<see Part 1 for disclaimers>

Dawn

Red Moon Series, Book 8

Frau Hunter Ash

www.hunterash.com

Part 4

* * *

Giles’ smile turned to raised eyebrows as he entered the Magic Box and found Anya shouting, Xander trying to get a word in, Buffy frowning, Tara and Willow looking uncomfortable and Dawn and Demmy looking amused.

“Uh, excuse me?” he said loudly, catching their attention. The Watcher smiled widely as his “kids” rushed to hug him, each jockeying for the best position to hug him the tightest.

“I was only gone a week,” Giles protested with a laugh. His sharp eyes caught a look of concern in Buffy’s eyes and her quick glance at Demmy and Dawn but her smile told him she didn’t want to mention whatever it was in front of them.

“We are so glad you’re back!” Willow said the loudest. “You were supposed to gone for three days only! Not that you didn’t need the vacation and we’re glad that you took it but we missed you!”

“So I gathered,” Giles smiled as everyone backed up slightly. “What’s happening?”

Everyone began talking at once until Giles held up his hands, calling for silence. “One at a time please. Anya, what has you upset?”

“Xander sold someone a Khul's amulet and a Sobekian bloodstone!” she nearly shouted, thrusting a receipt in Giles’ direction. The Watcher and storeowner took it and looked at it closely.

“Yes, I believe he did,” Giles nodded.

Anya grabbed the receipt from Giles with an exasperated look. “You never sell these things together, ever! Bad news! Don't you know about the Sobekites?” she demanded, turning to Xander.

Willow squeaked and jumped up and down. “Oh! I do. It was an ancient Egyptian cult, heavy into dark magic.”

Both Giles and Anya nodded. “I remember, something about reptiles,” Giles added.

“And the Khul's amulet, wasn't that a transmogrification conduit?” Tara asked, her eyes thoughtful.

“Damn straight!” Anya almost shouted.

“Uh, English?” Xander asked softly. “Can someone please translate all of that?”

“It can transform something into something living,” Tara said softly to Xander.

“Be that as it may, I still see no reason for concern. I mean the-the Sobekian transmogrification spells were lost thousands of years ago. And besides, whoever Xander sold it to would have to have had enormous power,” Giles commented and stopped, noticing Buffy’s alarmed looks between herself and the other adults, excluding Dawn and Demmy. Giles felt a sinking feeling settling in his stomach.

“It's no biggie, he just got an amulet and a bloodstone,” Willow stammered.

“That can create a monster,” Anya clarified. “A demon, a reptile demon. Sobekites were reptile worshippers.”

“Still, that requires some amazing power that you don’t see these days, almost the power of demi-gods or an extremely powerful coven,” Giles frowned. At the silence greeting his statement and Anya’s irritated look at Xander, the Watcher began to doubt things were calm and smooth in Sunnydale.

“Well, we’ll discuss this in a bit, first things first,” Giles announced. “Dawn and Demmy, I believe you find some new goodies on your beds at home. Did you both behave yourselves?”

“Yeah! What did you bring us? Money? Dice?” Dawn asked excitedly.

“Hardly,” Giles huffed and hugged her tightly. “Why don’t you two head home before dark. I’ll be along in a bit and we’ll tell you some about our vacation over dinner.”

“But not the orgasm stuff, right?” Anya asked bluntly. “Xander always gets upset when I try and talk about orgasms and sex over food. I don’t know why he enjoys food items when we…”

“Anya! This is one of those moments when you don’t share everything that happens in the bedroom,” Xander said quickly.

“But that doesn’t happen in the bedroom!”

Xander grabbed Anya’s hand and dragged her back towards the sales counter, whispering desperately in her ear as Willow giggled and Buffy bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing at the looks on Xander and Giles’ faces.

Dawn tickled Demmy’s ribs and dashed out of the shop. The male Slayer yelped and dashed after the teen.

Giles turned to Buffy, Willow and Tara. “I take it there’s something I need to know, yes?”

“Well, there’s this really powerful guy that just might be strong enough to do whatever it is with the Sobe thingy,” Buffy explained.

“Figures,” Giles muttered, heading for the table. “Please tell me.

An hour later Giles was looking over the information the Council had sent after being contacted by Buffy and listening to her own experience with the powerful and possibly insane male called Praetorious.

Giles leaned back and began to clean his glasses.

Willow couldn’t help but smile, Giles was finally almost back to normal, she reflected. Cleaning his glasses when he was nervous was a classic Giles-thing.

“It could be either Dawn or Demmy,” he said softly, the pain evident in his eyes. “But the DNA says that she’s my daughter.”

