Ch.18

Alice became bored and decided to take Cordelia shopping with her. That left me, Xander and Willow reading books with both watchers. While they were doing research I was simply reading up on demons.

There was a fair bit of information on demons I'd never even heard of before. Most were either extinct in this dimension or the type to hibernate for hundreds of years at a time. I did happen to run across some of the ones I'd heard about before like the giant praying mantis and The First.

I read what few details that were written down and decided I liked bug demons even less than plant demons. At least with plant demons I knew they didn't mate then kill you.

After I finished the last of the collection of demon books I turned to Giles who was going over a scroll. Seeing him busy I decided to read the books he had on magic in his office. It was going to take me a quite a bit longer to get through them as I had to actually make sense of what I was reading and most of that was in various dead languages.

I spent the next few days brushing up on my linguistics just to read them and by the time I was ready Buffy and Faith had ran into a demon wanting to sell the books of ascension for five grand.

I tossed buffy a stack of bills saying. "If he's serious and they look authentic bring them back. I'm sure they'll make an excellent first acquisition for my collection."

I turned to Giles. "That is, if you don't mind of course. I have no problem with sharing any books I purchase."

He smiled. "Of course. I was just going to suggest that."

I smiled and Buffy shrugged. "I guess that means I'm on book duty."

I chuckled. "Well, he is a demon, so if you decide to kill him after you've acquired the books I see no reason why you can't keep the money."

She brightened up a little and Faith smiled. "Fifty-fifty split, what do ya say B, down for a little demon violence?"

She shrugged. "An average Tuesday here we come. Though he didn't seem all evil or anything."

I perked up. "Describe him to me."

The mentioned his horns, cat eyes, and razor sharp teeth. I pulled a book off the shelf in the cage and opened it up for them to see. "Is this your demon?"

Buffy nodded. "That looks just like him."

I sighed. "He's a torkak demon."

Giles spoke up. "Torkak you say? Those are very common though they usually hang out near playgrounds."

Buffy asked. "So what does this toe cat demon do?"

I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I answered. "He's a child eater. They usually dress up like trusted individuals and lure kids from the safety of their parents into the woods or alleyways and eat them. It's said it takes up to a few days for the demon to actually kill the child as it prefers its food fresh."

Both slayers looked pale now. Buffy exclaimed. "Definitely in the kill category."

Giles cleaned his glasses. "Yes, quite. Be sure to get the books before he's dealt with though."

Faith smiled weakly. "No problem G, we got this."

I put the book back in its place and went back to my reading. I transcribed the spells and instructions into english and began memorizing them. Most of them were higher grade magic than what I was currently doing so I just memorized it for later. It started with barriers and binding Magic's and branches out to spells that required vast amounts of power to tap into.

I didn't want to rely on an object to channel magic so I decided to play the long game there. I sifted through Giles's magic book collection and transcribed each of the books into english while memorizing both their original text and the new ones.

That night Buffy and Faith came back with the books and a bunch of stuff they wanted to sell off for cash. Most of it was random junk that would be sold off cheap but they did ask to borrow a truck or something to haul the stuff with.

Alice took that opportunity to tell them. "I've bought a moving truck to help you in your little hunts. It's parked next to Xander's uncle's car."

Xander told them he'd drive it there so they didn't wreck. He knew Buffy was a horrible driver and Faith never learned. They left together and came back a couple hours later while Giles, Wesley and I were reading up on ascension.

They were none to pleased with what they found and Wesley spoke up. "I need to inform the council about this. It seems the ascension is inevitable and cannot be stopped."

Giles agreed. "Perhaps we should try to figure out what sort of creature he's chosen to turn into before we jump to conclusions."

Wesley wouldn't budge. "Nonsense. The council needs to be made aware of this so that they can prepare in case we fall here. At the very least it'll give them enough time to mount a suitable defense in case we lose the hellmouth."

I chuckled and they both turned to me. "These true demons aren't old ones. If all else fails I can kill it. There's very little to fear from it unless he chooses something with a rare weakness like a super sized beetle or something. As for the council, that's up to you, after all, it is your job on the line if they find out you kept them in the dark."

Wesley took off to make the calls while I turned to Giles. "Relax, the mayor is only invulnerable until after he ascends. Once he does he's fair game. The first slayer killed old ones by herself. Buffy isn't alone in this and there are two slayers now. I highly doubt we'll lose, and in the event that they fail I'll kill him."

Giles looked relieved. "Very well. Let's get these out away. We can't keep them laying around."

