Reunions / Part 32A
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When Willow suddenly asked a question, breaking the silence, it took everyone by surprise. “Why do you call Spike, The Champion of Dark and Light?”
Giles lifted his head from staring at the floor and slipping his glasses back on looked over at Willow. The frown was still on his face but a look of interest came into his eyes. He glanced over at Kar-Hool and Joy and watched as they stopped playing with each other. He noticed that the smiles that both had been wearing had vanished from their faces. As he watched, Joy placed one of her hands to the side of Kar-Hools face and stared into his eyes for several moments. A smile spread across Kar-Hools face, but it seemed forced.
When Kar-Hool spoke his voice was the same as before, but there seemed to be a note of hesitation. “It is just a title, an honorific, that my people have bestowed upon my brother. It has no specific meaning.”
“No. That’s not true” Willow asserted. “Your people are very specific about the titles that they bestow on others. Joy is The Child of Light that will one day become The Light. You are The Champion of The Hool-Mar Clan. Not of all the Hool, but of the Hool-Mar Clan specifically.” Willow kept her gaze on Kar-Hool and didn’t fail to notice that Joy touched the side of his face again before he could speak.
“My brother Spike is the protector of The Child of Light. For this reason we refer to him as her Champion. That is all the title means.” Kar-Hool explained quickly.
“No. That’s not true either” Willow stated flatly. “If you were just referring to Spike being Joy’s protector you would have called him The Champion of The Child of Light, or possibly The Champion of The Light. You would not call him The Champion of Dark and Light.” A stubborn look spread across Willow face, one that all the others in the group recognized as her ‘resolved face‘. Before Kar-Hool could respond again she asked another question. “Why is Joy telling you to lie to us?”
A look of shock washed across Kar-Hools face, but instead of becoming angry at the question he looked to one side in shame. Joy’s eyes flashed to Willow’s face and then around to the faces of the others. She could see in all their eyes, even Dawns, that they wanted an answer to the last question. At first it seemed as if she were going to try to stare them all down, but after several moments she lowered her eyes toward the floor. Carefully she climbed out of Kar-Hools lap and sat down on the floor next to him, but a couple of feet away. She took a small blue stone out of her pocket, similar to the one she had given to Willow as a gift, and started staring at it as she turned it in her fingers. When Kar-Hool made a grunting kind of sound to her in his own language she didn’t look up at him, she just nodded her head.
Kar-Hool straightened his shoulders and sat up straight. When all the others were looking at him, except Joy, he bowed at the waist with his head bent. When he straightened back up he started speaking to them. “The Child did not tell me to lie to you, that was my own doing and I beg your forgiveness. The Childs only concern was that you would not be able to understand the significance of the title and would react unfavorably to the knowledge.” Kar-Hool looked around the group and saw that he had their attention. “The title, The Champion of Dark and Light, comes from the same prophecy that predicted the coming of The Child of Light. It was the arrival of the Champion that alerted my people that the arrival of the Child was near at hand.”
Kar-Hool looked at the others and saw that they were all paying close attention to what he was saying. He thought carefully before continuing. “More than a hundred of your years ago word came to my people of something of great significance to the Hool. A rumor was told of a demon who had received a soul. As you might understand this was of importance to us because of the prophecy. My father, who had recently risen to the position of High Priest, sent word out through the demon world that we would pay well for more information. When first word came back to us we were told that a vampire had received a soul, but that it was the result of a curse and not as a reward for being a champion. Over time additional word would come to us of this vampire with a soul, but always it was the same. The vampire was cursed and seemed to be overwhelmed by guilt and remorse. No longer feeding upon human-kin to live, but doing nothing to prove himself to be a champion. The vampire I’m speaking of is the one you know as Angelus, or Angel.”
Kar-Hool looked around at the group again, then continued. “During this same time period word also came to us of a Dark Champion. We were told that this Dark Champion was also a vampire. Further word informed us that this champion was of the same line as the vampire with a soul. We were told that he became a champion of the dark when he met a Slayer in combat and killed her single handedly. This vampire was known as William the Bloody, or Spike.”
“Surely you jest” Giles blurted out in an angry voice. “Calling someone a champion because they murdered a Slayer is absurd.”
Kar-Hool stared at Giles for more than a minute before speaking. “This is why we were reluctant to explain the significance of my brothers title. We know of your past hatred of Spike, Rupert Giles. We had hoped that you had learned better. We also know that there are others amongst you that have no love for my brother.” Kar-Hool shook his head, as if in regret, and placed his hands on the floor as he prepared to stand up and leave. But before he could rise someone spoke to him.
“Kar-Hool, please don’t go” Dawn said quickly. “Giles can sometimes be a fool who let’s his mouth run away with him.” Dawn gave Giles a look that froze any response to her words in his mouth. “But that’s mostly because of his years of training as a Watcher. He sometimes has difficulty seeing past his training and seeing the shades of gray. But Spike is my best friend, and after Buffy I love him more than anyone else. So, if you don’t want to tell the others, I understand, but please explain to me why he is a Champion.”
