| RED HOT |
| by Mazzy |
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| PART VI |
| Giles was distracted all morning long and Buffy could tell. She was hitting him way too easily. Shots he should have swiftly deflected knocked him off balance, and he was wearing this stupidly insane grin on his face. �Giles, what�s with the hap? Are you on something, or something?� Buffy began to cool down from their workout. �Buffy, don�t be ridiculous, can�t a man just be in a good mood?� Giles looked at her and grinned even more widely. �It�s a girl, isn�t it?� Buffy smiled back. �Part of me wants to know and another part of me wants to stay far away from the scary, disgusting details.� �Not that it�s any of your business,� he teased, �but perhaps I might say that there�s someone on the edge of the horizon.� Buffy collapsed on the ground and began to stretch her legs. �Soooo. Then that�s why you�ve been staying out all night! And here I thought there was a big bad in town, keeping you away from your demon-of-the-week research.� She reached for her left foot, arching her arm, �Huh, maybe Spike was right, for once. So who is this mystery woman?� Giles felt as giddy as a schoolboy, �Oh well, not that it�s really any big deal, but you might know her. It�s Willow�s Aunt Shannon actually. I believe I�m quite smitten.� �Huh?� Buffy questioned. �Willow has an aunt? I never heard of her. Then again, I�ve managed to keep my Cousin Callista a deep, dark secret, so I guess those relatives just pop out of the graveyard sometimes.� Buffy finished her stretching, �Woops! Faulty metaphor, only the vamps are popping out of the graves these days.� Giles smile grew into a moment of confusion. �You�re saying you never met this woman?� he put a finger to his chin thoughtfully, �Tara also seems to be out of the loop, as it were.� �Met? I�ve never even heard of an Aunt Shannon. Maybe Willow�s embarrassed by her or something? I mean Cousin Callista? If she suddenly showed up in Sunnydale, I think I�d have to re-don my waitress outfit and insist you all start calling me Anne.� Buffy stepped over to him and gave her Watcher a reassuring pat. �Giles don�t worry too much. So, maybe Willow�s not too proud of her aunt, or maybe she doesn�t even know her well enough to bother with her. What matters is that you like her right? I mean you can�t expect everyone else to ALWAYS approve of the choices you make in a romantic partner, right?� Her question suddenly seemed to take on an air of needing validation. Giles recalled her entanglement with Angel and decided to put her at ease. �You�re quite right of course. So back up a bit. Now what was Spike right about?� The two left the workout area and headed to the front of the shop, so that Giles could get things underway to open up. Buffy found her bag and scrambled to find a towel amongst its load of contents. �Oh, well, I guess I may have jumped the gun. It was all his fault really. He came over here the other day, hinting that you were in heaps of trouble �cause you know, you not showing up and stuff and then Tara was worried, and I guess I got a little wigged, so I went to hound him about it and he�s suddenly doing this about face. Like he was just playing with me or something. No big bad, no alternate universe, just some jazz about blips and stuff.� Something she said sparked his interest. �Alternate universe? What gave you that notion?� Buffy grew a bit miffed. �He did! See that�s exactly what I mean. I think he�s doing mind games on me just to throw me of. He was saying the drinking demon fiends were talking about an alternate universe, and then he decides to tell me that it�s really not a big deal. Is that possible Giles? That things can be tampered with like that and it�s no big deal, �cause if that�s so, that�s so�so�just plain wrong!� Buffy began repacking her bag, getting herself ready to leave. Giles considered the puzzle. �Well, I suppose he could have a point. Consider this,� he leaned on the counter as he began another one of his gazillion explanations on the wonders of the universe. �Whenever Anya granted a wish as a vengeance demon, she altered the course of things ever so slightly, yet you and I continue to go on, not ever really questioning if this existence is the same as the one we were in moments ago. Just like with Dawn. We remember her with us always, yet she wasn�t. What must that have been like?� �Hmm, good point. So then, it really could just be a blip going on. Some person�� �Some BEING,� Giles corrected before letting her continue. �Some being has tweaked things slightly to his benefit, but life goes on. Like I still gotta get my butt to psych class, no matter what�s existence we�re in. So, you�re saying I shouldn�t worry?