart. It’s not as if she’s questioning his trustworthiness, after all. On the other hand, he does recall being a teenager, as rebellious as he’d been, and how intense everything felt, at that time.
Enough. It’s time for him to actually take a stand himself. They may be in hiding, but he can’t remain passive any longer, no matter the unnatural inertia taken hold of him. He reaches out his senses, and it’s a type of focus, it appears. Something through which to channel and strengthen her own magical abilities. “I believe this can refine your control, including with the telekinesis you have been practicing. No demons or spirits lurk to usurp your will; this is a tool, not haunted by wills other than your own.”
“So it seems like she was trying to help us, but...something’s going on there, something messed up. You knew the ringmaster, right? You reacted like you recognized him.” Of course the half-demon’s sharp eyes would spot that.
Giles weighs his choice, thoughts sluggish. He could easily lie, and no one would call him on it. But it’d be a cold, lonely existence, because none of them would trust him fully again. “He’s my ex.” Perhaps it’s the wrong decision, but he doesn’t think he’ll regret it.
The young ones all listen carefully, taking it seriously. They don’t tease or blame him, though maybe they should. And maybe he should give them more credit than that.
And then Xander gasps, glancing up, eyes bright. “The chaos magic! That’s what was familiar.”
He sighs. “Yes. I rebelled against being a Watcher at first. Though I don’t think you would have preferred meeting me that way, either. I was not too dissimilar to Ethan.”
“You weren’t that bad,” Willow states with misplaced certainty.
“Unfortunately, you didn’t exactly happen to be there. Trust me when I say I was.” It...hurts, in a way he didn’t expect, to see the way that loses him just the little bit of trust, of respect. She matters much more than he’d expected. This is part of facing his past. “The mirror maze is a trap, though I’m sure the offer of a reward was used to ensnare more. It’s being used to steal parts of people’s souls, in conjunction with the card, I assume.” He pulls out the riddle, and Xander takes it gently, mouthing the words (at least he’s learned not to read the Latin out loud, just in case it doesn’t play so nicely with his heritage).
“Souls? Are you okay?” Buffy gasps, and he merely squints in her direction.
“It’s not the card itself, but the directions on it. It’s a ritual,” Xander realizes, and very good, Giles hadn’t thought the boy was even paying attention to any of Willow’s lessons.
“So only the people who solved it properly were targeted? Giles.” Despite her reaction, Willow’s still unhappy about the cold lost piece of himself. She still cares. The idea is oddly warming.
The smile takes a great deal out of him, but given how the children perk up and look reassured, it was worth it. “It’s not pleasant, but it does heal. Very slowly. What I’m more concerned with is what Ethan would wish to do with soul pieces.” He takes another deep breath, because if what had been said before now was difficult, it’s very little compared to what’s going to be said next. “One of the more ill-advised decisions made in our youth was the choice to tattoo ourselves with the mark of Eyghon.” He pulls up his sleeve, showing the tattoo, which looks red and irritated as if it was freshly done. He’d felt it while there, of course, but hadn’t a chance to actually examine it.
“Uh. Isn’t that one of the Ancients?” Now that he’s admitting he cares about more than simply his charge, Giles admits he is pleasantly (if distantly) surprised that the teenage boy is displaying any amount of self-preservation instincts.
“Indeed. And we thoughtlessly used the mark of the devil’s cult merely in the place of drugs.” Willow’s glance is...she’s judging. Not condemning, but certainly judging. “We didn’t exactly make the best of decisions, in those days. No matter how much we wish we could change the past.”
That, for some reason, makes the young witch flinch. In all probability something to do with the fight she’d mentioned.
Before he can ask for more details Buffy moves on, businesslike. “So why would he be popping up now like an evil jack in the box—”
“Stop with the clown-adjacent metaphors, Buffy, thank you,” Xander interrupts, and yes, it does appear he did retain the clown phobia, how interesting.