Kar-Hool looked around at the others. Giles had his jaws clenched tight to keep from speaking, but would not meet Dawns eyes. Robin Wood was staring down at the floor with his hands in his lap, but he did not appear to be overly tense or angry. Faith was concentrating her attention on Robin as she rubbed her hand soothingly up and down his back. The one called Xander was sitting relaxed and did not fail to meet Kar-Hools eyes. Willow was watching Kar-Hool, but her face was open and friendly. Dawn was watching Kar-Hool intensely, worry was in her eyes and she was chewing on her bottom lip. Kar-Hool said something to Joy in his own language, her only response was to nod her head.
“I will try to explain something to you that might make understanding easier” Kar-Hool started. “For thousands upon thousands of years demon-kin walked this world and made war on each other. But during these wars and between these wars alliances were made between different demon clans to not attack each other and to work together to attack those that they called enemy. To prevent conflict from breaking out between the clans of an alliance, Champions were chosen to represent the clans and to fight in place of the clans going to war with each other. The Champions were chosen for their strength in combat, but more importantly they were chosen for their honor. A champion without honor could never be trusted to place the welfare of the clan before his own. It may be hard for you to understand, but a chosen Champion was always the defender of what was right, what was good. For a demon, such as the Hool, whatever side we were fighting on was considered good. Whatever side we fought against was considered bad. But for a Fellosh demon who fought against us, his side was good and our side was bad. Good or bad was dependent on your point of view. It was not until the coming of human-kin that the concepts of Good or Evil became known.”
Kar-Hool looked around him and saw that all were paying attention. He also noted that Giles had stopped clenching his jaws in anger. “For human-kin, as they spread across the world, the concept of human equals good and demon equals evil became universal. Among demon-kin the concept of evil had no true meaning.”
Xander broke in on Kar-Hool, speaking for the first time. “Excuse me, but what about the First? The First Evil that was older than time? The demon-y thing that tried to kill us all and destroy the world?”
Kar-Hool looked at Xander and considered his words carefully. “The First Evil as you know it had many names in the demon world. Most of those names would translate into ‘trickster’ or ‘prankster’ or some other name that might be used for an irritating nuisance. The First was not a demon, it was an apparition, a phantom like presence that tried to trick others into doing things that were harmful to themselves and to others. But the First had no physical form or ability to act on it’s own. It could only do something by working through the minds of the weak. It was not until the coming of human-kin that the First even became something to be feared, and it was this fear that the First fed upon. It may even have been the First who taught the concept of evil to human-kin. But this is something you would need to discuss with my father and the other priests.”
When Kar-Hool paused for a moment, Faith spoke up. “Wait a minute, I was down in the Hellmouth, all of us were, and we fought against a whole army of demons trying to get out to destroy the world. I don’t understand what your saying. If the First wasn’t real, or didn’t have any power, how did it raise an army and control it?”
Kar-Hool sat looking at those around him and hesitated again. He spoke to Joy in his own language and held his hand out toward her. Joy did not lift her eyes from the blue stone she seemed to be playing with and did not reach out to touch Kar-Hools hand. Kar-Hool spoke to her again and she just shrugged her shoulders, but refused to look up at him.
Dawn could see that Joy’s behavior was distressing Kar-Hool. She could also see that Joy seemed to be unhappy. Without giving it any further thought Dawn got up on to her knees and walked on them over to Joy. She reached down and picked Joy up in her arms. She then moved back to where she had been sitting and once in place settled Joy in her lap with her arms wrapped around her. Joy had started smiling as soon as Dawn picked her up and once she was settled in place on Dawns lap she made a quiet cooing sound and rested her head against Dawns breast and closed her eyes.
Kar-Hool smiled at Dawn, and at Joy. He then took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then started talking again. “What I have told you is true. The First had no real power amongst the clans of demon-kin. It only gained a measure of power amongst the human-kin. For a reason that I do not understand, the First seems to be able to have a greater influence on human-kin than demon-kin. For thousands of years the First has been able to use this influence, but usually only on a small number of humans at one time. Something happened the year before the First came out into the open at the Hellmouth. I do not know what it was that happened, but it had several consequences.” When Kar-Hool said this, Willow and Giles quickly exchanged glances, but didn’t comment.
“One of the consequences was that the First was suddenly able to bring under it’s full control a greater number of humans and to control them more completely than ever before. The creatures that the First controlled were known as ‘Bringers’ and they had a hive mentality, much like ants or bees. They did not speak because they spoke to each other through the First. They blinded themselves so that they would only see through the eyes of the First. If they were still human after the First took control of them I do not know, but all of them started as humans. A second consequence was that the First seemed to be able to exert a greater influence on a greater number of humans. This was not total control, but a degree of influence that made it easier for the First to make suggestions that these humans seemed more willing to follow than before. A third consequence that we know of was that the last Guardian was awakened from her long sleep.”