“Couldn’t energy of that level be formed into anything, I mean to match your DNA?” Tara asked gently and Giles’ frown deepened.

“I think its Demmy,” Buffy said calmly. “I mean, that confusion with his DNA, the headaches and Slayer senses going bananas. The Council has never figured Slayers out and you say its something mystic. Maybe the monks couldn’t get it quite right. We just got the stuff in from the Council, what do they have on Praetorious?”

“From what the Council's been able to discover from the book of Tarnis, and other sources, Praetorious and two of his fellow hellgods ruled over, well, one of the more seriously unpleasant demon dimensions.”

Tara frowned and reached for Willow’s hand as she laid her head on Buffy’s shoulder. “There's more than one?” she asked softly.

“Oh, there are thousands of demon dimensions. All different and usually what humans would consider horrible,” Anya added from the main counter.

“All pushing on the edges of our reality, trying to find a way in,” Giles explained.

“I guess Praetorious found one. The question is, why?” Buffy frowned. “And what the hell is this Key?”

“There's nothing to indicate why,” Giles said softly. “Just… vague references to chaos and destruction.”

Buffy’s expression took on a stubborn set. “Okay, so, we know where Praetorious is from. What do we know about him? You know, he's tough, yeah, but, but no bolts of lightning, no blasts of fire, shouldn't a god be able to do that kind of stuff?” she asked hopefully.

Giles replaced his glasses and glanced over the reports from the Council. “Uh, usually, yes, but um, being in human form must be severely limiting his powers. All we have to worry about right now is he's immortal, invulnerable, and insane.”

“Terrific, great combination there, G-Man,” Xander complained.

“Please don’t call me that,” Giles mumbled. “From what the Council has been able to gather from police and hospital reports and some field scouting, living in this world is seriously affecting Praetorious’ mental state. He's only being able to keep his mind intact by, uh, extracting energy from us. Well, from, from the human brain.”

Tara blinked and tightened her grip on Willow’s hand. “He’s-he’s a brain-sucker?”

Giles wasn’t surprised at the alarmed expression dashing around the room.

Giles leaned over another paper, “Yes, well, the reports from the monks found in his wake are… disturbing. Quote: he, um ... absorbs the energies that bind the human mind into a cohesive whole.’ Once drained, all that's left behind is, uh- well…”

“Nuts,” Xander finished.

“Well, insane people,” Giles clarified. “The Council is sending a book on this, something called the Book of Tarnis. Perhaps we’ll find answers there as to which teenager isn’t what they seem.”

“Giles,” Buffy said softly, reaching to touch his arm. She saw it was just beginning to hit him that Dawn, his daughter, might not be his daughter afterall.

“Odds are its Demmy considering Ethan swears he’s known Dawn since she was born,” Giles said softly, not meeting Buffy’s eyes.

“What do we do with a Key?” Tara asked.

“Prevent it from being used, no matter what the costs,” Giles said firmly. “Whatever Praetorious needs the Key for, it can’t be good.”

# # #

Buffy went with Giles to have dinner at the Summers-Giles house. The Slayer was cheerful and very playful with Demmy and Dawn but she caught the question in Joyce’s eyes when she looked towards her husband. Buffy knew her Mom could sense something was wrong.

After dinner Buffy suggested that she take Demmy and Dawn to the video store to grab some rentals, the primary reason being to get the teenagers out of the house so Giles could try and explain to Joyce what they had discovered.

Buffy didn’t envy her stepfather that conversation; Joyce was quite fond and protective of both teens.

When they returned, the small group found Joyce drinking coffee in the kitchen and no sign of Giles. Buffy’s quick eyes could tell her mother had been crying and upset although Joyce fought hard not to show it.

“Hey guys, why don’t you go ahead with the DVD’s, I’ll keep Mom company for awhile,” Buffy suggested.

“When do you tell the CHILDREN what’s going on around here?” Dawn demanded.

“Soon, runt,” Buffy said softly. “Just gotta figure some stuff out about that Praetorious guy.”

Demmy looked as troubled as Dawn looked exasperated but placed a hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to follow Buffy’s suggestion.

“Where’s Giles, Mom?” Buffy asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“He went out for a bit,” Joyce said softly. “He’s having a hard time with this.”

Buffy frowned, Giles was always the rock of the group, the calm one. Except when Jenny died, Buffy reminded herself.

“How can I help?” the Slayer asked, reaching for her mom’s hand.

