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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks to everyone for their reviews. Thanks to Tasha for betaing this for me. The other Immortal Guardian stories can be found at my website http://www.sinful-dreams.com/wicked/temptation/index.php
Chapter 20 Doomed, Sultana Style

Buffy was surprised when the doorbell rang. Neither she nor Spike were expecting visitors. It wasn't a Scooby, since they all knew they were welcome to walk in without knocking. She went to the door, answered it, and raised her eyebrow when she saw her two guests.

"Ms. Summers." Graham Miller stuck out a piece of paper to the blond girl. "I'm here on behalf of Professor Walsh to invite you and your significant other to a meeting." He lifted an eyebrow in return in the hopes that she wouldn't say anything about their prior get together after the laryngitis scare.

"It's a possibility," Buffy said. She took the paper from Graham. "Why is Riley here?"

"Professor Walsh ordered me to apologize for my previous actions," Riley said in an apologetic tone. "However, I still feel the need to warn you about your choice in boyfriends."

"Finn," Graham growled. "Shut your mouth."

"Alright, buddy," Buffy said. "My choice in boyfriends is none of your bees wax."

"Are you a demon?" Riley demanded. He stepped towards the petite blond girl. He stopped up short when a growl emanated from somewhere in the bowels of the house.

"Finn." Graham gritted his teeth. "Stand down. I told you to shut your mouth." He turned to Buffy. "He's supposed to just apologize. I'm terribly sorry about this."

Buffy put her hand up. "It's okay. Tell Professor I'll meet her on Friday at two at the cafe just off campus. Finn is welcome to come hear what I have to say."

"Of course, Ms. Summers." Graham nodded to Buffy.

Suddenly there was a terrible rumbling, and the ground started to shake. Buffy stayed in the doorway while both Graham and Riley fell to the ground. After a few moments, the earthquake ended. The two soldiers shakily got to their feet, and they looked around.

"Wow. That was some ride," Riley said in awe. "That was my first earthquake." He glanced over at Buffy's pale face.

"You okay, luv?" Spike called out from inside the house. He ambled down the hall from the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Spike." Buffy smiled over her shoulder at him. "But you know... earthquakes are not of the good." She held her hand out to her mate. "Graham and Riley are here to invite us to a meeting with Walsh."

"Sounds like a party," Spike drawled as he draped his arm over Buffy's shoulders. "Now if you gentleman don't mind, we need to check on our friends."

"Yes, we must return and check on things, too." Graham herded Riley away from the house. He wondered why Buffy had such an aversion to earthquakes, but he knew he couldn't ask with Finn standing next to him.

Buffy watched the two men until they were half way down the street. Then she closed the door, and she started to internally check in with the others. Xander and Anya were fine, as were her mother and Reg. Then, she checked on Willow.

I was in the library, and I almost got buried under some nineteenth century literature, the witch answered. And I don't have to tell you how hard it is to dig out from under some of that stuff. You and Spike okay?

Yeah, we're just peachy. We're having a meeting with Professor Walsh on Friday at two. Can you make it? Buffy asked.

Yeah, sure. Willow glanced over her schedule. I'll get Tara and Serina to come with.

Sounds good Buffy replied. How's things on campus?

Porter house is blacked out, but you know what that means, Willow let out a giggle. Aftershock Party.

Ah, this from the dorm that gave us the 'Somebody Sneezed' party and the 'Day that ends with Y' party. Buffy gave a mental laugh. I wanna go talk to Giles. We'll catch you later

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Something horrible is going to happen." Buffy paced back and forth. She couldn't believe Giles and Spike were sitting in the courtyard of Giles' apartment, acting as if nothing was happening.

"It was an earthquake, luv." Spike tried to reassure his agitated mate. He understood her apprehension of the event, but he knew she needed to calm down enough to explain her feelings to her Watcher.

"A not uncommon occurrence in southern California," Giles replied. "No reason to think it was anything more."

"Oh I so have a reason." Buffy sighed. "The last time we had an earthquake, I died."

"You won't die again." Spike reached out to pull Buffy down on his lap. "I won't let you!" He cuddled her warm body close to his own.

"Yes, I know that." Giles reached out to pat Buffy's hand. "That's why I completely understand your anxiety, but unless evidence suggests otherwise, I think we can assume this is just a shifting of land masses and not a portent of impending doom."