Unusual for him to be acting as the mediator—though, thinking about it, that indicates that he had, in fact, been neglecting his position as an adult for some time now. Reasoning, likewise, is an exertion, but he’s hoping the tea will be strong enough to have the desired effect and stave off the side effects for a while. “If both he and Eyghon are making an appearance now, it’s likely that Eyghon tracked Ethan down despite the protective spells we performed to keep him at bay after the death of Randall, with the objective of killing him. Ethan also likely made a counteroffer—a deal with the devil that Eyghon could not refuse.”
It looks like Xander finally placed the name of the devil, and he’s gone fully grim, now. “Like feeding Eyghon pieces of souls and maybe powering him up enough to let him manifest in the real world again? And the fact that if he ate a part of your soul, he probably knows you’re here?”
Trouble, come home to roost. And unlike Ethan, he’s going to clean up this mess he’d made, or die trying. “I have a plan.”
“I’m not going to like this, am I?” Xander’s devil instincts are excellent, indeed.
Buffy/Devil May Cry
Chapter Summary: Giles explains his less than aboveboard past to his charges.
Word Count: 1394
Rating: Teen
“Does anyone wanna explain what the hell happened back there?” Xander’s a little unusually on edge, but then, that had been quite the show, hadn’t it? Though he’d calmed down a little on the motorcycle road home. “At least Arianna left—her mom wanted her home, but I’m not getting anything from Alisha. I’ll keep trying.”
Giles should be speaking up, he knows, but it’s an effort, just like everything else, and while he’s trying to dredge up the motivation Buffy finds her words first. “I don’t know, but I don’t think the workers were the problem. Or our fellow carnival-goers, for that matter. Willow here encountered the fortuneteller who definitely knew more than she was saying. Giles, you’re the nerd, and Xander, you’re the trinket guy. You should show them, Will.”
“She’d given me this amulet, and it feels magical, but I don’t know how to use it,” Willow announces, placing an intriguing artifact on the table, but it’s difficult to move.
Xander’s on his feet almost instantly, devil’s reflexes finally directing his nervous energy in a useful manner. “Oh, uh, hey, that reminds me of something. Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Xander disappears into the shadows on the wall even as Giles musters the effort to take a closer look. It’s certainly an artifact of some power, and might help her to properly channel her abilities, which will certainly be safer for everyone in the long run, more through learning the discipline needed to use such an artifact than anything inherent in the jewelry itself. So, it appears, not all of them were in on it.
The half-devil reappears, floating up out of the shadow cast by a chair as it ripples like water. He’s holding up a gemstone, a cut sodalite. “I found this. Just picked it up. I didn’t have a clue what it was for, but it felt important.” Likely because it was shiny; the boy could be very much a magpie in nature, at times. Well. It’s easy to dismiss, but it does happen to be a spiritual stone. He fits it into the left crescent moon-slot, closes the amulet again, and glances up with a grin of triumph. “Whaddya know, it worked?”
“Is it safe?” Willow asks—so she might, in fact, be absorbing some of the lessons he’d tried to instill about safety. Xander pouts in her direction, though. On one hand, he shouldn’t be taking any of this to heart. It’s not as if she’s questioning his trustworthiness, after all. On the other hand, he does recall being a teenager, as rebellious as he’d been, and how intense everything felt, at that time.
Enough. It’s time for him to actually take a stand himself. They may be in hiding, but he can’t remain passive any longer, no matter the unnatural inertia taken hold of him. He reaches out his senses, and it’s a type of focus, it appears. Something through which to channel and strengthen her own magical abilities. “I believe this can refine your control, including with the telekinesis you have been practicing. No demons or spirits lurk to usurp your will; this is a tool, not haunted by wills other than your own.”
“So it seems like she was trying to help us, but...something’s going on there, something messed up. You knew the ringmaster, right? You reacted like you recognized him.” Of course the half-demon’s sharp eyes would spot that.
Giles weighs his choice, thoughts sluggish. He could easily lie, and no one would call him on it. But it’d be a cold, lonely existence, because none of them would trust him fully again. “He’s my ex.” Perhaps it’s the wrong decision, but he doesn’t think he’ll regret it.