I nodded and put them in my duffle bag, ready for me to take home. Xander came in with the two slayers and tossed the keys on the table. "Demon horde way to much stuff. Gotta day it was the most disappointing packing I've ever done. He makes Giles look like the most exciting man in America."

Giles raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Xander began a spluttering tirade of apologies to everyone else's amusement. Buffy let him off when she told Giles. "The moving truck is full. There's more stuff but most of it was old nude magazines and some pieces of what I can only assume was his lunch."

I sighed. "Probably some random kids he'd managed to catch."

Faith spoke up. "That's what we thought as well. I wanted to burn the place down but B said the watchers council might send someone."

Wesley spoke up from the office doorway. "Quite right. They're sending a team to handle the cleanup. Once they're done with that they'll stay and help wherever possible following our lead with the mayor. Hopefully they won't be necessary but in the event that the mayor is successful we'll need all the help we can get."

I continued my magic studies while going over alchemical properties of ingredients used in different spells in my head. A week later I'd finished with Giles's personal collection of demon and spell books.

I took the chance to learn some of what Willow was doing before taking it a step further and buying the magic box as promised. The owner sold cheaply after Alice told him his fate if he stayed in town.

He was a simple dabbler in the arts but he knew enough to listen when a psychic told him his future was grim. I took over the place and began doing inventory before shutting it down to the public. I still kept the mail orders and sales up so the overhead was still rather large.

I redid the filing system to separate the real magical things from the fake and closed off the sewer access in the basement. The vampires could bite it for all I cared, I wasn't giving them an easy way in to kill customers or attempt at myself, not that they'd survive the experience, but it would get annoying fast.

The back room was where I stored the real magical artifacts and books while the front room was the harmless stuff like crystal balls and cauldrons. The shop became more and more like a Halloween store than anything else, at least to the uninformed.

I hired Xander part time to man the register for the fake magic stuff while Alice and I took over the real stuff. Each of our real magically inclined clientele were given a hard to present to us showing their authentication as magic users. They were given a five percent discount on all store bought items and ten percent discount on all deliveries and bulk sales.

We would cater to all walks of life and would be open during the day after mine and Alice's only class and closed after midnight to give those creatures of the night a chance to stop by and buy something.

After we made the changes I offered Faith a job for extra pocket cash when she's not out slaying, well, Alice offered anyway. Faith took her up on it and now we've just opened up two days after closing. Each of the clientele of the magical persuasion were given their cards while those that had a history of ordering magical items were sent one in the mail.

By the end of the first day I'd had to stop Faith from killing six demons and one vampire. Xander on the other hand did well except for mixing up a few orders. Luckily both Alice and I were there to help correct the mistakes.

The next day was less of a hassle as Faith was mostly stocking shelves and dealing with the humans. Xander was more or less on the ball as he'd managed to successfully navigate the filing system and get the customers their ingredients. On the brighter side I used the shop to put out my own feelers for more magic and demonic tomes.

That night after we locked up Faith came to our room and asked if there was any way I could help her widen her knowledge pool. She wanted a quick way to gain the knowledge I'd gathered over the coarse of decades.

I showed her my claws and she asked. "Isn't this what you did to vamp Red?"

I sighed. "It's similar and not. For example, I can still read your mind while I'm in there if I want to but I'd be using it to help you build a mind scape. From there, if you want, I can give you the information you seek. Sort of like downloading copies of my experiences and knowledge. When I'm done you'll have to meditate and relive those experiences before you can actually retain them."

She smirked. "Wicked."

I shook my head solemnly. "Not so. One misstep or flinch and you'll be paralyzed or killed. If someone forcefully pulls them out I'll get stuck in your mind and became apart of your own psyche. Basically, you'll develop a split personality, if the process doesn't kill you."

She was less happy but shrugged. "I ain't scared. Let's get this party started."

I sighed and turned to Alice. She nodded and smiled reassuringly. "I'll watch over you two."

I sat on the chair next to the bed and indicated for Faith to sit on the bed. She did so and I reached up to her neck as my claws came out. "Remember, don't fight it. You could kill us both."

She went to speak and I dug my claws into the back of her neck along her spine. Our eyes met and closed as I entered her mind. The moment I did, I regretted it immediately. Her mind was a chaotic mess like most average humans but what made me regret it was the fact that we weren't entirely alone in here.

I felt the presence the moment I entered. It was like I was being hunted and somehow at the same time I felt it slipping past my shields. I'd never felt more human in since I was reborn. The presence sifted through all that I was like a shark smelling blood in the water.

