Sunnydale High School, the concepts of the Slayer and the Watcher, and the characters of Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Cordelia, Angel, and Oz are the property of Joss Whedon, the WB Television Network, 20th Century Fox, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui Enterprises, and Sandollar Television. The rest is mine.
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Part Three
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Giles put another blanket on Buffy's sleeping form, which was stretched out on the couch in his office. She was weak from loss of blood, but the wounds weren't fatal, and after Giles had cleaned and dressed them she had passed from fevered unconsciousness into normal REM sleep. She would be woozy but otherwise quite all right in the morning.
He looked at his watch. Just after four in the morning. He really should go home and get some sleep himself, but he'd left Buffy alone for quite long enough for one evening. He supposed that if we wasn't going home, he should make himself useful and do some research on the Angel problem, so he walked out into the library proper.
Willow was standing there. Startled, he caught himself before he yelled in surprise and glared at the girl. "Willow. What are you doing here?" he asked, rather more peevishly than he would have liked.
She looked tired. "Um," she said, clearly trying to remember what it actually was that she was doing there. "Oh, yeah. I need a... a Thessulan Orb."
Giles took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I'm afraid I've never heard of that. Er, what is it, exactly?"
Willow's face fell. "Darn. I really need one before sunrise."
"But what does it *do*?"
"Oh, yeah. It's for calling a holding a soul before it gets returned to a body."
That stopped Giles cold. Slowly and deliberately he put his glasses back on, and peered at Willow. "For Angel?" he asked.
"Yeah," Willow said. "I was gonna give him back his soul to sorta make things up to Buffy. You know, all the bad things I said about it all being her fault with Oz and stuff."
"Hmm. I see. And you say you need a... er..."
"Thessulan Orb," supplied Willow.
"Yes," said Giles, "a Thessulan Orb. You've discovered the proper rituals?"
Willow nodded. "They were on Jenny's computer, in some damaged files. I found them and repaired the files, and now I'm all ready to go. I just need something to hold Angel's soul in."
Giles brightened. "Well, hang on. I think I may have something you can use." He strode over and unlocked the book return locker, walking into it and rummaging around in box on the floor. "I didn't want to say anything about it to Buffy, but I was hoping I could find something to use it for. Ahhh!" He stood up, and Willow saw that he was holding a small brown figurine, about the length of her hand. It looked like it was made of stone or something.
"What's that?" she asked.
"It's a govi." Giles walked out of the cage cradling the figurine very gently in his hands. "Its, um, a clay figurine. Practicioners of voudoun believe..."
"Voodoo?" said Willow incredulously.
Giles looked at her. "Yes, quite. Practicioners of, um, voodoo believe that the spirits of the dead can be held in clay figurines." He nodded at the little statue. "The govi."
"But wouldn't we need a voodoo ritual to use it?"
"Well, I've been researching that, and the actual voudoun rituals are quite difficult to piece together. Without a houngan or a mambo here I doubt I'd be able to..." He looked up to see that Willow wasn't following him. Giles sighed. "Well, perhaps. But the basic theory seems to be the same, and I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work in this instance."
Willow walked over to Giles and held out her hand. "Then I can use it?"
He hesitated for a moment, then handed her the govi. "Perhaps I should come with you."
She shook her head. "No," she said. "I'll be all right. You have to watch Buffy." Willow looked towards Giles office. "How is she?"
"Oh, um, she'll be fine with some rest. You're sure about this?"
"Yes. It's something I have to do, Giles."
The librarian nodded. "Good luck, Willow."
"Thanks." With that, she turned and left the library.
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Willow took a deep breath. She sat cross-legged on the floor, facing the front of the darkened computer room. A single candle burned in front of her, and before that flame she held the govi.
"Spiritus," she said in a shaky voice. From what Ms. Calendar had written in the .rit files, the calling of the soul into the vessel would also have the effect of attracting the body. Knowing that Angel was going to show up soon didn't do wonders for her courage. Taking another deep breath, she repeated, "Spiritus. Spiritus mundi. Duo sunt nomina." Cracking one eye open, she peeked at the sheet of paper that lay on the floor beside her, then closed her eye again. "In silvo avo duo nomina, et duo nomina ecce... ecce tibi!"
She felt a cold wind blow against her skin, and felt her long hair being blown out behind her. It was the same cold wind she'd felt two nights previously, the night Oz had died.
Then the govi in her hands started to warm up. Within seconds it was warmer than her skin, and the cold wind subsided. She knew Angel's soul was inside the govi.