“Find the answers, please,” Joyce said, smiling weakly. “I can’t believe its Demmy or Dawn. I love both of them and Rupert, he’s… having Dawn as his natural daughter…”

“I know, he thinks of us as his kids but to have that he had to give up his life,” Buffy said slowly. “I mean, he became a Watcher because it was his destiny, like mine. By doing that, he gave up a chance at a normal life with wife, kids and stuff.”

“Yes,” Joyce nodded. “When you ran away after Angel, I blamed Giles and we fought constantly. I ultimately blamed the Council for you being the Slayer and leaving and Rupert was their representative here. I know, it wasn’t reasonable but I’m a mother, I’m not reasonable at times. I wasn’t seeing all of his sacrifices at the time.”

“What do we do, Mom? We know we’re going to lose Demmy and that’s… it hurts,” Buffy admitted. “I like him a lot! Slayers know they’re going to die young but this is different! He’s going to die because they messed with him in the first place!”

“I know and if it’s Dawn, it’ll kill Rupert and me,” Joyce agreed.

“This isn’t fair!” Buffy growled. “I don’t want to lose either of them!”

“Rupert says that we have to keep Praetorious from finding out the Key is now human,” Joyce sighed. “Is he as powerful as Ru fears?”

“Yeah,” Buffy sighed. “I would have been dead with the first hit if I wasn’t the Slayer.”

“This is one of the many times I hate you being the Slayer, Buffy,” Joyce complained.

“I know, Mom,” Buffy managed to smile. “Too bad Faith is insane and still in that coma. I could use another set of Slayer hands.”

* * *

Buffy found Dawn sitting on her bed later writing in her journal. The teenager looked wary when the Slayer entered her room. “What’s up, big sis? We going to talk about Pratty dude and why no one is talking to me and Demmy?”

“Sort of,” Buffy said softly, sitting down on the bed. “You know that Praetorious needs to find something so he can open the gates between the dimensions, right?”

“Yeah, Willow called it a Key,” Dawn nodded. “And it was sent to you to protect. So what is the Key and where do we keep it?”

“That’s just it, those monks made the energy, the Key, into something totally unexpected,” Buffy frowned, trying to explain. “Instead of an object, which Praetorious will be expecting, they made it living energy.”

Dawn joined Buffy’s frown. “Living energy? A plant, a cat? What? Hey, no way! Demmy’s human! I mean totally human!”

“I know, that’s why the monks did that,” Buffy sighed. “To protect the energy from Praeter dude finding out. He’ll never think of looking for someone alive.”

“No, no! Demmy has memories, the Council made him! It can’t be Demmy!” Dawn protested.

“Giles thinks the monks implanted memories of those around Demmy so we’d love him and protect him with everything we’ve got,” Buffy tried to explain.

“It can’t be Demmy,” Dawn continued to protest. “I mean you said he’s dying! Why would they make something that’s dying?”

“Maybe they couldn’t get the Slayer DNA right, like the Council,” Buffy suggested.

“But he can’t be, that would mean his memories aren’t real, that he’s not real,” Dawn whined.

“He’s real, Giles said the research says Demmy is very human,” Buffy said gently. “The energy made him human. It doesn’t mean we care less about him, honest.”

“So we keep Demmy’s secret and Praeter dude goes away?” Dawn asked hopefully.

“I don’t know,” Buffy said honestly. “We just try and find a way to keep PD from doing the ritual and destroying the world, as usual.”

“You know, being a Slayer isn’t always cool, is it?”

“No, it isn’t,” Buffy agreed.

# # #

Tara wasn’t surprised to find Giles in the back room of the shop an hour later. Buffy had called and Willow was spending time with Demmy, trying to explain things and now Tara was searching for Giles.

“Giles?” Tara called softly as she opened the back door.

“Hello, Tara,” Giles said slowly. “Did Joyce send you looking for me?”

“Buffy and J-Joyce,” Tara admitted with a small smile. “Everyone’s worried about this. Really worried.”

Giles nodded and sighed. “So am I.”

Tara sat down and reached for his hand. “Giles, can you talk about it? Not about Praetorious, snakes and stuff but about what you’re feeling? If you think its Demmy or Dawn?”

“It can’t be Dawn,” Giles said softly, his eyes filling with tears. “She’s… I haven’t had enough time. It’s not fair if it’s either of them, damnit! We’ve lost so much!”

“No, it’s n-not,” Tara agreed. “Could it be Dawnie?”

“I don’t know anymore,” Giles shook his head. “The clues all point to Demmy but wouldn’t Praetorious figure that out as well? Would make more sense if it were Dawn. We’d be more protective and wouldn’t suspect it was her. I don’t know, I just don’t know.”