Giles had been listening carefully to everything Kar-Hool had been saying. He had also been kicking himself for blurting out his anger at Kar-Hool and nearly slamming the door on the information they were receiving. But when Kar-Hool mentioned the Guardian he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “Kar-Hool, excuse me. But could you explain that please? We know so very little about the Guardian’s that I’m not sure we understand the significance of what you just said.”
Kar-Hool looked at Giles, nodded his head and continued. “I do not know all of the story, only my father or another priest could tell you all of it. But what I know is that thousands of years ago a large number of Guardian’s made a weapon with which they killed the last of the great demon lords that roamed the world above. Using magic, they created a great seal and locked the Turok-Han army of the demon lord below the ground. Over the centuries the power of the seal had weakened and the Hellmouth formed around it. I know that I told you earlier that the ancient demon-kin did not understand the concept of evil. The Turok-Han were as they were created to be and for them this is what was natural. But in this new time, in the human-kin world above and in the demon-kin world below, this sleeping army was as evil as the most horrid nightmare you could ever dream. The influence of this evil drew to it both humans and demons that fed off of this evil. Some of our priest have suggested that while the demon army slept the First may have been working on their minds the whole time and increased their evilness. This is not proven, only suggested. The point is, when the last Guardian was awakened, the great seal was also weakened further which allowed the First to open the seal by the use of a blood sacrifice. But even with a blood sacrifice the First could only let a few of the demon-kin out of the Hellmouth at a time. I do not know how the First intended to open the seal of the Hellmouth permanently to allow the whole demon army to escape. Perhaps the First planned to do it the same way as the Slayer did, by using the blood of the Slayer herself.”
Everyone was thinking over what Kar-Hool had just told them when Willow spoke up again. “Kar-Hool, I thank you very much for the information you have shared with us, I truly do. But what does any of this have to do with Spike being the Champion of Dark and Light?”
Kar-Hool studied Willow for a moment, then looked around at the others. They were all paying him their full attention as they waited for his answer. Nodding his head he started to speak again. “What I was attempting to explain was that for the ancient demon-kin the concept of evil was not something they considered. They did what they did because it was their nature. The equivalent in the world above today would be a wild lion kills to eat because that is it’s nature. No one would think of calling the lion evil for killing to survive. But after the coming of human-kin the concept of evil was universally applied to all demon-kin and many wars were fought between demon-kin and human-kin until the few demon-kin that survived were forced into hiding. But during those years of war the concept of evil was excepted by many of the demon-kin and some of them excepted it totally. Of all the demon-kin, the half demons, the vampires like the Turok-Han were the ones who seemed to revel in the concept of evil and made it a part of their nature. Over time the concept of true and pure evil in the demon world could best be seen in the vampire demon.”
“This is important to understand” Kar-Hool continued. “Of all demons, the vampire became the closest to true evil of all demon-kin. The vampire reveled in the killing of the helpless and the innocent. They learned to love the death and torture that they could inflict upon their victims. Slaughter for the sake of slaughter brought them ecstatic pleasure. To fight against these vampire demons ancient shamans used their magic to merge the essence of a powerful demon with a young girl to create the First Slayer and the line of Slayers that followed after her. The Slayer line was created specifically to seek out and destroy all vampires. The ancient shamans over time became the Watchers of ancient time and guided the Slayers to their prey. It should be understood that in the beginning the Slayers were not much less vicious than the vampires they hunted.”
Kar-Hool looked at Giles until Giles nodded his head in acknowledgement of his last statement. “Over time, with the coming of civilization, the primitive viciousness of the Slayer line was also civilized. But they always stayed true to their calling, to seek out and destroy vampires. The Watchers also continued in their duties, to seek out vampires and guide the Slayers to them. Over this same period of time most of the wild and most vicious of the vampire-kin were sought out and destroyed by the Slayers. But, a few of these vampires were smarter and more cautious and survived through the centuries. In time they developed what might be thought of as family lines or clans. One of these ancient lines was the line of Aurelius. This line goes back for thousands of years and has produced some of the most cunning and vicious Master Vampires in the history of both the world above and the world below. In recent history, the past two hundred and fifty years, two of the most renowned Master Vampires ever produced by the line of Aurelius were the vampires known as Angelus and William the Bloody.”
Kar-Hool studied those sitting around him and saw that he had their full attention. “But, it is important that you understand the nature of these two vampires. When a vampire first rises from it’s grave it is like a wild beast. It is filled with the hunger for blood and the need to kill. Most vampires do not survive this early period of time unless they have a Master Vampire to control them and teach them to survive. They are so obsessed with their blood lust that they are either killed because they go to places where they are easily discovered and killed, or many times they find themselves out in the open and before they can find shelter they are killed by the rising sun. If this were not true there would be many times the number of vampires than there actually are in the world. The vampire Angelus was not typical of most vampires. If the known history of him is true, it is said that almost from the moment he crawled from his grave he was filled with a cunning and viciousness that rivaled any of the great Master Vampires. It took little time for him to reach the title of Master himself. For more than a hundred years Angelus and his sire Darla roamed the nations of the world above causing great slaughter. But it was Angelus and not his sire that was the leader of the two. This had never happened before in the known history of the vampires.”