"Angel," she whispered.
"Yeah," said a voice. Whipping her head up, she saw the tall vampire standing the doorway of the classroom. "Oh, this is cute," Angel said. "You people just don't get it, do you? I don't want the friggin' soul back. You can keep it." Then he grinned. "Or how about you just give me yours?"
With that he sprang at Willow, who flung herself to one side. The govi flew from her hands and slid across the floor into the corner by the door.
Willow ran over to try to get it, but Angel was faster than her and grabbed her wrist when she was just short of grabbing the govi.
Angel chuckled. "Okay, Willow, now what are you gonna do?" he asked mockingly. "This just keeps getting better and --"
He was interrupted by a crash from behind him. Spinning around in the doorway, both he and Willow saw Oz standing in moonlight streaming in through a broken windowpane. He'd jumped in through the window. A cut on his forehead trickled blood down his face.
"Hey there, boy," said Angel. Then, to Willow, he said, "I wanted a pet. Thought your boyfriend would make a nice puppy. What do you think?"
Willow couldn't think, couldn't move. Frantically, she tried to turn her head to see if the govi was still in the corner, but Angel held her chin and pushed her towards Oz. The younger boy growled.
"You want her, boy?" Willow tried to push against Angel, but he was too strong. He pushed her inexorably towards Oz. "'Cause you can have --"
Then he was gone. His voice stopped in mid-taunt, and suddenly there was nothing holding Willow up. She fell backwards onto a pair of feet. She looked up to see Buffy holding a stake and pointing it at Oz.
"Buffy!" Willow cried. "You... you just... "
"Quick," said Buffy in a weak voice. "Do it."
"Do what?"
Oz growled again. Then Willow made the connection and scrambled over into the corner to grab the govi. Oz chose that moment to strike and Buffy placed herself between Oz and Willow. The weakened Slayer went down under the weight of the boy, but it bought Willow enough time to chant the final words of the ritual. "At nunc habeo, tum pergo!" she yelled.
Again a wind sprang up in the computer room, a warm wind this time. It blew through the room, stirring up a cloud of dust that hadn't been there before, and then everything was calm.
Willow held her breath. After what seemed like an eternity, she heard a groan from the dark heap on the floor that she knew to be Buffy and Oz.
"Ow. Uh... oh. Buffy. Hi." It was Oz's voice. The real Oz.
"Oz, get off me," Buffy said.
"Yeah, yeah, uh, sorry." He stood up and Willow could see him rubbing the back of his head. "My head hurts. Why does my head hurt?"
Slowly she stood up and walked over to him. Reaching out to touch his face, in a small voice she asked, "Is it really you?"
Oz blinked. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" He looked around at the computer room. "Um, what happened?"
Willow flung her arms around Oz and held him tightly to her. "A lot," was all she could think of to say.
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Xander held up a finger. "Okay, Oz is a vampire."
Willow nodded.
Xander held up a second finger. "*And* he's a werewolf."
"Uh huh," agreed Willow.
Xander added a third finger to the other two. "And he's got Angel's soul."
Willow nodded again.
Xander pointed at her with the three fingers he was holding up. "So why isn't he Angel?"
Giles emerged from his office balancing a large, thin book on his open palm. "Because the rest of him is Oz," he said.
"Okay... huh?"
The librarian pointed at the book. "Well, there's been some speculation that souls aren't specific, that they are merely... animating forces. My guess is that when Angel's soul entered Oz's body, all the... the cells of his body, his brain, his... um... heart, all told the soul who he was. And the soul took on Oz's... anima, if you will."
Willow looked up at Giles with a little frown. "So Angel's gone for good?"
Before Giles could answer, the library doors swung open and Buffy walked in. Willow got to her feet and stood facing the Slayer. "Buffy," she said. "I just wanted to thank you for... well, you know."
Buffy smiled sadly at her friend, but said nothing.
"I'm sorry about what happened," Xander added. "I know that --"
Buffy held up a hand, cutting him off. "I don't want to think about it right now, okay?" she said sharply. Xander looked down at the floor, and she continued in a softer tone of voice. "Sorry, Xander. Just... just give me time."
"Yeah," Xander said. "I can do that."
Buffy looked up at her Watcher. With the four of them there in the library, assembled for the purpose of facing and defeating the forces of darkness, it felt just like old times to Willow. It gave her hope for the future.
"So what's next?" Buffy said.
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THE END
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