My other predicament was that the presence was concealing Faith's mental avatar so I couldn't even help her at all. I was at the total mercy of this ancient presence and it had yet to decide whether I would be destroyed or not.

I felt frustration and anger boil up inside my mind but stamped it down. I knew it was the essence of the first slayer and that it was assessing whether I was a threat or not. Once it finished with my memories it went to the edge of my fathers cage. It simply wondered around the edges finding no way in that wouldn't trap it with him.

After a while it changed directions and went to the depths of my mind where the demonic wolf was hidden. I could tell what it was going to do until it dragged the wolf to the edges of my fathers cage and threw it in.

The demonic wolf was pulled in as the trap opened and shut around it, creating another cell where it to was bound. I felt dizzy froM the effort to do so quickly. I felt mentally and now magically exhausted as I'd used both to make an extra cell to contain the demonic wolf.

The bloody mist I called father snarled at the wolf and it roared back but neither could break free and neither really wanted to with the first slayer watching them both as if they were prey.

Speaking of which, she'd finally deemed me at the very least aloud to see her visage as her body came out of the darkness. She stood before the trap before turning her gaze on me. She had this creepy smile on her face before she withdrew back into Faith's mind.

I followed and found Faith's mental image of herself there waiting. She asked. "So we gonna do this or what?"

I hid my weakness and began instructing her on taking the first steps. Once she cleared her mind I gave her an example, showing her where I started.

As a super computer materialized I told her. "This is what I started with. It's mostly imagination and will power. Don't be surprised if you find yourself exhausted while you're making something. Just remember, it's all up to how well you can imagine something and will it to be so."

I deconstructed it slowly, piece by piece waiting for her to copy it. Time inside our minds ran differently to reality outside as we were moving at the speed of thought. Every time she got tired I took the chance to show her how to meditate and recollect herself.

I did the same while taking in magic and whipping the taint of the hellmouth off, cleansing it. When I was full I found the well I'd been working on was five feet deeper than before. At approximately thirty seven feet deep by my understanding now it was even filling slightly faster now.

I put that to the back of my current thoughts and continued Faiths lessons. When she'd finished the super computer I instructed her on how to file her memories away starting from her earliest to her most recent.

It was a painful process for most and especially for her as her past was steeped in pain. Her mother had been a whore that brought johns to the house to screw and when she was found attractive they paid her mother to screw her to. From an early age she learned men were pigs and only wanted one thing.

I was forced to view it as well as there was no stopping the process once it's started. I'd seen Derek's and most of his packs memories as well though they had nothing on her painful memories. Her mother had sold her since she was twelve and hadn't stopped till her watcher, Jane Bennett, basically bought her from her mother.

She'd left with her watcher and hadn't looked back. Almost a year later her watcher was killed after being raped and torn apart in front of her by Kakistos and his minions. She'd barely managed to escape by cutting his face and consequently his eye with an ax he was going to use on her after he finished raping her.

She was spared that fate as he was dumb enough to set it down to unbuckle her pants. She'd fled after attacking him blindly with it and caught a bus and several hitchhikes to Sunnydale from Boston.

After that it was slightly better for her as she was used to worse anyway. She hadn't minded the hotel manager grabbing her ass and promising she could pay her rent in other ways as she was used to the treatment.

She hadn't even felt much when Xander scratches her itch as it was. I could tell she was mostly cold and calculating inside to protect her vulnerable parts. Sighing when it was over I told her. "You have my word I won't say anything to anyone, but if you wish to talk, I'm always willing to listen. Trust me when I say I know pain."

She scowled and looked defensive so I sighed and waved a hand, bringing out one of the many years worth of painful memories. It was one of the lighter days where the Romanian's has only tortured me lightly before flaying my skin and peeling it off before burning the flesh and arteries with salt and oil extract.

They took the liberty of carving dog into my barely showing skull before scalping the last of my skin and hair off with a stone blade. When it passed I healed after a few days while they had their other toys play with me in the cruelest of ways.

I showed her a years worth of memories before stopping and turning to her. "I have a thousand years worth of memories like that. That was only a random year where they were bored with me. One of the kinder ones if you will."

She was pale and I looked sick. I sighed. "If you want to talk, Alice and I are both free. I won't tell her anything you don't volunteer from your past, but I swear to you talking to her helped me a lot. I swore after I was free from them that I'd never be a victim again. Alice has ensured I never feel like one nor do I become like them. It helps."

With that I went silent until she asked. "What's next?"

