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Author's Chapter Notes:
many thanks to Cordy kitten, dusty, fyreburned and Ariadne for the reviews. hope you all enjoy this chapter. there might not be an update for a couple of weeks. the kids are home and won't give me a minute to myself:)
Xander looked at the strangers, judging whether or not they were a danger. No-one should have been able to trace them to the Hyperion. And he didn’t like the way they seemed to take in all the details of the room with one sweep of their eyes.

Kennedy looked at the woman’s clothes: she knew her haut couture and standing in front of her was at least $50,000 worth of vintage Chanel. The bag was a Dior original as well. The shoes, hand made Italian, $1000 dollars a pair. In fact she was dressed the way Grandma usually was.

Kennedy looked up into the eyes, piercing grey orbs that seemed to strike at the very heart of her. Kennedy could feel the power, she stepped just in front of Willow, protecting the weakened witch with her body.

Morgana watched the young girl’s practical, all action approach with a slight smile. It was a long time since she’d seen such a protective lover. Then she looked at the red haired woman the slayer was protecting. The witch was exhausted. She was using her great gifts to protect all those here and somewhere else: Morgana could feel the tendrils of the spell reaching far away. Willow didn’t realise it yet but she hadn’t broken the spell on her friends: she’d replaced it with a more powerful, ‘remember’ spell. And because of the action of the first spell she had to keep replacing it, hence the exhaustion.

Morgana knew that she was supposed to hang back and let Septamus and Buffy work things out, but the poor young witch’s aura was fading: she was trying to do too much. Morgana opened her mind to the world: she could feel the life-force surrounding her, the delight of working near slayers and there were three of them within the hotel, plus a true hero. Ahh, happy times.

Morgana pulled on the slayer energy gently. She didn’t want to drain them, just empower herself for a couple of minutes. Buffy, Kennedy Rona and Viv all felt like a ghost had walked on their grave for a second or two at the most. Morgana looked at Willow then she shot out a hand towards the witch, covering her with a pure white light. When it faded Willow looked a lot better: younger, stronger and for the first time, awake.

‘What did you do?’ accused Kennedy.

‘I just recharged her batteries, poor love was exhausted with trying to keep you all safe. She was continually replenishing the memory spell so that you wouldn’t be struck with amnesia again.’

‘But she told us she’d broken that spell!’ Kennedy was worried.

‘Well she hadn’t,’ came the reply.

‘I didn’t want to worry you all,’ Willow said quietly. ‘I just knew that I had to keep going…’

‘Well, looks like my big gun has done the job again,’ smiled Buffy.

She turned to Septamus. ‘Time for introductions. This is Septamus and Morgana. Septamus is, or was at least, head of the Council and Quentin’s boss. Morgana is the witch that Cordy told me to talk to.

‘These are the Scoobies: Xander, Willow, Rona, Viv, my sister Dawn, and finally the over-protective one is Kennedy.’ Buffy named each of the crew.

Everyone did the polite hello thing and looked uncomfortable again.

‘We don’t have much faith in people from the Council,’ Xander said quietly, ‘they’ve always let us down.’

‘I know, Mr Harris, but we aren’t here to go over old ground, at least not yet. I have brought all the files and records I could find. Thanks to Buffy’s warning we knew about the future attack on the Watcher’s Headquarters before it happened and had it populated by the likes of Quentin. He died, and quite rightly, but we did warn a few others. Morgana made copies of us and left them there to blow up; we spent the year between your visit and the destruction of Sunnydale copying the whole archive, transferring funds, and getting ready.’ Septamus explained.

‘Archive?’ That woke Willow up properly. She was feeling a lot better since the energy boost. ‘I like archives.’

‘Yes that’s what’s in the truck,’ Morgana informed her, ‘a full and total copy of every tome, book, grimoire, tract, prophecy, volume and scroll the Council had access to. A small team of us has been working flat out to ensure that they were all copied and the copies placed in the Council library. We have all the originals here. We also did an inventory of all magical items held by the Council; they were sent to one of our country houses for assessment, and are now sealed in the house awaiting your instructions.’

