Title: A New Slayer 7/9
Author: Jadedragon
Disclaimer: Not mine, Buffy and company belong to Joss, Mutant
Enemy and the WB and UPN. Can I keep Giles, please?
Slowly Joyce awoke and looked at her surroundings. The walls were roughly carved stone and there were empty pull top cans, discarded boxes that had held crackers, empty take out containers and bags from fast food joints. The place was filthy and smelled quite rank. The refuse was all pushed to one side in the `room' where the demon had left her. Joyce was lying on a mattress, which smelled as rank as the rest of the area where she had awakened. There was one torch, which was lit, and barely illuminated the place she found herself.
Joyce slowly stood up and turned to leave the dump where she had been left. She found the corridor outside the room was part of a tunnel, which led to a large cavern where there was a pool and remnants of church architecture sticking out from the firmament. It was a very eerie setting with a few candles lit on the numerous wrought iron candle stands throughout the enormous rocky room. As Joyce looked around she smelled something rotten. Swallowing her fear, she moved toward the noxious smell and found some sort of creature, which had been torn to shreds. She stood frozen in horror at the sight and soon realized that the perimeter of the room was littered with corpses of creatures, which had been torn to pieces. The terror of what she was seeing froze her for a moment before she ran back to the room where she had awoken, fearing for her life.
**********
"Rupert?" he asked in a tired, strained voice, turning his head toward the sound of his old friend's voice. As he raised his head, the group saw that his eyes were covered with cataracts.
"Ethan, how did the Malock demon get you?" Giles asked his friend as he guided him to a seat. Rupert couldn't believe how old Ethan looked; his long hair was almost totally white.
"Rupert, I'll tell you the whole sordid story, but do you have some clean clothes and anything hot to eat?" he begged.
"That demon has my mother, Ethan. Bath time later!" Buffy started before Giles stopped her with a stern look.
"Ethan, I'll take you back to my place while the rest go and get us something for supper. Buffy we still have a couple of days before the Malock will do anything."
"Buffy, he can't harm her, he needs her alive for the ritual. He also needs a sorcerer," Ethan informed them.
"Giles, it's my Mom!"
"Love, I know, but Ethan needs to be cared for then he can give us the information."
Buffy looked at Giles and realized that a horrible odor was coming from Ethan. He and Giles soon left, borrowing Buffy's car and everyone made preparations to meet at Giles condo in about an hour. Xander and Anya were sent to pickup the food orders that had been called in and the rest gathered any pertinent volumes to carry with them.
"Buffy, who was that?" Nikki asked the older Slayer.
"Ethan Rayne was a friend of Giles when they were young. Now they are more adversaries than friends. Ethan has caused trouble for us on several occasions and I don't trust him."
"But he looked ancient." Nicky stated.
"Child, we do not know what the demon has done to Mr. Rayne. We will interview him after he has the chance to clean up and have a hot meal," Grandfather told the young Slayer.
"I can go back and see if he has put Joyce in the same area?" Angel offered.
"Angel, I would be careful if you do. Malocks are known for having multiple lairs and leaving traps to catch the unsuspecting person," Wesley warned him.
"I have to try."
"We'll go with you," Doyle answered as he and Spike stepped up to leave with Angel.
The three quickly left to try and rescue Joyce as the others gathered the books they had been using for research to take to Giles. Wesley wanted to do a bit more research before they left to give Giles time alone with Ethan. He assigned the remaining Scoobies duties to give Giles the time he thought he would need.
**********
Giles helped his old friend into his condo. He was horrified at the change in Ethan's appearance in only five years. Ethan looked like he was seventy years old, but he was the same age as Giles. What had happened to his former friend and adversary? He left Ethan in the bathroom while he went upstairs to get him something to change into. Giles was glad that he had left some of his older clothes at the condo when he went to England. He soon found a set of sweats and a pair of boxers for Ethan. When he returned to the bathroom, he found Ethan standing under the flowing hot water, letting the water stream over his filthy body. Giles took the washcloth and helped Ethan bathe. Ethan was so weak he could barely stand in the shower. Giles went and got a chair from the dining room for him to sit in while they finished his shower. Once Ethan was finally clean, Giles helped him to dress in the clean clothes, moved him to the living room and set him on the couch, where he was asleep almost as soon as he sat down. Giles then went and cleaned up the bathroom and returned to his bedroom to change into dry clothes himself.
Giles went to the kitchen when he got back downstairs and made a pot of tea, knowing that Ethan always loved Earl Grey. As he sat the teapot on the table, Ethan awoke.
"Is that Earl Grey? I haven't had that in years!"
"Yes, I knew it was your favorite," Rupert told him as he handed him a cup. "It's hot, be careful."
"I feel the heat and it feels wonderful," Ethan told him as he wrapped his hands around the cup and brought the aromatic tea toward his nose to inhale the long missed smell.
"Ethan, what happened to you?" he finally asked not able to wait.
"Rupert, I'd rather wait and tell this sordid tale only once, because I know you all will have questions and I don't know how long I can stay awake."