“The histories also tell us that about one hundred and fifty years ago the vampire Angelus sired the vampire Drusilla and about twenty years later the vampire Drusilla sired the vampire William. But, as I know you are already aware, the vampire Drusilla was quite insane, and it was Angelus that took on the duties if sire to the new vampire William. My brother Spike has always refused to talk of his early years under the guidance of Angelus, so we only have reported rumors. Just as Angelus came from the grave a near Master Vampire, the vampire William came from the grave with hardly any changes from his aspect as a human. The stories tell that it took years of torture and abuse for the vampire Angelus to turn William into a vampire that Angelus felt was worthy of the Aurelius line.”
Kar-Hool paused for several moments before continuing. “The distinction between these two vampire is very important for you to understand. Angelus seemingly crawled from his grave a vicious Master Vampire. William was a vampire and killed to feed and live, but it took years of torture and abuse by Angelus to turn him into a vicious killer. Angelus loved the torture and killing of innocent and helpless victims. William had to be forced in the beginning to participate in these killings. For approximately twenty years William followed Angelus and earned the name William the Bloody, and then later Spike, due to the viciousness he had learned from Angelus. But, where Angelus would always try to find the weak and helpless victim, Spike would seek out the strong to match himself against. This caused problems between Angelus and Spike and made it necessary for them to run from country to country quite often. It was apparently during one of these times of running that Angelus received his curse and did not rejoin the others in his family. Darla took over as leader and the three, Darla, Drusilla and Spike went to China where a war was starting and the feeding was easy. The stories tell that Angelus rejoined his family for a short period of time in China and then disappeared again, later to be reported to have come to this continent for the first time and to go into hiding for decades. The stories also tell that this is when Spike met his first Slayer.”
Kar-Hool stopped and looked at Giles to see if he was going to comment. Fortunately Giles had the sense to say nothing this time. “This is where Spike first earned the name Dark Champion in some quarters of the demon world. When Spike learned that a Slayer was in China he sought her out. He did not try to sneak up on the Slayer or take her unaware. He went into her own home and met her in fair and open combat. The Slayer was armed with a stake and a mystical sword capable of killing a vampire. Spike went into the fight with nothing but fist and fang. With the killing of the Slayer, Spike earned the title and respect of Master Vampire. Darla soon abandoned Spike and Drusilla, possibly to look for Angelus. Spike took the insane Drusilla under his protection and for almost a hundred years he cared and provided for her. During that period of time Spike gloried in being a vampire. He was proud of who and what he was. He fed off the lives of humans as all vampires do, but he never participated it the torture and slaughter that Angelus and Darla had always preferred. When he hunted alone, without the presence of Drusilla, he preferred to hunt the strong, those capable of fighting for their lives. It is important to understand how atypical this was for a vampire. To hunt and kill the weak and helpless is what a vampire does. To deliberately seek out someone that was strong and possibly capable of defeating you and take your life was unheard of in the vampire world. For more than three quarters of a century Spike and Drusilla traveled the world where he became famous for his deeds in the demon world. It was then that Spike learned of another Slayer and sought her out. In a fair and open fight Spike fought the Slayer and took her life. But to honor her and his victory, he did not take her blood. The only trophy he took from the fight was a coat that he wore for many years.”
Kar-Hool stopped and looked directly at Robin Wood for long moments before he continued. “I know of your connection to this Slayer, Robin Wood, she was your mother. I know that you grew up hating the vampire that killed your mother and searched for him for many years. I also know that when you found out that Spike was the vampire that killed your mother you plotted with Rupert Giles to trap and murder him when he was helpless. Fortunately for you, and the rest of the world, you failed in your attempt. I also know that by free choice, Spike spared your life when he had every right to take it. Whether you believe this or not is up to you Robin Wood, but your life was spared because of the remorse that Spike felt for taking the life of your mother. He was not ashamed of his victory, he met your mother as one champion to another and won a great victory. His remorse was due only to the fact that he had taken a mother from her child.”
Kar-Hool sat looking at Robin to give him the chance to say something if he wished. After a few moments Robin lifted his eyes to Kar-Hool and said with a voice thick with emotion. “Spike and I will never be friends, what’s in our past will always prevent that from happening. But I know what he did for the world, he saved it from destruction. If I had been successful in killing him the world would have been destroyed. I don’t know why, but I’ve come to believe that there was a reason I failed to kill Spike that night. That he had a destiny to fulfill and I was not allowed to interfere with that destiny. As far as I know, that destiny has yet to be fulfilled, so Spike has nothing to fear from me.” When Kar-Hool swung his gaze over to Giles he found him busy polishing his glasses and looking down at the floor with a frown on his face.
