Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all the characters that appear on the show are the exclusive property of Joss Whedon, the WB and Mutant Enemy, Inc. The Ancient Ones, in particular the entity YogSothoth, as well as the character of Robert Blake first appeared in the Cthulhu mythos stories of the early twentieth century horror writer, H. P. Lovecraft.
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Part Twelve
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Epilogue, Scene 1 Sunnydale High Library - Morning, a week later.
It is the exact same scene as when Howard disappeared. Willow is seated at her terminal busily tapping away at the keyboard. Cordelia and Oz are in the stacks filing books. The doors suddenly burst open. In come Buffy and Xander as if leading a parade while Giles, walking tentatively with a cane, follows right behind them.
BUFFY
Hey, everybody! Look who's back!
XANDER
Hail, the returning hero!
WILLOW
(jumping up from her terminal and running over to him)
Giles!
Cordelia and Oz join the group gathering around Giles. It's like a real home coming.
XANDER
Captain on the Bridge!
Xander salutes Giles as he hobbles to his place behind the check out desk.
XANDER (cont'd)
I think you'll find everything ship shape, sir.
GILES
Well, it all looks in order.
Willow starts fussing over Giles
WILLOW
Now I got you some salt free crackers here. And I made you some peppermint tea.
GILES
I would have preferred Earl Grey.
WILLOW
Giles, you know what the doctor said, no more caffeine.
GILES
I guess I'll just have to take up Cognac again then.
WILLOW
Giles!
GILES (smiling)
I hear my substitute was quite knowledgeable.
BUFFY
(nodding)
I should think so.
GILES
Sorry I didn't get to meet him. From what everyone tells me, he was quite extraordinary.
WILLOW
Extraordinary! He knew everything, Giles, and a lot of real weird stuff besides! We fought off YogSothoth and Cordelia chopped its head off and we traveled in time...
BUFFY
Willow!
WILLOW
Ooops. I wasn't supposed to say that?
GILES
What are you two talking about?
BUFFY
Okay, since Willow's already spilled the beans... Giles, before you passed out, you called on your Guardian.
GILES
Oh dear. I don't remember.
OZ
The guy that substituted for you, he said he was your "Guardian."
GILES
(to himself)
I always thought that was a silly legend. I never really believed it.
BUFFY
Giles? Talk. You know teenagers love secrets.
GILES
When I was training, I was told that there had been a Watcher in the 1920's and 30's. The forces of evil were raging out of control around the globe. Two generations of Slayers and Watchers fell within months of each other. This one Watcher, single handedly, held back the legions of darkness, the Ancient Ones, all the demons who had been cast out and were seeking to storm back into the world. For ten years, they say, he fought on alone, giving new Watchers and Slayers the chance to train and regroup.
WILLOW
(slowly)
Wow!
BUFFY
What happened to him?
GILES
In a fury, the darkness finally all came together and overwhelmed him. But he had fulfilled his task. He bought everyone time.
XANDER
But you're talking about a Watcher. What's this Guardian thing?
GILES
The legend goes that, on his death, he swore an oath, that he would stand as a Guardian over all Watchers from that time on. And patrol the dark, looking for the future when he would be joined by "The Guardian of the Gates of Dawn." No one understood what he meant, or even who he was. But to this day, Watchers, in times of great danger, call on the "Guardian." I must have done the same.
Buffy stares ahead, astonished by what she has just heard.
WILLOW
Well, we know this guy's name is Howard Phillips.
XANDER
Yeah, we called him "HP" for short. He liked it. Said that's what people called him back home.
CORDELIA
I remember. He said he lived in Providence.
GILES
(puzzled)
Providence, Rhode Island?
CORDELIA
Yeah, why?
Giles grabs his cane and walks slowly up to one of the stacks, pulling down a book. He brings it back to the desk and opens it, thumbing through the pages. Willow and Buffy look over his shoulder. Finally he stops at a particular page.
WILLOW
(pointing at a picture on the page)
That's him Giles! That's HP!
BUFFY
(reading from the book)
Howard Phillips - H. P. -... . Lovecraft? Born August 20, 1890... died March 15, 1937?
Buffy stares up at Giles, bewildered.