I sighed. "Next is you expand the space you've made then create more super computers. Each one will hold a different talent while this one becomes your core."

I waved my hand to the vast nothingness we were standing on the edge of. "I suggest maybe making a planet or solar system. You've seen the models right? From school?"

She nodded and closed her eyes. After a few moments she'd willed the solar system into existence. When she did so the room she'd made readjusted to earth. I fed her images of the earth, it's cities, wildlife and technology.

She absorbed it like a sponge while making more and more out of pure will. I didn't show her their components so they were all relatively hollow for now. They'd fill in naturally when she knew what they were made of.

When she was finished she began making more super computers and computer farms. When she finished it'd felt like an eternity. I could've left but this was the important part of why we were here.

She opened her eyes with a smile on her face. "So what's next?"

I chuckled and showed her my memories and experiences learning each subject. She took my place in each memory and absorbed it before filing it away in each computer. By the time she was done, I was exhausted again. I'd been the focal point for the transfer so I too was forced to relive them all as I gave them to her.

When we finished master and doctorates in each subject I had her connect the relative ones with each cable cord. When she had all I was willing to share I had her connect them all to her main computer to retain it all permanently.

I showed her the basics and left her with instructions to build defenses and barriers in her mind to keep unwanted psychics out. Once she was ready for her first barrier I withdrew all together and removed my claws.

Alice spoke. "You've been like that for nearly two hours. How is she?"

I sighed. "She's got the basics down and should wake up soon enough."

Alice put the bandage on Faith's neck and waited while I went to the fridge to down a pint of pigs blood. When I finished disposing of the bottle I went back upstairs and found Faith had woken up.

She was currently talking with Alice about some of the things she'd learned. I chuckled at Alice's amused expression. When Faith was done she turned to me saying. "Thanks, for, you know."

I shrugged. "No problem. Just so you know if you ever decide to use what you've learned I'd be more than willing to help you get into any college you wanted. It's oddly rather easy to get fake records and have old ones expunged."

She chuckled. "Yeah? Me a college girl, who'd have thunk."

I smiled lightly. "Let me know and I'll have the paperwork done so you can join us in college with Buffy and the rest. Alice and I are going to UC Sunnydale. This house is actually close to the campus as well so there's little we actually have to do to get in."

She seemed surprised at my serious offer. "And where would I say I graduated high school from?"

I chuckled. "Sunnydale high of course. They have a really shitty record system so slipping yours in would be easy. Besides, it's not like it'll hurt to go for a masters or Doctorate for a cover job so you can move around the country later on. The hellmouth can't always be as active as it is now after all there's more than just this one out there. Heck, there's one in Ohio of all places. Eventually they do go inactive so sooner or later you may get the chance to see the places I showed you."

Faith mused to herself. "Doctor Lehane, no, Doctor Faith. I like it, it has a nice ring to it."

Alice smiled. "Yeah it does doesn't it?"

After a while she nodded. "Alright, hook me up, besides I've always wandered what the college life is like anyway."

I chuckled. "Alright, first thing in the morning, for now, it's time for bed."

She almost offered but seemed to catch herself seeing my knowing look and seemed to think better of it. She headed out while Alice shook her head saying. "She's cute."

I shrugged. "I'm with you and only you my pixie." She smiled and wrapped her arms around me as we laid down. I could've sworn I heard a whisper from her thoughts come through. ~For now~

The next morning I made a call to Wolfram and Heart and they made the necessary files and forms for Faith while whipping her background clean. They went so far as to create new dental and finger print records.

For some odd reason they were very accommodating when I asked. They hadn't even asked for payment this time. Anyway, they promised she'd be officially transferred to Sunnydale high as a senior graduating student by the end of the week.

I told Faith the good news and mentioned she'd only have one class with me and Alice so she could focus on slayer duties and her job on her free time. Alice drove us to school and surprise surprise today was the first day she officially got paid by the watchers council.

A whole eight hundred bucks and some change. Heck, I payed more than that a week, but then again I'm not an old British secret society so I can't really say if its average pay or not. Buffy received her back pay as well so she was up a whole twenty grand.

When Faith asked for her back pay Wesley seemed to fidget until she she asked him to practice for the day and he finally broke down and told her. "Your back pay as it were is in the form of training materials the council is forwarding to my flat."

Faith seemed a little miffed but got it as Buffy was treated the same way at first. That is until he admired the training materials were books of previous watchers that were new to the field like him. They were actually to help him learn to be a better watcher.

Faith was caught between anger and laughter and ended up putting a whole through the punching bag Wesley was holding, sending him flying. Cordelia who has a crush on him complained but we were used to it.