"Oh, alright." Buffy stuck out her lower lip. "For now, we'll pretend that the quake wasn't a bad omen and go on with our lives as if the Master isn't going to rise and turn us all into billions of happy meals on legs."

"Be that as it may, I think we should take a few minutes to discuss the upcoming meeting with Maggie Walsh," Giles replied. "Do you think it's safe?"

"Broad daylight, everyone from Sunnydale present." Buffy put her arm around Spike's neck and relaxed against him. "Let them know from the get go that others outside Sunnydale know what we're up to. I think it'll be okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the campus, Willow decided to go to the party at Porter house. She spotted a guy she had tutored at one time in high school, but when she tried to strike up a conversation his girlfriend got jealous. Willow rolled her eyes at the girl before she said 'bye-bye'.

Willow wandered around the party for a few more minutes before she felt something odd coming from one of the upstairs rooms. She climbed the stairs while she ignored the party goers that seemed to be making out on every step. Willow got to the top of the stairs, looked around cautiously, and went down the hall towards the room.

Willow opened the door carefully, hoping that nothing jumped out at her. She peered into the darkness, and then suddenly the lights came back on in the room. Willow gulped in horror at the sight in front of her. One of the frat boys laid on the bed with his throat cut. Then she noticed that a pyramid with an eye in the middle was carved into his chest. There was a scream from someone behind her.

Buffy? Willow sent out softly. I think I just found your bad omen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure you're okay?" Buffy asked Willow. She and Spike had rushed right over to where Willow had attended the party. "Why did you go to the party anyway?"

"I'm fine." Willow smiled wanly. "You know how it is in Sunnydale. What's a party without dead bodies, right? And hey, he wasn't a zombie!"

"That's always of the good," Buffy replied. "Now why don't we go back to Giles'. I'm sure he'll have lots to tell us by then." She helped the redhead to her feet, and the two females let Spike escort them to his Desoto.

It only took a few short minutes to get from the campus to Giles' apartment. For a town the size of Sunnydale, it was surprising how many people actually walked instead of using cars. The three of them went into the apartment complex, only to find Xander and Anya already waiting for them with the prerequisite Scooby meeting donuts in hand.

"You know, I could swear I've seen this symbol somewhere." Buffy scrunched her face up in thought. "If I could just remember where. I mean...it's like..."

"It's the end of the world," Giles interrupted the Slayer.

"No, I was gonna say on the tip of my brain, but that'll do," Buffy answered absentmindedly. She was trying hard to remember where she'd seen the symbol before.

"What do you mean end of the world?" Xander stuffed a donut into his mouth.

"It's the earthquake.. and ... uh the symbol," Giles said. "Taken together it means the end of the world."

"I told you so." Buffy got back into the conversation. "Guess next time you won't be so 'poo poo southern California' when I say it's the end of the world."

"Of course, dear." Giles rolled his eyes at the Slayer. "Now, any ideas where you might have seen this symbol?" He handed the paper to Buffy again.

"Well, it's not like I do much besides go to college and wander around cemeteries memorizing stuff on the sides of mausoleums," Buffy said while she studied the picture more closely. Then, she handed it to Spike, since he was the one that patrolled with her most of the time these days.

"Think that's where we saw it, pet," Spike drawled. He handed the paper back to Giles. "Why don't we get some weapons and go check it out?"

"Sounds good to me," Buffy answered. "You guys keep researching." She got up from her seat, and she and the vampire left the apartment, bound for their own house and the weapons that were housed there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Spike and Buffy entered the cemetery, Spike quickly pointed out the mausoleum that he was sure the pyramid symbol was on. Buffy nodded to her mate, and the two snuck up on the small stone building. They burst through the door to find an ugly, green demon with red eyes removing the bones of a child from a coffin.

"Hey, the door was open," Buffy said to alert the demon of their arrival. She was pleased with herself when she noticed the evil aura that surrounded the demon's heart. Looks like those Sultana powers are getting stronger, she told the others.