“Was it Spike who told you this stuff, about him and Angel, and the rest of it?” Dawn asked in a calm voice.
“No, my brother very seldom speaks of his past” Kar-Hool said as he looked upon Dawn, seeing that she met his eyes with open and sincere interest. “Only a few times when he was very drunk did he mention his past, and usually when he did he spoke only of the people he loved and how much he missed them.” Kar-Hool smiled at Dawn and said “One of the ones he mentioned may even have been you, if you are the one he called ‘Niblet’?” Seeing the smile that came to Dawns face, he smiled back at her.
“No, the reason we know so much about my brother Spike and the vampire Angelus is because we have been paying spy’s to keep and eye on them for many years. The reason for watching Angelus is simple, the prophecy. A demon with a soul is something we had to watch and try to understand. A Champion of the Dark was also someone of interest to us. The fact that they were both of the same vampire line and so closely connected made watching them even more necessary. When both of these vampires came into contact with a Slayer and she did not kill them, but instead they both started helping her in her fight against other vampires, our priests became convinced that one of them might be the Champion that the prophecy predicted. What the priest couldn’t decide was if the prophecy of the Champion of Dark and Light meant that a demon of the dark was to become a Champion of the Light, or if a Champion of the Dark was to fight for the Light. If a Champion was at hand then the coming of the Child of Light could be near. We started watching both of them more closely.”
Kar-Hool looked around the group of humans and felt that he wasn’t making himself clear to them. He felt he hadn’t used the proper words to make them understand. After several moments of hesitation he spoke again. “I feel that you still do not understand the importance of what I am saying to you. I need to commune with the Child to clarify my thoughts. No lies will be told, but I need her help to find the words.” Saying this Kar-Hool held his hand out to Joy and spoke to her in his own language. Joy looked around the group first, to see if anyone objected to her touching Kar-Hool. When no one objected she reached out and wrapped her fingers around one of Kar-Hools fingers and sat quietly for over a minute with her eyes closed. When she released her hold on him she snuggled back into Dawns arms. Kar-Hool sat for another minute or more before he resumed speaking.
“Consider this, the vampire Angelus is cursed with a soul and for nearly a hundred years he hides from most contact with the demon world and has limited contact with the human world. During all these years he seems to be burdened with endless guilt and remorse, but never to our knowledge does he do anything to relieve this burden he carries. Suddenly, for reasons unknown he leaves the city where he was living and travels to the Hellmouth. Once there he starts helping a Slayer in her fight against other vampires. During his first year at the Hellmouth, he kills his own sire Darla and helps the Slayer to kill the Master of the Aurelius line, preventing an apocalypse. To the Hool, this had great significance. A vampire with a soul who fights for the Light. Could he be the Champion of Dark and Light that is spoken of in our prophecy? Our spy’s next inform us that the vampire Spike has come to the Hellmouth and makes several attempts to kill both the Slayer and the vampire Angel, but fails in all his attempts. The next report tells us that something has occurred that has broken the curse on the vampire Angelus and he has lost his soul. We were told that he fell in love with the Slayer and that is what broke the curse. With the loss of his soul Angelus attempted to bring about an apocalypse. The vampire Spike, who has been trying to kill the Slayer, for no known reason helps her to defeat Angelus and prevent the apocalypse. The Slayer defeated Angelus and reportedly sent him into a hell dimension. If the reports are correct, the witch Willow returned the soul to the vampire just before the Slayer sent him into hell.” Kar-Hool looked closely at Willow to see if she would confirm this information. Willow did not say anything, but looking at him she nodded her head slightly.
“With the vampire Angelus presumed to be dead or lost forever and the vampire Spike going to another part of the world above, the priest presumed that they were wrong in thinking that either of the vampires might be the Champion we searched for to fulfill the prophecy. But the fact that Spike had helped the Slayer was under great study by the priests. A report came to us months later that the vampire Angel had returned with his soul restored and was again helping the Slayer to prevent another apocalypse. When the apocalypse was averted the vampire Angel left the Hellmouth and came to the city above where he started hunting other vampires and demon-kin in a seeming effort to make amends for his past deeds as Angelus.”
“With Angel now in the city above it became easier for the Hool to keep track of his actions and he was watched closely. The vampire Angel seemed to be a Champion of the Light, working to stop other vampires and demon-kin from bringing harm to human-kin. But there also seemed to be a motive behind his actions. Every action that Angel made seemed to be motivated by his need for redemption of his deeds as Angelus. This brought great concern to the Hool, because to be a true Champion the seeking of a reward was not something that should be sought. A Champion fights for a cause, a purpose greater than themselves. A Champion is ready to sacrifice their life for the purpose, they do not seek a reward. We observed Angel, at one time we thought that he had lost his soul again because he willingly allowed the slaughter of a number of humans and broke off his relationship with the humans he was working with to fight the dark. In a later time in our observations, we learned that somehow the vampire Angel had mated with the resurrected vampire Darla and produced a child, which was thought to be impossible. The child was taken from him as an infant and returned some months later as a young man that tried to murder Angel. After several months Angel returned. Shortly after, when the Beast blocked out the sun above the city, he did lose his soul again. It was the witch Willow who came to the city above and restored it to him again. After that Angel defeated the god Jasmine and averted her taking over the minds of all who live in the world above. But, instead of taking on the mantel of a true champion, Angel made a bargain, for a reward, with the minions of the Wolf, Ram and Hart. It was at that time that we became convinced that he could not be the champion we had been waiting for all these years.”