‘My instructions?’ Buffy blurted out.

‘Well, yes. When a slayer finally passes the Cruciamentum, she automatically becomes head of the Inner Circle of the Council of Watchers.’ Septamus seemed pleased with himself.

‘And how many have passed in the last, oh, say, hundred years?’

‘Um one: you.’

Buffy looked at Septamus in amazement. He didn’t seem perturbed that she was the only survivor of that barbaric practise.

‘It was just supposed to weed out the weaker, less able slayers,’ he tried to excuse the practise.

‘Have you ever even met a real vampire?’ Xander asked.

‘Well I’ve seen pictures…’ Septamus started to splutter.

‘If I’m in charge that evil thing stops now, no other slayer ever faces it again, do you hear me?’ Buffy was shaking with anger.

‘Well I suppose it is a little old fashioned. It was invented in Rome about 2000 years ago.’

Morgana looked at Buffy again. ‘Thank you my dear. I have spent fifty years trying to explain to them that it was an obscene practise but they just carried on with tradition. Still would have but you used the code words and HE has to listen now. But back to business. Where do you want these books?’

Six hours later they were loading the last of the boxes into the elevator to take them up to the suite they had put aside to be used as the new library.
Xander had taken the beds out of the two adjoining bedrooms and had fixed up every bookcase he could find. There was room enough for a circular table and chairs.

‘At least there’s more room in here than in the Magic Box,’ smiled Dawn.

‘And closer to where we eat.’ Buffy added.

Septamus and Xander were just glad that four of the people shifting packing boxes had slayer strength. They were both exhausted. There had been so many boxes and filing cabinets in the truck. Last in were two small suitcases, one each for Septamus and Morgana. Willow wondered how Morgana could cope with such a small bag.

She followed Morgana up to the bedroom that had been put aside for her: there was just the two of them. Morgana shut the door behind them quite deliberately and turned the key in the lock. She then put her finger to her lips in the universal sign for silence. Willow was full of curiosity. Morgana opened the closet and the opened her bag. The clothes came dancing out. They were the size of dolls clothes, but as they floated and danced onto the rails they grew to full size.

‘And that is how I travel lightly.’ She grinned at Willow.


Chinese was ordered and the exhausted gang went downstairs to talk.

‘We know Giles is behind our problems; we just don’t know why,’ Buffy started.

‘That I can answer for you,’ Septamus said. ‘Seems Ripper Giles got involved with a demon by the name of Eyghon when he was a young man. He and another watcher by the name of Ethan Rayne.’

‘Yes, we know, we met Ripper and Ethan during an incident with some magically drugged candy when Mom was alive.’

‘Well Ripper told Eyghon that he would, and I quote, ‘ give anything to be head of the watchers like my Grandfather.’

‘Anything?’ Willow stuttered.

‘Yes, anything, including his soul. The demon hid in Giles’ soul all these years, causing mischief where he could, getting stronger and stronger. When the First appeared, it allowed Ripper to start to lose the rest of his soul. Egyhon was taking over him completely… hence the killing of Anya, who had regained some of her vengeance powers, and would soon be able to tell he wasn’t human any more. As would William the Bloody, of course; in fact any one who stood in his way was eliminated.’


‘So the set up with Robin was done not to rid us of a dangerous vampire, but to keep that vampire from seeing what Giles was becoming?’ Buffy gasped.


‘Yes, you are totally correct. I think taking the potentials to the dessert speeded up his assimilation into Egyhon.’

‘So we don’t just have to beat Giles but have to beat the Egg On demon as well,’ Buffy said. ‘Hey beat the egg, I like that. One bit of cooking I want to destroy’

Xander just groaned and Septamus looked confused. ‘Eyghon my dear,’ he tried to explain, leaving the Scoobies laughing even louder.

Buffy’s always got the names mixed up willow tried to explain through tears of laughter. Although the joke wasn’t much it was good to find something to laugh about.





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