The demon roared in anger when it saw the intruders, and the arrow now protruding from its shoulder did nothing to calm it. When the two newcomers started to attack the demon in tandem, it knew it didn't stand a chance, and it quickly started to look for a means to escape. The fight had moved outside by then, and the demon took the chance that the female was the weaker of the two. It picked her up and smashed her into a nearby headstone, and it made its escape when the male went to help her.

"Did you get the demon?" Buffy asked huskily. She hated it when she got the wind knocked out of her. Not to mention now her head ached. Why did grave stones have to be so darned hard?

"Sorry, luv, I was more concerned about you," Spike murmured as he picked his mate up off the ground. "Rupes' found out what kind of demons we're dealin' with. Why don't we hightail it back to his flat? I can hear the soldier boys trompin' this way."

"Okay." Buffy leaned against Spike. She was feeling better already... go Slayer healing... but she loved the feel of his cool, lean body next to hers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A Vahrall demon," Giles said. He handed the book to Buffy, who had Spike looking over her shoulder.

"I said ewwww," Willow commented. "There is a definite revulsion factor going on here." She shuddered visibly.

"Yes. Slick like gold and gird in moonlight, father of portents and brother to blight," Giles replied, remembering what the book had said.

"Limbs like talons, eyes like knives, bane of the blameless, thief of lives," Buffy continued from where Giles had left off. "And pretty ookie in real life, too." She nodded. "Somehow I don't think this thing was digging around for the bones of a child for fun."

"Well, demons got some pretty hilarious ideas of fun," Xander quipped. Then, he poked fun at Spike. "Just look at Junior here, dating a Slayer and hanging out with humans."

"Ha, bloody, ha." Spike sneered. Through the clan connection, he knew that Xander was just teasing. "Maybe we should have taken you along, demon magnet."

"Bones of a child, though. I saw that." Willow pulled out one of the books in the pile in front of her, and she flipped through the pages. "An ancient ritual uses the blood of a man, the bones of a child, and something called the word of Valios? It's all part of the sacrifice, um, the sacrifice of three." She handed the book to Giles.

"Oh, and let me guess, please. It ends the world," Buffy muttered sarcastically.

"Well, yeah." Willow chewed her lip for a moment. "It's not big on the details though. It doesn't say how the world ends or what the ritual entails exactly."

"I've never heard of the word of Valios." Spike placed a hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Now, if we could just figure out what it is, maybe we'd be able to stop this whole thing."

"Okay, Giles, you keep looking. Maybe Reg has an idea. You should call him just in case." Buffy got to her feet. "Spike and I will check out the magic shop. See if they have a book called the word of Valios. Willow and Xander, you check out the book archives at the museum. Anya, you got any contacts you could ask?"

"I got a few," Anya said proudly. "I'm only too happy to help." She snapped her fingers and disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Nothing," Spike grumbled. He hadn't been in the magic shop since delivering his 'Love's bitch' speech to Buffy and Angel the year before. "Don't think the others are doing so well, either."

"Well, Anya did find out that it was a fifteenth century talisman. That should be a big help." Buffy patted Spike's arm before she grabbed his hand. "Let's go tell Giles." They took off walking towards the Watcher's apartment, having decided the walk to the magic shop would be a nice change from the Desoto.

When they got to the apartment, Spike and Buffy found Giles lying on the floor with a big knot on the back of his head. Buffy became agitated when she realized that her Watcher had been attacked, and that they'd had no clue. She felt her fangs descend in frustration.

Relax, luv, Spike cooed soothingly. Just make him part of the clan. He caressed her back in a relaxing manner.

"I'll try not to hurt you," Buffy whispered. She sank her teeth into Giles' wrist, took a sip, and removed her fangs from his flesh. "I claim thee, Rupert Edward Giles, as my own, belonging to the clan Sultana-Aurelius. My Watcher."

"Buffy," Giles said softly. He could feel the other members of the clan touching his mind, each one making sure that he wasn't too terribly hurt now that they knew that he had been attacked by the very demons they were looking for. "Oh, my. What an experience." Giles listened carefully to Spike's instructions on blocking out the others.

Spike went into the kitchen to get some ice for Giles to put on the bump on his head. He decided that they were going to seriously have to search for a spell that kept other demons besides vampires out of their houses. This was just ridiculous.

Buffy let her fangs recede before she asked, "Now tell us what happened? Anya did find out that the word of Valios was a talisman."