Kar-Hool searched the faces of those around him to see if any had questions. When none were asked, he continued. “It was learned that a number of months after Angel had left the Hellmouth to come to the city above, the vampire Spike had returned to the Hellmouth. It is believed that he returned to the Hellmouth in order to meet and fight the Slayer to the death. But that did not happen, as all of you know. Spike was capture by soldiers and their scientists put a devise into his head that prevented him from harming humans and feeding. What was a surprise to all of the Hool was that again, for the second time, the Slayer refused to kill a known vampire once she learned that he could not bring harm to humans. Because we were paying close attention to Angel at this time we did not pay as close attention to Spike as we should have been doing. Apparently, because of the ‘chip’ in his head, Spike could not do direct harm to humans, but he did on several occasions plot harm to the Slayer and her friends. What we learned later, after the fact, was that for some reason at the very decisive point of a battle between the Slayer and a demon army, Spike switched sides again and helped the Slayer.”
“Our next reports on Spike said that although he was unable to harm humans he was openly helping the Slayer to fight vampires and demons in exchange for money, blood and his safety from other humans. It is during this time that something seemed to be happening within Spike. With the ‘chip’ inside his head preventing him from harming humans he seemed to be trying to make stronger relationships with the humans he knew. It was reported on numerous occasions that although the Slayer and her friends were reluctant to have Spike around them, they never hesitated to use him as a fighter to defend them from harm.” Kar-Hool looked around and noticed that Giles, Willow and Xander would not meet his eyes. Faith and Robin seemed to be unaffected by what he had just said. But Dawn met his eyes squarely. “It was also reported that Spike spent time with the mother and sister of the Slayer, when the Slayer wasn’t at her home. It was also reported that on several occasions when the Slayer thought her family was in danger she would take them to Spike for protection. Again, my people were at a loss as to why this was happening. Spike has always refused to talk about his years in the Hellmouth, so we only have the reports of our paid spy’s to tell us what they observed. Sometime that year the hell god Glorificus came to the Hellmouth and came into conflict with the Slayer. At one time we know that she took Spike captive and tortured him for many hours and that it was through the efforts of the Slayer that he was rescued. We also know that after the death of the Slayers mother Spike became a protector of the Slayers sister.” Kar-Hool paused for a moment and smiled at Dawn. “We also know that Glorificus took the Slayers sister captive and was going to use her as a blood sacrifice to open a portal between dimensions. Why the Slayers sister was chosen we do not know. The Child of Light has told us that she knows the reason, but it is not something that is necessary for us to know, and has no relevance to our prophecy. It was during the battle with Glorificus that Spike nearly lost his life trying to rescue the Slayers sister. This was also when the Slayer gave her life, after defeating Glorificus, to close the portal that had been opened.”
Kar-Hool looked around again to see if anyone was going to comment. “The reports tell us that after the Slayers death Spike became the protector of the Slayers sister and helped to conceal from the vampires and demons of the Hellmouth that the Slayer was dead by continuing to fight against them with her Watcher and her friends. The next report we received told us that the Slayer had been returned to life by the efforts of the witch Willow and that the Slayer and Spike had become involved in a relationship with each other. If the reports are true, the relationship was extremely abusive on the part of the Slayer and that at one point the Slayer beat Spike so badly that he nearly died of his injuries. The next report we received told us that Spike had left the Hellmouth. Why he left has never been revealed. It was only months later that we learned that on leaving the Hellmouth he had gone to Africa to meet with a demon of great powers where he underwent trials of combat and torture to gain a soul. As soon as we learned of this, my father and the other priests of the Hool started searching for Spike. The fact that a second vampire had received a soul was something we couldn’t ignore.”