Faith was irked and needed an outlet. At first I thought Buffy would volunteer until Alice popped up with a smile. "I'll spar with you."

I looked at her and she kept smiling so I let it be. Alice went to the mat and the began trading blows. Alice dodged most of Faiths punches and kicks while dishing out several of her own. We became enthralled in the fight before us as it closely resembled a dance.

After a while Faith began relying on instinct and actually landing a lot more blows to Alice till I saw her act unconsciously and go for a stake. I moved without thinking a slammed Faith into the mat hard enough that the building shook for an instant.

Alice pulled me off of her and pushed me back repeatedly trying to calm me down while the rest of the scoobies went to make sure Faith was ok. When I came back to my full faculties I apologized to Faith as they helped her up.

Several of her ribs were broken and she had a minor fracture in her wrist. She smiled weakly. "It should be me whose apologizing. If you hadn't acted I might've dusted Tinkerbell here."

She coughed up some blood before muttering. "On second thought, apology excepted. Damn you hit hard!"

Giles looked at the floor and slid the mat over revealing a severely broken floor with spiderweb cracks all over and an indent where Faith landed. "How the bloody hell am I supposed to explain that?"

Faith smirked. "Don't sweat it G, I hear the watchers council has repair people on speed dial."

I sighed and focused my plant control raising my hand, the wooden floor followed my will as it repaired itself. My vision was a vibrant green as I worked my powers. She I stopped Faith spoke up. "Never mind, big bad wolf for the win. You could make a killing on the housing market."

I shook my head. "To many guidelines and rules. It's actually easier to play the stock market."

I walked over to her and muttered a healing spell I'd learned and drained my magic reserves fixing her body. She was still a bit bruised but her bones were repaired. Willow was excited. "You're like a white mage!"

I frowned. "Huh? A white what now?"

She blushed and explained. "A white mage, it's a healer in these online games I sometimes play. They heal their team and back them up from a distance with light spells."

I sighed. "Ok."

She asked me what spell I used and I told her it was one I'd learned from the books I'd collected. "You have to have a thorough understanding of the anatomy and biology of the being you want to heal or it can cause major complications. It's a rather advanced spell so I suggest you learn the requisite materials first."

She went on and on about already knowing a lot about the human anatomy and I shook my head. "Could you do the surgery needed to reset and fix those bones while making sure none of her arteries were damaged and healing them if they were?"

She looked stumped before shaking her head and I sighed. "Magic is not a cheat sheet or a play thing. It is a tool like anything else and when you use it you need to know exactly what you're effecting and the consequences of what you're doing. If I'd missed even a single nicked artery she'd bleed internally until it's to late to save her. As I know exactly what arteries and veins to look for the spell follows my will as much as the intent put into it."

Willow paled a little and Giles spoke up. "He's right, perhaps it's time I take a more hands on approach in your magic training. You're very skilled Willow, but that skill can make you cocky and dangerous if you're not careful. While I don't agree that magic is a tool, as I'm of the opinion that it's a force of nature, he has a point where you do need to be aware of the consequences of your actions."

I was to busy tuning them out after he mentioned magic being a force of nature. I felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck me in the brain. I sat down immediately and meditated right there.

In my mind scape I saw a being I never thought I'd see again until I die, Gaia. She was there with a smile upon her face. "My child, you've come to an inspired realization about my gift to you. Yes, I've gifted you with magic since birth as it and you are a part of me. Magic is one of the many pieces of myself out there amongst the multiverse. If you wish to find out more then you must seek out worlds I've touched with my essence."

She waved a hand a revealed the well of been working to build was actually far deeper than I'd ever anticipated. It only appeared to be thirty seven feet deep but in actuality it was closer to eighty seven feet deep. A shiver ran down my spine as I realized if it had been only thirty two feet deep when I built the hastily made cell for the demonic wolf I'd have put myself in a coma or fried my brain from the strain.

Around the edges of the well were vines I hadn't recognized until now. I moved them with a thought as they twirled around before going back to where they started out. I woke up from my meditation and stood up. It seems time had stopped for me as they picked up their conversation and no one seemed to notice my odd behavior.

I shrugged it off and listened to Giles tell Willow he'd create a schedule and recommended reading list for her to study. She seemed excited about the prospect and was more than willing to learn. Faith was ok now as her slayer healing took over and the bruises faded before our eyes.

Wesley had picked himself up off the mat earlier and went to a corner where he attempted to flirt with Cordelia.