"Yes, it is. I blame myself entirely." Giles took the bag of ice from Spike, and he flashed the vampire a grateful smile. "I had it here."

"You did?" Buffy gasped. "Okay, I thought you were just being hard on yourself, but..." She gave the Watcher a concerned look.

"I bought it at a sorcerer's sale." Giles winced when he put the ice on his head. "I really only glanced at it the one time. I thought it was a knock off." He closed his eyes against the pain.

"Well, they have it now," Buffy said. "And they probably have their sacrifices by now, too. So they're on their way to perform the ritual, but where?"

"The Hellmouth," Giles muttered. He laid back on the couch. "They're going to open the Hellmouth. The one in the library."

"Looks like we're going back to high school," Buffy quipped. She rose to her feet. Meet us at the high school, guys, she thought to Willow, Xander and Anya.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike and Buffy arrived at the ruins of Sunnydale High to find the others waiting for them already. Buffy wondered briefly where the current high school classes were being held, and she found herself grateful that they weren't learning atop the Hellmouth like she had. The five of them quickly approached the almost burned out building.

"Be careful, you guys," Buffy said warningly. "Spike and I checked it out a few weeks ago, and it's not all that stable."

"Any ideas where we should check first?" Xander asked.

"I'd say the library," Buffy replied. "If they're not there, we can head down to the basement. Getting the sacrifices out is our first priority."

"Will do," Willow said. She reached over to pat Buffy on the arm. "I'm glad Giles is okay, too. It's nice having him in the clan, Buffy. You did the right thing."

"Yeah, Slayer." Spike kissed Buffy's cheek. "Now quit your frettin', and let's go demolish the bad guy. It's been awhile since we've had a good fight."

"Oh, alright," Buffy mumbled. She felt closer to her friends now than she had ever been before, and she found that she really enjoyed the feeling. "Let's go."

The five of them crawled through the broken door into the hallway. Debris and broken lockers littered the floor. They walked up the hallway towards where they knew the library to be.

"Sunnydale High," Xander muttered. "These walls, if they were still walls, what stories they could tell." He stepped in something that squished under his weight. "Ewwww. Mayor meat. Extra crispy."

"Heard about that one," Spike chuckled. "The dream of every high school student in America."

"I think we're pretty close to the library," Willow said. She turned down another hallway, and she stopped in front of the swinging door that marked the entrance to the room they were looking for.

Together they slipped inside where they found a gaping hole in the middle of the floor. From somewhere below them, they heard a growling chant.

"Whoa. Check out the new floor plan," Willow said softly. She quietly snuck up to the edge of the hole, and she gasped. "The demons are down there."

"How many?" Buffy asked.

"Three," Willow whispered. "But I don't see any sacrifice people." She continued to search the surrounding area for any people.

Anya snapped her fingers. "Three demons, three sacrifices. I bet they're some kind of kamikaze demons."

"Well, it's not gonna happen," Buffy grumbled. "Spike, you help me attack the demons. You guys get the other stuff to Anya so she can pop it over to Giles."

"Right, then." Spike jumped down into the pit where the Hellmouth was opening, and he pounced on one of the demons causing it to drop the bottle of blood that it was holding.

Buffy jumped down behind Spike, grabbed the bottle of blood, and tossed it to Anya. Then, she took on another of the demons. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Xander and Willow had joined her and Spike, and that Willow had been able to grab the bag of bones from the third demon. Buffy heard Anya pop out and back into the room above them.

"Oh, be careful, Xander," Anya cried out when one of the demons punched him in the stomach. "If you're bruised too badly it'll make the orgasms painful."

"Yes, dear," Xander huffed. He grunted when the demon landed another punch in his stomach area.

"Anya, the talisman." Willow ducked from the demon's blow, and she pointed to where the talisman had fallen on the floor. With a wave of her hand, the emblem flew to the justice demon's hand.

Anya popped off to Giles' apartment, where the two of them disposed of the blood, took the children's bones back to their proper resting place, and took the word of Valios to have RoseSeri put in their ever-growing vault of mystical objects. They knew from the others running commentary that after the loss of the ritual objects that the demons had been easily defeated and the Hellmouth had been closed again.

It was time to prepare for the meeting with Maggie Walsh and the Initiative.





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