“How do we find out?” Tara asked, frowning along with him.

“Find a way to stop Praetorious and it becomes moot which one wasn’t born naturally and I wouldn’t care,” Giles muttered, his eyes flashing.

“Okay, we do that then,” Tara tried to smile. “H-how do we do that?”

“Keep him from finding out who the Key is, keep him from doing the ritual. There’s indications that there might be a limited space of time he can do the spell,” Giles said, looking at his note pad. “If we can stop that, he’ll go insane, lose his powers and we can handle him.”

“Giles, w-we’ll figure it out,” Tara said softly.

The Watcher nodded. “Look here, I’ve managed to decipher the markings that were on the bloodstone that Xander sold. Um, cobra. He's going to transmogrify a cobra.”

Tara blinked. “A cobra? To send against us? T-that’s kinda scary!”

“Yes,” Giles tried to smile as Tara took the papers and began to read his translation.

“The form is vessel, rendered new. The base is stone, bathed in blood. The gem is fire and elements rarified, Sobek, grant the power that it may mold this wretched creature. That it may be reborn, that it may serve. The power is yours to see what is unseen. To find what is shrouded in shadow. Already, you know what I seek. I have given you form, now find for me the key. Seek it out in the holy places. Let your vision guide you to its hiding place, and then return to me and tell me where it lies,” Tara recited. “It’ll know how to look for the Key?”

“Yes,” Giles nodded.

“Uh, Giles, h-how big could this thing be?” Tara asked, looking at his drawings.

“Uh, well, depends on how big the statue is that is transformed,” Giles frowned, pulling his notes back. “I think.”

# # #

Buffy moaned as she hit the wall of a graveyard and slid down. The Slayer shook her head and looked up at the small, elfish like teen who had backhanded her over ten feet. Praetorious frowned.

“Look, I know you have my Key, where is it?” he demanded.

“Go back to hell,” Buffy snapped, trying to get back to her feet. She had already gone several rounds with the Hell God and was hurting.

“That’s just the point!” Praetorious yelled, stomping his foot.

The Slayer blinked, watching as the demi-god turned almost purple in his tantrum.

“I wanna go home! Do you know how miserable I am here?” he shouted, stomping over and pulling Buffy up by her collar. “The clothes, the women, the TV! It’s… it’s torture! Have you ever watched BBC America? Are they mad?”

“I dunno, I kinda like MI-5,” Buffy muttered and tried to hit the “teen.”

Praetorious sighed and threw the Slayer into a large tombstone. Buffy fell hard.

“Just tell me where the Key is and what it is and I’ll go home!”

“And destroy my world, I don’t think so,” Buffy said firmly, getting to her hands and knees.

“Then I’ll just kill you and then ask your friends,” Praetorious growled as he broke off a huge tombstone and lifted it over his head.

“Involvo! (fly at)”

Buffy looked up to see Willow standing on the other side of her, eyes magic black.

A dozen knives went flying over Buffy’s head towards Praetorious. The Hell God yelped and dropped the granite stone as the knives hit him in the chest.

Willow pulled Buffy to her feet as Praetorious looked down at the knives in his chest and brushed them aside. “My fricking silk shirt!” he screamed and started towards the women.

“Lutulentus! (muddy)” Willow yelled, pointing her finger at Praetorious. The Hell God suddenly screamed in anger as he sank knee-deep in mud.

Buffy glanced back as Willow dragged her towards the exit, seeing Praetorious trying to pull his legs out of the muck with an enraged expression.

“Let’s get you home, Summers,” Willow said firmly as they moved out of sight.

“Hospital,” Buffy whispered. “Hospital, Will. Kinda got hurt.”

# # #

Xander and Anya arrived at the hospital just minutes after Brad and Theresa Santiago. The small group found Tara and Willow waiting impatiently in the familiar hospital Waiting room.

“Any news?” Xander asked anxiously as he hugged Willow tightly.

“Not yet, a doctor named Brenda Benjamin is with her right now,” Tara said softly as Theresa hugged her. “A couple of broken ribs, they’re x-raying the head right now.”

“What happened?” Brad asked with a deep frown. “I’m not used to hearing Buffy’s been hurt bad enough for a hospital.”

“We were heading to the Magic Box to pick up a book for Giles to research this Hell God nutcase and suddenly there he was. He picked up Buffy and threw her over the wall of Harmony Hill graveyard and I got there just in time to drag her out of there,” Willow explained.