Kar-Hool paused again, waiting for questions, but also hoping that someone would tell him why Spike had left the Hellmouth and why he had fought and nearly died to gain a soul. “You will understand that this was a time of great turmoil for my people. Angel was missing and presumed to be dead. Spike had gone to Africa to gain a soul and had disappeared afterward. Both of the possible Champions that might one day lead us to the Child of Light were gone and we didn’t know if they were dead or alive. It was during this time when my father was paying spy’s around the world to look for both Spike and Angel that we first received news that potential slayers and their Watchers were being killed by ‘Bringers’. We knew of the ‘Bringers’ and that they were the minions of the First Evil. But at first we did not make the connection between what the ‘Bringers’ were doing and Spike. But word started spreading within the demon world that a time was approaching when demon-kin would have to choose sides in an approaching apocalypse and those who didn’t side with the First would be destroyed. Our priest were convinced that the predicted apocalypse was not part of a prophecy, that it was being pushed forward by the First Evil itself. Where the First had suddenly received such power had the whole demon world in a turmoil. It was several months before we finally received word from the Hellmouth that Spike had returned. But at the same time we were informed of his return we also learned that he appeared to have lost his mind. More spy’s were sent to the Hellmouth and by the time they learned something and reported back, the Watcher Council had been destroyed, most of the Watchers and potential slayers around the world had been killed, and those few who had survived were either in hiding or on their way to the Hellmouth to join up with the Slayer. Additional news reported that the minions of the First had taken Spike captive and had used his blood to open the great seal to release a Turok-Han. The next report told of the Slayer rescuing Spike and of the two of them working together to train the young potential slayers to fight against the First.”
“Please understand that at this same time we were also greatly involved with watching over Angel’s activities and mistakenly thought that they were of the greater importance. It was still hard for my father and the rest of the priests to take the threats of the First Evil seriously. The next report we received told us that the Slayer had the ‘chip’ removed from Spikes head, and that Rupert Giles and Robin Wood had tried to murder Spike, but failed. Our last report from the Hellmouth told us that the Slayer had recovered the ancient weapon that the Guardians had used to kill the last great demon lord. That she had used the weapon to kill the First Evils general, and that Angel had arrived unexpectantly and had given the Slayer some kind of weapon. Lastly the Slayer, Spike and all of the potential slayers plus the witch Willow and the other friends of the Slayer were going down into the Hellmouth to fight the army of the First. The spy claims he just barely escaped from the area surrounding the Hellmouth when the whole town above was destroyed along with the Hellmouth itself.”
“Understand our confusion and dismay. Angel gives a weapon to the Slayer to help fight the First Evil. The Hellmouth is destroyed, but so to is the Champion Spike. Just hours or days later Angel makes a bargain with the Wolf, Ram and Hart and takes over running their headquarters in the city above. We were all convinced that Angel must have lost his soul again and had deliberately plotted to kill the Champion Spike along with the Slayer and all the potential slayers. We were convinced that our prophecy was destroyed and that Angel had been part of it’s destruction. It was days later that we learned that the Slayer had survived and that somehow the witch Willow had used the power of the ancient Guardian weapon to turn all potential slayers into actual Slayers. We also learned that it was the Champion Spike who had used the weapon that Angel had brought to the Slayer to destroy the Hellmouth and to close the door that had been opened to the First Evil that had given it such increased powers. The weapon had apparently also taken the life of the Champion Spike.”
“Over the next months my father had spy’s watching the activities of Angel to see if he had actually lost his soul. The reports indicated that he still had his soul and that in some instances he was using the resources of the Wolf, Ram and Hart to do good things and to help both human-kin and demon-kin. My father and the other priest became hopeful again that the prophecy still had a chance of being fulfilled. Getting a spy into the headquarters of the Wolf, Ram and Hart was difficult, but after several months one was able to enter the building. The first thing the spy reported seeing was the Champion Spike, but he was now a ghost. This again threw the priest into confusion. Angel, the potential Champion of the prophecy, is running the offices of the Wolf, Ram and Hart, but doing good with the resources he now has available to him. Spike, a proven Champion of the Dark who has gained a soul and has destroyed the Hellmouth, is now a ghost and is abiding within the building of the Wolf, Ram and Hart headquarters. Additional spy’s were hired, along with extensive bribes paid, to learn more about Angels activities and the ghost Spike. It took little effort to find out that the weapon Angel had given to the Slayer was an amulet of great power and that Spike had worn the amulet into the Hellmouth. That it was Spike and the amulet in combination that had destroyed the Hellmouth and had seemed to have also destroyed Spike. That the amulet had appeared in Angels office and that the ghost of Spike had come out of it. It was also learned that attempts had been made to both destroy Spike in his ghost like form and to restore him to physical form.”
“It was my father, the High Priest of the Hool, leader of the Hool-Mar Clan, that discovered that Spike had been returned to corporeal form. My father was on his way through the sewers of the city above to negotiate an important settlement between the Hool and a clan of Megesloth demons. I had gone ahead to make sure that proper procedures had been followed for the meeting. My father was traveling quickly with just a small escort to the meeting because he was not expecting any trouble along the way. A large group of Felrock demons attacked him and his escort and half the escort was dead within moments of the attack. My father has told me that it would have only been minutes at the most before the rest of the escort and himself would have been killed if Spike had not arrived. Spike attacked the Felrock demons from behind and before they even knew he was there half their numbers were either dead or wounded on the ground. Then with the rest of my fathers escort he help them fight their way out of the trap they were in and to safety. My father had never seen Spike, but he had read many descriptions of him and recognized him immediately. Once they were safe my father asked him why he had helped them. Spike told my father that he had been told that he had a destiny to fulfill and that he was suppose to protect others from harm. He figured that the bad guys had to be the ones that set up the ambush so he felt it was only right that he should spoil their ambush. My father offered to pay him a reward for his help. Spike told my father that he was working for the good side of things now and could not except anything for doing it. My father told Spike that he owed him a debt of gratitude and that someday he would repay him. My father told me later that it only took him moments in the presence of Spike for him to realize the sacrifice that he had paid at the Hellmouth and that he was sure that Spike was the Champion of Dark and Light we had been waiting for to fulfill the prophecy.”
