<see
Part 1 for disclaimers>
Red Moon Series, Book 10
Frau Hunter Ash
Part 3
The two Greek vampires drew back without a word, fading into the crowd as Gabrielle grabbed the intended victim.
Gabrielle shook the girl lightly and started leading her towards a chair against the wall.
“Is she?” Xena asked anxiously.
“I don’t see any bite marks but you didn’t see any on me either,” Gabrielle remarked. “Come on, let’s get her outside. I can’t see a thing in this dim light and we need to get her home.”
Xena nodded and cleared a path for Gabrielle as the bard led
the semi-coherent girl out the back door. Xena ran to the end of the alley to
ensure they were alone and no bacchae were hovering
around as Gabrielle began checking
“Hey, vampire!” a female voice said loudly and firmly. “Let go of my girlfriend.”
Gabrielle looked towards the voice and was surprised to see a small blonde standing near them with her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing with anger. The girl looked to be about 5’4” and petite. Gabrielle also knew that looks could be deceiving.
“I’m not a vampire,” Gabrielle said, trying to sound calm. The girl had a stake in one of those hands on her hips and an air of confidence.
“Hmmm, let’s see, fangs and yellow eyes,” Buffy countered. “No bumpy forehead but Dracula didn’t have that either.”
Gabrielle swore in three languages under her breath as she concentrated, her eyes turning green again without any trace of yellow. She looked at the Slayer and shook her head.
Before Gabrielle could protest any further, Buffy sprang into action, forward rolling and coming up under Gabrielle’s chin with the heels of her hands, stake across them. The wood connected under Gabrielle’s chin, sending her falling back into the wall and bouncing back forward. Buffy took advantage of the blonde’s rebound and spun, catching Gabrielle with a backhand blow that sent the bard to her hands and knees on the alley floor.
“Oh sweet Artemis,” Gabrielle whispered. “It’s been a long time since someone hit me like that.”
Buffy kicked Gabrielle in the ribs, sending her over onto her back and quickly moved to stake the blonde.
Gabrielle crossed her wrists, catching Buffy’s wrist at the crossed points, stopping the stake. She brought her foot up into the back of Buffy’s head, sending the Slayer flying over the bard. Gabrielle jumped up at the same moment as Buffy.
The two women met in the middle of the alley with fists and
feet flying.
Buffy used a move Giles had shown her from his street fighting days and slid the stake under Gabrielle’s guard, heading for the bard’s chest. Gabrielle twisted, taking the stake alongside her ribs with a wince of pain.
Buffy started to follow through when a.... long, drawn out ai-ai-ai shout sounded in the air. The Slayer turned to meet the new danger only to blink in amazement when a very tall, dark-haired woman landed in front of her. Buffy hadn’t even seen her somehow take to the air from the end of the alley.
Xena hit the girl fighting with Gabrielle with a vicious backhand, one that would drop even a centaur but the girl only stumbled slightly and came back with a round-house kick, catching Xena along the jaw.
The ancient warrior let out another war cry and ran up the alley wall and over Buffy, coming down behind her and shoving the Slayer into the wall. She started to grab Buffy in a neck pinch but the Slayer countered with an elbow thrust back into Xena’s nose.
Buffy turned and hit the dark haired woman with a series of blows that rocked Xena to the other side of the alley. The Slayer turned just in time to block a blow from Gabrielle’s foot but didn’t see Xena recover faster than humanly possible and took a kick to the small of her back, sending her into Gabrielle’s fists.
The witch threw a sun-burst over Buffy’s head, startling the
two other women, giving
The Slayer was bloody and bruised and the other two women looked almost as bad. “Hey, baby. Think I wanna go home now,” Buffy said softly.
“Xena, she’s not bacchae but she’s more than a regular hunter,” Gabrielle said as Xena checked her over.
“How many times do we have to say it, we’re not vampires,” Gabrielle said impatiently. “Look, you were out of it in there and about to be munched on by vampires. We got you out of there and your girlfriend misunderstood.”
Xena nodded as the blonde watched them. “Do you have a cross on you?” she asked the couple.