“Well, that means Pratty doesn’t know what the key is, right?” Xander asked hopefully.

“No, he doesn’t know that the Key is human and among us,” Willow said wearily.

“Excuse me,” a voice interrupted them. “I’m Dr. Benjamin and I’ve been attending to Ms. Summers.”

“How is she, doc?” Xander asked quickly. He took in the basic details about the doctor. About as tall as Buffy, brownish hair, green eyes, young, good looking with sharp features and a nice figure.

“I’m glad to say that she’ll be alright in a few days,” Dr. Benjamin smiled. “Ms. Summers has a pretty good concussion and I’m insisting that she stay here overnight, possibly tomorrow. Two of her ribs are cracked but should mend nicely as long as she doesn’t aggravate the injuries.”

“Oh thank God,” Theresa said softly.

“Can we see her?” Tara asked, moving closer to Willow and the doctor.

“You and Ms. Rosenberg are listed in her Power of Attorney papers on record and other legalities, you bet,” Dr. Benjamin smiled. “The others will have to wait until morning, I’m afraid.”

Xander was obviously disappointed but nodded as Anya took his hand. “Okay, we’ll be back bright and early.”

“Will you guys stop by and take this book to Giles?” Tara asked, handing Anya a book.

“Yeah, we can do that,” Xander smiled. “Might give G-Man some excitement in a boring night.”

# # #

“Piz`dyulina?” Demmy shouted in Russian as a huge tail tossed him into a trellis of roses and the thorns grabbed at his clothing.

Giles slashed at the 30 foot cobra that was rearing back and attempting to strike at him. The garden hoe wasn’t much of a weapon but it was keeping the thing back momentarily.

Demmy looked over and saw Dawn standing in front of Joyce, holding a trash can lid in front of them like a shield.

The evening barbeque had been going well until the one-time snake statue had crashed through the fence, it’s tail knocking Giles and Joyce in different directions as it hissed and hovered over Demmy and Dawn.

The snake seemed to stare at both of them for several moments and turned as if to leave.

“Stop it! If it returns to the sorcerer we’re in trouble!” Giles shouted as he grabbed a garden hoe.

“Svoloch’! You bastard!” Demmy grabbed a garden stake and rammed it through the snake’s tail. The thing screamed and turned, snapping at the teen but ending up smashing into the trash can lid Dawn had grabbed. It whipped its tail around, hitting Demmy with the stake and tail and sending him flying.

Dawn dashed over to stand protectively over Joyce as Giles sliced at the huge creature.

Demmy got loose from the rose bushes with his shirt mostly in tatters and snatched up a shovel as he ran over to Dawn and Joyce.

The giant cobra suddenly hissed, spitting venom at Giles. The Watcher ducked, closing his eyes and dropping his hoe. As Giles began to fall to his knees and howl in pain Demmy dashed to his mentor and grabbed the older man by the collar.

The young Russian threw Giles into the small reflector pond and turned to swing at the snake as Dawn grabbed the hoe, handing the trash can lid to Joyce.

“Hey, Giles?”

“Xander! Help!” Giles shouted, wiping the water from his face as he looked for his glasses.

“Whoa! What the hell?”

“Kill it! It knows the Key!” Giles shouted to the young man and Anya as they rushed through the break in the fence.

“And how do we do that? It’s big and has fangs!” Xander shouted back as the snake turned to hiss at him and Anya.

Dawn stabbed the snake with the hoe and fell backwards when the snake reacted, turning on her and knocking her down. Demmy shouted and dived forward with the shovel downward, slicing through the demon.

Giles tackled Demmy out of the way as the snake struck at the Russian, the fangs barely missing both of them.

“Get Joyce Mom out of here,” Xander told Anya as Dawn stood up with the hoe, trying to protect Giles and Demmy.

Xander seized the lighter fluid from the side of the brick barbeque and flipped open the small can. “God, I hope this works!” he mumbled, spraying the creature with the fluid.

Dawn’s eyes widened as she saw what Xander was doing and waved the hoe in front of the snake’s head, keeping it’s attention on her as Giles and Demmy regained their feet, Demmy grabbing the shovel again.

“Xander! Hurry!” Giles shouted.

“I don’t smoke! Where’s the lighter!”

“Oh bloody hell!” Giles grumbled, pulling a box of wet matches out of his shirt pocket.

“You mean this is one time it’s a bad thing that none of us smoke?” Xander squeaked, tripping over the snake’s large body as it moved.

“Outta the way, mate!”

A hand reached down and tossed Xander away from the snake by his collar and Xander’s eyes widened as Spike flipped open h