“We tried to keep better track of Spikes activities once we knew he was no longer a ghost and that he was moving around in the city above. We hired more spy’s to follow him and a number of the Hool, myself included, started keeping track of him. On several occasions I watched him from a distance as he fought with both vampires and demons to protect helpless human-kin and demon-kin from being harmed. We lost track of him for awhile because he was traveling with Angel. Before we knew that anything was occurring, we found out that Angel, Spike, and several others had attacked the highest ranking members of the Black Thorn organization and had killed them. We also learned at that same time that the Wolf, Ram and Hart were sending a demon army across dimensions to destroy them. Before my father could do anything to be of help, the demon army had already attacked and the battle was in progress. It was assumed that Angel, Spike and all the others must have died because the size of the forces against them were far to great for them to win. It was late the next morning that word came to me that a young human was dragging Spikes injured body through the sewers away from where the battle had occurred. Because I was able to speak to the human, I went to him and explained that Spike was a friend to my Clan and that we wanted to help him and hide him from any possible harm. The young many, Tyron, agreed to let us help and we took Spike to our deepest caves and used our strongest spells to hide his presence in the under world. My father, not wanting Spike to be easily found by the Wolf, Ram and Hart, had a leather suit made for him by our people and with the use of the Holy Cross and the magic’s known to our priest a spell was cast upon it to hide him from detection. As long as he wears the leather suit or the cross he is safe from being detected by any seeker spell.”
“It took many weeks to repair the injuries that had been inflicted on my brother during the battle he fought. It took months before he could walk properly and defend himself as a warrior and Champion. But as soon as he was able to do so, he returned to the city above to repay his debt to the young man Tyron for saving his life by dragging him away from the battle area where he could have been found easily. Once Spike joined Tyron’s group of children and young men and women, he started immediately helping those in need of his assistance. My father befriended this group of human-kin children and has been helping them ever since. When the Child of Light came to Spike we knew of it within days and have been watching and studying her with great care. I am not a priest and do not know what the priest and the Child do together. The Child is my friend and she brings great joy into the hearts of all she meets. She has made the life of my brother less painful by bringing love into his life once again.”
When Kar-Hool finished speaking he was certain that he had explained everything in enough detail that the group of humans he was talking to had to understand what the significance of Spikes title now meant. But as he looked at them, one by one, he could see it on their faces that they still did not comprehend. He felt lost as to how to explain further and looked over to Joy for help. Joy, who was still being held in Dawns arms, reached out and took one finger of his outstretched hand into her grasp. They looked at each other for several long moments.
“The Child of Light says to tell you that a true Champion fights for honor and never for a reward. A true Champion will make any sacrifice needed to achieve their purpose.” Kar-Hool told them. “In the demon world disputes are often settled by the meeting of Clan Champions in combat, to prevent a dispute from growing into a war between clans. A Champion has the full trust of his people because their lives may depend on him. On numerous occasions, demon clans have asked Spike to represent their clans in these combats because they did not have a fair possibility of winning against their opponent. If Spike has judged that the clan asking for his aid is the one who has the right of the dispute he has acted as their Champion in the combat. Spike has earned a great reputation amongst the demon clans as a Dark Champion, he has earned their trust. Even those he has defeated in combat recognize his stature. Many disputes have been settled without combat once it was know that Spike would be fighting for one side. Even the most recalcitrant of the demon clans respect him. Within the clans of the Hool and many other demon clans, Spike is considered a friend and is beloved by many.”
Kar-Hool looked around at the humans and wondered to himself if they were all stupid or if they were all just totally ignorant of demon ways. He decided to believe that it must be ignorance. Joy took his finger in her hand again and they communicated again. “In the vampire clans the oldest living vampire who is a Master is considered to be the Master of the Clan. In the Aurelius clan the oldest living Master would be Angelus. But because he had a soul he was never considered to be fit to lead the clan. Drusilla, because she is insane was never able to become a Master. Within the Aurelius line there are other Master Vampires, but none of them have the stature or respect that Spike carries. Once they offered him the leadership of the Aurelius line and he refused. Twice Master Vampires have met him in combat to the death to try to win the position for themselves.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Warning: This chapter was to long to fit, so I had to clip off the end to make it fit. Sorry about that. But I'll tack on the end in a tiny chapter.