"Ok, enjoy your tea, the rest should be here soon."
Giles was still in a quandary as to what had made his former friend age so quickly. Had the demon cast some sort of spell on the sorcerer? He was still wondering as Buffy lead the group into the condo. He helped her and Willow to gather plates and flatware and soon everyone was eating from an assortment of Chinese food and pizza. Everyone was astonished by the way that Ethan ate. It was as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. Once they were finished and Willow and Giles had gathered the plates to take to the kitchen. Once they were back Ethan began his tale.
"I know you want to know why I was with the Malock demon. The American Government had held me for over two years when the demon broke me out. He said he wanted me to help him release his lover from the Hellmouth. I thought I could control him so I agreed to help him and in the process get you back for the grief you had caused me," Ethan said as he turned his head toward Giles, "little did I know, that he had more ominous plans. Before I knew what had happened, he opened a portal to a different dimension and trapped me there. I tried to escape, but the only place I could survive was the cavern where he had imprisoned me. He fed me cold meals the entire time, from canned goods to cold take out. One time I managed to get a portal open but when he caught me, he used a spell to blind me. I don't know how long I've been his prisoner, time was meaningless and he kept me drugged after my attempted escape. Several days ago, he told me that soon my imprisonment would be at an end, once I had opened the Hellmouth and released his brethren. I realized then, just what he wanted.
Everyone looked at Ethan, shocked at what the man had been through. Even Buffy had sympathy for what the sorcerer had been through with the demon.
"How did you know about what he needed for the spell?" Giles asked him.
"He described the spell that day, telling me what he needed to gather and about my part in the ritual. Buffy, he needs the life's blood of your mother to complete this spell. But he also needs a Sphere of Summoning and they haven't been made for years."
"Wesley, you mentioned a Sphere of Summoning. What is that?" Buffy asked.
"A Sphere of Summoning is an artifact which is quite difficult to manufacture. It takes many rare and costly items from several dimensions. That is why they are quite rare. Also a true Sphere of Summoning hasn't been seen on this plane in over 500 years," he explained.
"Why?" the Slayer asked.
"Because one of the items needed for its manufacture, is no longer available. The dimension where avrilpat was found has been destroyed. That was the only place that mineral was located. It was used to form the sphere which held the other items used in making the artifact."
"Couldn't he use a different mineral?"
"Buffy, avrilpat has certain mystical properties which allow it to hold the power of a spell within a sphere until it is released by the ritual. Since this power has been held in a small place, when it is released, it is similar to a bomb being detonated, only this is a `magickal bomb'," Wesley continued, holding up his hand to stop Buffy's further questions until he could finish. "A Sphere of Summoning can be made in about a week, but the power of the spell is dependent upon the blending of the ingredients held within the sphere. The longer they are allowed to age and blend, the stronger the power that can be released. It was common practice to allow them to age for fifty to seventy-five years to fully mature."
"Ethan, does he have such a sphere?" Buffy asked the sorcerer.
"I don't see how he could. But I do remember him making something just after he first captured me, saying that it would be years before he would know if the substitute would work."
"Ethan, was he talking about a Sphere of Summoning?" Giles asked him.
"I don't know! My memory of that time isn't clear. Damn it, I don't know!" he broke down. "I can't tell you anymore!"
Giles crossed over to Ethan. "It's ok. I'll take you upstairs to rest and we can talk more about this later after you've had a chance to get some sleep."
Everyone watched in shock as Giles helped Ethan upstairs and helped him to bed. The man before them was not the same Ethan Rayne that had caused them so much trouble in the past. But before they could discuss anything that Ethan had told them, Angel, Doyle and Spike came in the door of Giles condo.
"Where is Mom?" Buffy asked as soon as they entered.
"Buffy, we couldn't get back to where I found Mr. Rayne," Angel told her.
"What do you mean you couldn't get back?"
"There was a barrier of some sort that we couldn't get past, a magical barrier."
"From what Ethan told us, I'm not surprised." Wesley told them.
Buffy and the others turned to look at Wesley.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"In my research, I discovered that the Mystical Malocks were known for casting barrier spells around their lairs, only lowering the spells when they left and restoring them immediately when they return."
"Then you know what spell they would have used?" Buffy asked him.
"The books only mentioned the fact that such spells are used, not the specific spell."
"So more research and planning?"
"Yes more research and planning," he informed her.
The rest of the night was spent in discussing what Ethan had told them, research and deciding how best to rescue Joyce.
**********
Joyce heard something coming toward the room where she had returned after seeing the horrific debris in the main chamber. She knew that she needed to escape before Buffy came to rescue her. She didn't want Buffy putting herself and her child in danger. Before she could make any decisions, she smelled a foul odor entering the small space and turned. There she saw the demon who handed her a bag from a local fast food restaurant.
"Here's your food. The Sorcerer has gone, but I'll get him back tonight," with that the demon left Joyce alone.
She let several minutes pass before she tried to follow him but the door was barred by some kind of invisible wall. Joyce knew that she was trapped with no way out.