� �Absolutely. No! You shouldn�t worry, but maybe I�ll just do a little balancing spell to make sure things are all in place.� Buffy collected her stuff and headed for the door. �Sounds like a plan Giles, and that�s who you are, right? The man with the plan? And the new hottie girlfriend.� She giggled. �Hey why don�t you get Willow to help you with this thing. I�m sure she could be of use.� And then the Slayer was out. Giles thought about Willow helping him. He thought about Shannon and how she seemed to want to positively encourage Willow in her �magic� career. Yes, it seemed liked it might be a good idea to try this with her. It wasn�t a difficult spell and it might help him to have a second set of eyes and ears to determine the outcome. The plan for the day was in motion, be a fine merchant, do a little spell, then get ready for his proper date with the lovely Shannon Hoffmann. He was grateful Buffy gave him the night off. It made things much more manageable. Now to call Willow before the store became crowded. *~*~*~*~*~* Willow walked toward the Magic Box, feeling a bit trembly�a lot different than she did the last time she approached these doors. It was just growing dark and she thought about Buffy who was probably strapping on her slayage gear and about to hit the town, well if a graveyard could be considered a town. She didn�t know exactly why she was feeling so off-balance, well she kind of had a hint about it, but things had gotten slightly out of control. She knew that Aunt Shannon coming around was risky, but then again, she didn�t know she was gonna set her sights on Giles. Kinda gave things an extra smidgen of awkward. When he had called earlier and asked to see her, some kind of internal alarm sounded. How would Willow explain how her Aunt came to town and what was she after? But still, there was no better time than the present to face the music. Willow entered the shop and saw Giles sweeping the floor near the counter. Looked like someone had broken a jar of�were those worms? Ew! But they were a pretty good ingredient for truth spells. �Need any help Giles?� She ambled over to the older gentleman and picked up a dustpan. �No, it�s quite alright. I have another jar anyway, which we can use for our spell.� He continued with his work. �Spell?� Willow�s eyes brightened. �Are we doing a spell?� She handed the dustpan back to him. Giles swept up the remaining bits of glass and ooze and dumped them into a nearby garbage can. �Of course, why else would I ask you to come here?� �Oh, I don�t know? I thought maybe you were gonna ask me about my Aunt Shannon. I got the sense you and her were, ya know.� Giles smirked at Willow�s suggestion. �Really? Well, no.� he quickly changed the subject. �Spike mentioned to Buffy that there might be some sort of alternate reality occurring, and I thought it would be wise to do a balance spell, just to make sure everything was properly intact.� Giles began to gather some ingredients�a new jar of worms, a small cauldron, various herbs. �Oooh! A balance spell�I was just reading about that. Yep, and I even got my special chanting beads to summon the four elements!� Giles regarded her jewelry. �So I see she gave you the gift. They are nice, aren�t they?� �Uh huh! And they go with my shirt, see?� Willow acknowledged the amber colored peasant blouse she was wearing. It tied in a pretty little bow at top and the beads dangled from her neck just above them. Giles smiled. �Yes that�s quite nice. Can you get the candles set up then?� *~*~*~*~* Smoke filled the shop, but it wasn�t from a fire or even from the burning candles. It was grown from the spell the two magic users had conjured. Willow chanted low, almost imperceptibly, while fondling the beads that hung around her neck. Giles implored the powers that be to hear his plea. �Show us that order reigns, reveal to us any chaos that disrupts the space between us, through us and around us. May we exist in harmony and balance.� The smoke rose around them and begin to swirl above their heads. Beams of red, purple and orange began to shoot out from its mass and then disappear into thin air. The Watcher and the Witch opened their eyes to witness the display. A crimson ray, slightly larger than the others, slowly grew out of the mass and traveled down in between them. It began to crackle with electricity and sparks and then suddenly shot itself into Willow�s open, gaping mouth. �Willow!� Giles jumped. Her entire body began to shake as the energy consumed her, filling her from the ends of her fingers to the ends of her toes. She emitted a low humming sound as the magic worked through her body. It seemed to settle over her. �Willow! Are you okay?