The young ones all listen carefully, taking it seriously. They don’t tease or blame him, though maybe they should. And maybe he should give them more credit than that.
And then Xander gasps, glancing up, eyes bright. “The chaos magic! That’s what was familiar.”
He sighs. “Yes. I rebelled against being a Watcher at first. Though I don’t think you would have preferred meeting me that way, either. I was not too dissimilar to Ethan.”
“You weren’t that bad,” Willow states with misplaced certainty.
“Unfortunately, you didn’t exactly happen to be there. Trust me when I say I was.” It...hurts, in a way he didn’t expect, to see the way that loses him just the little bit of trust, of respect. She matters much more than he’d expected. This is part of facing his past. “The mirror maze is a trap, though I’m sure the offer of a reward was used to ensnare more. It’s being used to steal parts of people’s souls, in conjunction with the card, I assume.” He pulls out the riddle, and Xander takes it gently, mouthing the words (at least he’s learned not to read the Latin out loud, just in case it doesn’t play so nicely with his heritage).
“Souls? Are you okay?” Buffy gasps, and he merely squints in her direction.
“It’s not the card itself, but the directions on it. It’s a ritual,” Xander realizes, and very good, Giles hadn’t thought the boy was even paying attention to any of Willow’s lessons.
“So only the people who solved it properly were targeted? Giles.” Despite her reaction, Willow’s still unhappy about the cold lost piece of himself. She still cares. The idea is oddly warming.
The smile takes a great deal out of him, but given how the children perk up and look reassured, it was worth it. “It’s not pleasant, but it does heal. Very slowly. What I’m more concerned with is what Ethan would wish to do with soul pieces.” He takes another deep breath, because if what had been said before now was difficult, it’s very little compared to what’s going to be said next. “One of the more ill-advised decisions made in our youth was the choice to tattoo ourselves with the mark of Eyghon.” He pulls up his sleeve, showing the tattoo, which looks red and irritated as if it was freshly done. He’d felt it while there, of course, but hadn’t a chance to actually examine it.
“Uh. Isn’t that one of the Ancients?” Now that he’s admitting he cares about more than simply his charge, Giles admits he is pleasantly (if distantly) surprised that the teenage boy is displaying any amount of self-preservation instincts.
“Indeed. And we thoughtlessly used the mark of the devil’s cult merely in the place of drugs.” Willow’s glance is...she’s judging. Not condemning, but certainly judging. “We didn’t exactly make the best of decisions, in those days. No matter how much we wish we could change the past.”
That, for some reason, makes the young witch flinch. In all probability something to do with the fight she’d mentioned.
Before he can ask for more details Buffy moves on, businesslike. “So why would he be popping up now like an evil jack in the box—”
“Stop with the clown-adjacent metaphors, Buffy, thank you,” Xander interrupts, and yes, it does appear he did retain the clown phobia, how interesting.
Unusual for him to be acting as the mediator—though, thinking about it, that indicates that he had, in fact, been neglecting his position as an adult for some time now. Reasoning, likewise, is an exertion, but he’s hoping the tea will be strong enough to have the desired effect and stave off the side effects for a while. “If both he and Eyghon are making an appearance now, it’s likely that Eyghon tracked Ethan down despite the protective spells we performed to keep him at bay after the death of Randall, with the objective of killing him. Ethan also likely made a counteroffer—a deal with the devil that Eyghon could not refuse.”
It looks like Xander finally placed the name of the devil, and he’s gone fully grim, now. “Like feeding Eyghon pieces of souls and maybe powering him up enough to let him manifest in the real world again? And the fact that if he ate a part of your soul, he probably knows you’re here?”
Trouble, come home to roost. And unlike Ethan, he’s going to clean up this mess he’d made, or die trying. “I have a plan.”
“I’m not going to like this, am I?” Xander’s devil instincts are excellent, indeed.