Author's Note: For this chapter and the next, dates include the timezone relative to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT); specifically, Tibet it 16 hours ahead of California.
Fifty Three
30 June, 2002, 60 miles West of Chamdo, Tibet (GMT + 8)
Wilson was the only source of light in the room. The sun hadn’t risen yet over the Qingzang Plateau. Under the Now Sphere’s glassy surface bubbled a red brew of cloud. Gently, the clouds parted to reveal the still sleeping form of Dawn. She had passed the second test very commendably, the conjurer knew. Two more tests and she would be ready. They both would be.
Next came the Test of Failure. Confronted with an impossible task, can the student bring herself to declare the test unfair?
He turned away, tucking the tiny egg-like spheres into his pockets. He had places to be and she would awake soon.
29 June, 2002, Sunnydale (Pacific Time: GMT - 8)
It was early evening and the research was yielding very little that they liked. Since Dawn had disappeared, Angel had introduced Buffy to the enigma called Loki, a.k.a. Logan Kilpatrick. Magician on the down low, Loki, they were discovering, had a sordid past.
As Xander and Anya researched for any person matching Loki’s description and Buffy sat in shock with the realization that Hanna Kilpatrick was the face and smile of the slayer’s kid sister, Giles and Willow continued to research.
As the information poured up the screen, Giles blinked. In his own experience, demons of the Werlech variety were neither henchmen nor master planners. They were mercenaries – fighting and killing in a rather simplistic and direct way, to achieve their own goals. Some of them even went so far as to hire themselves out as assassins. Giles blinked, the thought searing through his mind like a hot brand.
“Uh, fellas?” Spike was standing, looking out the window. “Whoever said this Logan bloke had this whole thing planned down to a T,” he pointed out the window, “wasn’t lying.”
They all began to assemble weapons and were soon out the door, all except Willow and Tara, who opted for continuing the research as opposed to going head to head with the dozens of giant spiders now roaming outside.
Willow turned back to her computer screen. Her lips twitched and Tara seemed to pick up on it, for she approached and glanced at Will’s computer. “Problem?”
The other witch shook her head. “N– no.” She blinked and turned to face the one she loved most. “The temptation is there, you know?” Tara frowned. “To just wave my hands over the keyboard and find what I need.”
“I know it’s there,” Tara soothed. “But that’s what makes you a good witch, resisting it.”
Will gave a dry laugh. “Yeah, I’m like president of responsible-wth-magic.”
Tara took Willow’s hand in her own. “Come on, you’ve come so far. We’re all very proud of you. I’m very proud of you.” Tara held up Will’s hand and kissed it, then held it to her cheek.
“What would I do if I lost you?” Willow asked, pained at the mere idea.
“I hope we’ll never have to find out,” Tara smiled.
Advanced Search Complete (42.06 sec) Results 1 of 1
Willow looked back to the computer screen and Tara released her hand. She followed Willow’s gaze and frowned. “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” the witch admitted, “it’s in Chinese.” She moved the cursor over the translate command and clicked. Within seconds, the website popped up in choppy English. The title was a graphic of Chinese figures and an emblem of some kind, so it remained untranslated, but the two witches immediately began reading the text below.
30 June, 2002, 60 miles West of Chamdo, Tibet (GMT + 8)
Dawn sat in her room on her mattress, waiting for the Fourth Test. In her own mind, she had done quite well on the last one, admittedly with some help from Anya, but that wasn’t important. What was important was that she was closer to it. To what? she asked herself. To... home. A soul — something she had never known she was missing and then never known how to miss. Would it change her? Would she be as different as Spike had been since he came back from Africa? Would she feel the ‘vice grips,’ as he had called it, squeezing on her heart too? I hope so, she thought. Maybe the reason she and Spike had gotten along so well before he had gone away was that they were two of a kind. Two ‘alright’ Specters out to rule the night. Well, they would be two of a kind again, once she found what she was looking for. She gripped the tiny glass sphere tighter – her quest stone. Just one more test.
30 June, 2002, Sunnydale (Pacific Time: GMT - 8)
Tara yawned. She looked at the clock display in the corner of the computer screen. It was very... early. The website went on and on and on, the English very difficult to follow at times.
The small bell rang admitting Xander with Anya in tow. “You wanna explain that?” Xander asked her, crossing his arms.
Will and Tara turned around at the unusually annoyed tone in Xander’s voice. “Explain what?” they asked in unison.
Xander’s head turned to them. “An, here, just teleported to and from the ‘mysterious hideout’ in the ‘mysterious mountain of mystery.’” There was a pause. “Without a spell or a wish or anything, and without knowing where she was going.”
Willow and Tara exchanged impressed expressions. “Good job,” Will nodded.
Xander threw up his hands. “How did you do it? This would have been nice to know earlier!”
Anya was smiling proudly. “It was pretty cool, wasn’t it?” Then, seeing Xander’s exasperation, she let the smile fall away. “It was an accident.” There was a doubtful pause. “It was!” she said defensively. “I’ve never gone anywhere like that before with so little thought.”
“What are you talking about?” Xander demanded as Giles and Spike strolled in, panting from exertion.
Anya sighed with irritation. She walked pointedly over to the display case and indicated the small pouch, nearly hidden behind a jar of pixie dust. The tag on it read: Slightly Bitter Sand and the price had been repeatedly marked down, now reading $2.99 / pinch.
Giles caught on to what was going on and moved to the display case to examine the stuff. “I don’t remember this in the inventory.”
“Derex had it on him,” Anya said simply. “You remember Derex, don’t you Willow? ‘Come see man with extremely tiny head?’” Willow nodded absently. “I think he has his own show on Fox now...” She shook her head. “He must have dropped it when you knocked him out, Xander,” Anya looked to him as she said this. To Giles’ confused glance she explained. “Xander knocked out the circus man with a candy cane.”
Giles, having given up on understanding their words, had taken the sack from the display case and was examining its contents. “And you sprinkled this on yourself... or- or in a circle around yourself?”
“Neither,” the vengeance demon smiled. “I ate some.”
There was a very long pause. “You ate some?” Xander asked, incredulous. “You ate a mysterious powder that you found on a freak who was trying to kill you?”
Anya frowned. “Well, when you say it like that, it just sounds stupid.”
“Well, we can use this, then,” Tara indicated the pouch in Giles’ hands, “t- to get to the hideaway.”
“Not so fast,” Giles cautioned, pulling the drawstring on the sack closed. “We don’t know anything about this sand, besides the fact that it’s-” he glanced down at the tag, “slightly bitter.”
Anya shrugged. “And even that’s an exaggeration.”
“It won’t take long to do some tests on it,” Tara said hopefully. She looked from face to face. “W- we need to find Dawn — a- and there’s some stuff here,” she indicated the computer screen, “that Buffy needs to know.”
“What sort of stuff?” Giles frowned and moved closer to the two girls.
“This,” Willow explained, showing the title graphic of the site, “is the Chinese version of the Initiative.” Everyone gathered around. “They patrol around for demons and vampires and such, but they also keep in contact with other, similar organizations around the world. They have records here of demon and other activity dating back sixty years.”
“They’re paramilitary?” Xander asked, looking closer at the miliary-style logo on the screen.
Willow nodded. “Highly advanced, too. They make the Initiative look like Boy Scouts.”
“And they’ve learned something about this Loki?” Giles asked, squinting at the small print. The witches didn’t answer, letting the Watcher read for himself. His eyes slowly widened. “Oh... good... Lord..."
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