Gabrielle moved close and reached out, touching the cross. “I’m not a vampire.”
“You aren’t human,”
“No, we’re half human,” Xena grinned. “She isn’t human either, or at least a normal human. If these were the old days I’d wonder whose child she was,” the warrior said, indicating Buffy with a nod of her head.
“What does that mean?”
“
“We should get her home,” Gabrielle suggested.
“She almost broke my jaw,” Xena complained, brushing herself off.
“W-who are you?”
“Hmmm, who we are, well that might take some time to explain,” Gabrielle said slowly.
“We are Greek demi-gods and you’ve got a real Greek God problem here on your Hellmouth,” Xena said easily.
“Greek... demi-gods?”
“Look, is there somewhere else this to discuss this? I’m getting a headache,” Xena asked.
“Giles would love to hear this,”
“Oh Gods, don’t bring baby Bliss into this,” Gabrielle muttered and Xena laughed, remembering THAT incident and wishing she didn’t.
“What is she?” Xena asked as she picked Buffy up carefully in her arms. There was something about the girl... She and Gabrielle had seen a lot of strange things over the centuries; from Gods to demons, vampires to ghosts. “Her strength matches mine.”
“And she knows how to fight, I haven’t seen that since the Amazons,” Gabrielle added. “It’s not just martial arts, she knows street fighting.”
“She’s the Slayer,”
# # #
Buffy moaned and tried to open her eyes.
“Shhh,”
Buffy opened her eyes slowly, very glad to see the familiar
surroundings of their bedroom; hers,
“What?” Buffy asked, her voice a whisper. “I got taken out by two vamps?”
“No, two Greek goddesses,”
“Run that by me again?” Buffy said, sitting up slowly.
“I’ll help you downstairs and Giles, Xena and Gabrielle can
explain,”
“I saw them taking you outside,” Buffy said with a frown. “You were so out of it, I thought...”
“I don’t know what happened on the dance floor,”
“Let me guess, bed-hair is the least of my beauty problems right now,” Buffy teased, moving her legs slowly off the bed with a moan. “Who the heck are those two? The tall one hits like a vampire and they both have some wicked moves.”
“Ancient warrior women,”
“Any other time and I’d suggest we might never get out of one but I think a shower is all I’m up to,” Buffy admitted with a sigh. “Warrior women, huh? Don’t tell me, Amazons.”
“One of them anyway.”
# # #
An hour later and Joyce announced dinner was ready for
everyone. Buffy reflected that it almost looked like Thanksgiving dinner with
so many people around:
Buffy sighed to herself and looked down as everyone got up to head for the table.
They had spent the hour explaining to Buffy who Xena and Gabrielle were, Giles confirming some of their story, talking about ancient scrolls that had been discovered by an archaeologist named Pappas or something. Buffy accepted the story easier than most, living on a Hellmouth left one open to believing almost anything, she thought.
Buffy learned that she had been unconscious all night, something that surprised the Slayer. No one had hit her hard enough to put her out that long before. Xena and Gabrielle explained that they had centuries of experience and Gods for fathers. During the night Giles and the Scooby gang has explained Rack and Faith to the Greeks.
“So this Bacchus guy, he’s more than just a party animal with the wine and stuff?” Buffy asked as everyone sat down to a spaghetti dinner complete with garlic bread, salad and iced tea. “Mom, you’re amazing, by the way.”
“Thank you, Buffy,” Joyce said as she passed the bread around. Giles reached over and squeezed his wife’s hand and kissed her cheek.
“No, Bacchus is definitely more than just the harvest got of wine,” Gabrielle said with a sigh. “He’s also the father of the bacchae. There’s two types of bacchae, actually. Those that once ran through the streets and met in secrets rituals to celebrate Bacchus, the harvest and the frenzy that he can inspire.”
“Then there’s the bacchae that are a lot more dangerous,” Xena said, continuing Gabrielle’s explanation. “They’re a form of vampire but not like the ones you’re accustomed to dealing with.”