GILES
Many Watchers often suspected Lovecraft was the source of the legend of the Guardian. He was a pulp fiction writer, primarily of horror stories where the protagonist struggled to keep the forces of evil from breaking loose into the world. No one in his lifetime took his writings seriously. It wasn't until years after his death that some realized the events he depicted were, shall we say, a little too close to what we know, to be wholly ascribed to imagination.
Buffy sits down. She is clearly dazed and confused. She stares blankly ahead.
GILES (cont'd)
Buffy?
She does not answer.
XANDER
Hey, Buff!
BUFFY
Huh? Yeah?
XANDER
You okay?
Buffy doesn't answer for a moment. She then smiles slightly and nods.
BUFFY
Yeah, I'm okay.
Epilogue, Scene 2 EXT, The cemetery - Night
Buffy is leaning against a tombstone. A mist drifts through the cemetery. She has been waiting a long time but is not impatient. Slowly a light appears in the distance, its beams piercing through the mist, and a tall figure in a trench coat and floppy hat approaches from out of the light. His front is shrouded in shadow with no features visible. It is Howard. He walks up to Buffy. As he stands before her, he takes off his hat and his thinning hair blows in a slight breeze. Buffy stands up straight and looks at him with a mixture of awe and respect.
BUFFY
I'm glad you came.
HOWARD
I never dreamed my oath would be fulfilled so quickly.
BUFFY
Why didn't you tell me?
HOWARD
You had enough of a burden to carry.
BUFFY
You know I'd do anything in the world for Giles.
HOWARD
I know. That's how I knew you were the Guardian of the Gates of Dawn.
BUFFY
Giles told me about your oath. But all that stuff with Angel and me in the future. I don't know whether I understand that yet.
HOWARD
(putting his hand on her forehead) Maybe not here.
Howard then puts his hand over her heart.
HOWARD (cont'd)
But do you understand, here?
BUFFY
Yeah... I think I do.
They say nothing for a few moments.
BUFFY (cont'd)
So,... what's next?
HOWARD
That is for you to decide... I am the past...
BUFFY
(nodding)
And I am the future.... But HP?... would you walk with me... for a little while?
HOWARD
(briefly bowing his head, then looking back up at Buffy)
I would be honored.
Buffy and Howard turn and move through the silent mists swirling in the cemetery. As they walk away together they are visible only as darkened silhouettes against the light in the distance. Finally, they disappear into the mist.
FINIS
* * *
A FEW NOTES AT THE END
The character of Howard Phillips, although derived from the historical horror writer, H. P. Lovecraft, is mostly of my own creation. My apologies to any Lovecraft afficianados if I have offended. I have indulged myself with old HP. I'm not sure whether he would be flattered or appalled!
Lovecraft has influenced three generations of horror, fantasy and science fiction writers. His stories, especially those of the Cthulhu Mythos are widely read today and the source for dozens of crossovers and derivatives. Lovecraft corresponded extensively with many up and coming writers of his time.
One, Robert Bloch, who would later go on to write "Psycho," exchanged humorous stories with Lovecraft. Each writer would place the other in some horrendous situation where the protagonist was destroyed (often in a monstrous explosion of slime or goo) by an entity of the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft's tongue in cheek response to Bloch's "The Shambler from the Stars" was "The Haunter of the Dark," where a young Robert Blake meets a deadly end at the hands (or tentacles!) of YogSothoth and the Shining Trapezehedron.
As to Howard's admonition to Robert Blake to avoid Innsmouth and the Innsmouth Road at all costs, the reader is referred to Lovecraft's exceptionally creepy story, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." If you haven't read a Lovecraft story, I envy you the experience, although he is not everyone's cup of tea (or slime as the case may be!) Good starter stories include, "The Colour Out of Space," and a lurid Poesque tale, "In the Vault."
Despite their flaws, and there are many, Lovecraft's work still manages to convey a sense of terror that is usually reserved for some of the best works of Edgar Allen Poe. For that reason, I have dedicated "The Guardian of the Gates of Dawn," with all its defects and shortcomings, to the memory of H. P. Lovecraft. I can hear old HP grumbling in Providence right now, "A happy ending?! Not likely! The characters should have all dissolved into a fetid, putrescent mass!"
Pax, HP!
Gaius Petronius
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