� Giles moved toward her, but the girl doubled over, and her sudden movement pushed him back. Her head was down between her legs, as if she was expelling something. A soft red haze formed beneath her head and drifted from below into the space next to her. Slowly Willow lifted her head up and began to look like herself again as the formless haze grew from out of her, yet it still remained attached to her body. �It�s okay Giles. I�m alright.� She seemed to be tearing. �Oh God, I can�t believe this happened!� �What Willow, what is going on here?� His look of concern grew into confusion. �That,� Willow regarded the haze, �is my Aunt Shannon.� Giles removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes as if convincing himself that what was before him wasn�t real. �Aunt Shannon? But what are you talking about? She�s a puff of fog?� �Oh well, not exactly,� Willow felt incredibly embarrassed. �She is a real person, she�s just not, um, of this plane.� �Willow,� Giles now angered demanded a proper explanation. �This better make some sense.� �Oh Giles, I�m sorry, I didn�t mean to. It all kind of started when I was at my Mom�s, just looking through some old photos and stuff, and I found pictures of her.� Nervously, Willow tucked a piece of her short hair behind her ear. �I asked my Mom about her, and she didn�t want to talk about it. She went on some psychological rant about family and the ties that bind and what break those bonds, blah, blah, blah. But it wasn�t enough. I wanted to know more.� �So, you went looking for answers?� Giles blew out the candles around them, and pushed the cauldron aside, still unsure about how to �deal� with the haze that surrounded them. It seemed harmless, at the moment anyway. �I figured, you know, just a little location spell, and then I could go meet her and find out what she was like, and what happened to her,� Willow fingered the beads, �but then when I did the spell, I found that she wasn�t even in this world�well not exactly, but I could hear her voice, and then she could channel into me and tell me things about her, about what happened.� �And what did happen?� He replaced his glasses. �She was banished. She was once a strong magic user and part of a coven that worshipped an ancient order here in Sunnydale. Someone in the coven had unlocked a plane. It was a lust plane.� �A lust plane?� Giles laughed. �There�s no such thing, I assure you Willow.� Giles found the notion completely ludicrous. �Is too! There�s a plane for each deadly sin. Like in the Brad Pitt movie.� Willow began ticking the names of each sin off on her fingers as she spoke, �Gluttony, sloth, greed, anger, envy, pride, and lust! Ha! Yeah, and someone opened the plane, and you know, they weren�t supposed to, but they thought she did it, so �poof� they banished her there and closed the plane.� �So you�re actually telling me that your aunt was sent to a lust plane, by her coven?� Willow looked hurt, �Well yeah, you mean, you never heard of anything like that before?� �Ok, let�s just say that is what happened to her, why was she inside of you?� Giles pointed to the haze, still connected to Willow by a tiny string-like tether. �I did the summoning, and then some channeling, and well, she kinda got into my head. She found out about things, my secret desires.� Willow blushed. �You mean with Tara?� Giles tried to save her from explaining. �With Tara,� she spoke slowly, �and with Oz, and with Xander, and you know she found out about some of my other crushes.� She looked at Giles and smirked uncontrollably. �The more she found out, the stronger she got, and she would just kinda �take over� me.� �Take over? How?� �I blanked out a lot. I think she kinda hi-jacked my body. And then I�d wake up in places I didn�t recognize wearing clothes I don�t even own. I think that when she was in me, she was corporeal enough to do some pretty big spells.� �She�s that powerful?� �She is and I think she also fed off the power inside of me. I found out from her that there�s a strong aptitude for witchcraft in my maternal line. Who knew? And Aunt Shannon, she was adept at glamour spells, projection,� Willow thought of more, �Oh, and mind control too!� �Willow, this is all too much. Why don�t we just find a way to detach that thing and really get to the bottom of this.� Then he remembered. �Wait, I have a date with her this evening. She�s supposed to come here.� �Oh, but you see, that wouldn�t be her that was coming.� Willow spoke to him delicately. �It would be me.� She tried to convince him of the truth he was so obviously denying. �Giles, she hijacked my body.� �But, that wasn�t you. She looked so different, and Tara said you were in bed.� �Remember Giles? Glamour, projection�� Giles finished for her, �and mind control.� |
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