“There’s three different phases of becoming a bacchae,” Gabrielle continued. “Infection through a bite. The girl then slowly becomes a partial bacchae. That can take a day to a week. During that time she may not even be aware she was infected but she’ll be drawn to wherever Bacchus is, especially as the time move closer to the harvest celebrations. Here that would be either Halloween or near Thanksgiving.”
“Next phase?” Giles asked, his mind taking notes.
Joyce sometimes worried about her husband. Ever since his return from the alternate reality, he had continued to suffer with nightmares, panic attacks and migraine headaches. Having Buffy and all of the constantly being threatened and attacked by Rack and Faith was just making his recovery worse. Now Bacchus....? A Greek hellgod?
“Partial bacchae,” Xena said slowly, glancing at Gabrielle. “The young woman looks like a full bacchae and has all the powers and weaknesses. The ability to fly short distances, the ability to infect other women, drain men of their blood and desire for blood.”
“They look like bacchae, you saw them at the club,” Gabrielle added. “Rather Goth looking, actually. They can be killed by usual means, sword, knife, probably gun, fire, decapitation.”
“Once they drink blood from Bacchus on a ritual night, they become full bacchae,” Xena continued. “Then the only thing that can kill them is the bone from a dryad, a tree spirit. When a dryad dies, it becomes this rather nasty skeleton creature that doesn’t like to give up it’s bones easily.”
Giles looked up from his food. “Uh... dryads aren’t exactly
common in American mythology. I’m not sure if they’re found here in the States
and damned few in
“We brought some with us,” Xena reassured him. “We’re hoping
we don’t have to kill the girls. If we stop Bacchus and force him back to
“Are you certain?” Detective Brad Santiago asked. “We’re missing a number of college and high school girls in the city.”
“We’ve fought Bacchus a few times,” Xena said with a nod. “We defeated him before and the girls returned to normal.”
“Almost all of them,” Gabrielle aided, her voice soft and pained.
“The yellow eyes and fangs?” Buffy ventured and wasn’t surprised really when Gabrielle nodded.
“To make a long story very short, to claim our immortality as children of the gods, we each died,” Gabrielle began. “I died by crucifixion, Xena by poison.”
“Oh good Lord,” Giles whispered. He knew the details of what happened to a body during crucifixion.
Gabrielle nodded. “Painful, yes. Once I died and we realized I had been brought back by my father, Apollo, we also found out there was a price. A darkness to counter the light of my father and myself. During our fight with Bacchus, I had become a partial bacchae. Neither of us knew then but I had tasted a single drop of blood before we defeated him and set everyone else free.”
“So your darkness is to be somewhat of half a vampire?” Giles asked with a frown. “Vampires aren’t living creatures, though. It’s either all or not.”
“Bacchae are different,” Xena explained. “They don’t die when they become bacchae, they simply change and become immortal through the blood. Gabrielle has cravings which are handled with animal blood once a month or when she’s gravely injured. When she gets... pissed off, it might come out in the eyes and teeth.”
Gabrielle blushed a bright red and looked down at her food.
“It doesn’t interfere and she’s not controlled by Bacchus,” Xena added. “A point which pisses him off.”
“So to stop him, we find where he is, shove a dry-whatcha bone into him and send the girls home?” Buffy asked.
“That’s the complicated part,” Xena said slowly.
“Only a partial bacchae can break his hold and only a full bacchae can send him to Tartarus with a dryad bone,” Gabrielle said softly. “And full bacchae are under his control. Partial bacchae too. Xena was able to resist him immediately after becoming a partial bacchae, just long enough to break the spell.”
“And he won’t fall for that again,” Xena said with a nod. “We do have one advantage now we didn’t then. Gabrielle and I were gifted with the power to hurt the gods, on an even basis. We might be able to use a dryad bone without having to become partial bacchae again. Neither of us can go through that again.”
“So, we find where he is, hope your dryad bone works, kick his ass and send Rack and Faith to tartar land with him?” Buffy asked with a cocky grin. “We can handle that.”
“I hope so,” Gabrielle said softly, glancing at Tara and the Slayer.
# # #