(no subject)

[dragonyphoenix]

Masterlist for In a Corner of My Soul

The Council knew of no reliable method to test for demonic possession. Giles, studying for his second Ph.D., had discovered a footnote in Carl Guthman’s Treatise on the Nordic Gods. The information in that footnote had sent him to a church on the Faroe Islands. The monks had not parted with their knowledge willingly, but Giles knew of a spell that, when chanted in the presence of demonic possession, would cause amber to burst into flame. Giles glanced down at the chunk of charred resin. It seemed that animal possession had the same characteristic.

He’d been disappointed at first but it might be that he could turn this to his advantage. It was possible that research into animal possession could enhance his understanding of demonic possession. Perhaps if he looked further into the Masai …

His name sounded, sung out in two separate tones, high then low. “Gi - les.” He glanced at the cage but Xander was still unconscious. That left one explanation. Xander’s pack had come for him.

Hyenas were scavengers. They gave way to predators. Eyghon was a predator but the students were fully possessed; Giles wasn’t. Facing them down would most likely prove suicidal. Giles slammed the cage shut and dashed for his office. He hadn’t made it even half-way across the room when the windows shattered in. He’d almost made it to the door when one of the possessed students grabbed at his shoulder. Giles spun and kicked the boy straight on, giving himself another twenty seconds to race into his office and slam the door behind himself. The children raged at the door but couldn’t get in. Giles had know when he’d arrived in Sunnydale that the high-school was vulnerable. He'd warded his office. A fully grown, enraged Fyarl might get through those wards, but these students wouldn’t.

Giles watched through the office’s window as the possessed students tore apart the cage and sniffed at Xander. When they couldn’t wake the lad, they left, or appeared to. Naturally he couldn’t be certain the students had left. Giles remained in his office until he heard his name again, but this time called out in a human voice.

“Buffy?”

She was standing in the library, staring at the glass. Willow, on the other side of the torn cage door, checked Xander’s pulse.

“I’m guessing we had visitors,” Buffy said.

“The other possessed students. They came looking for Xander.” Buffy glanced between the cage and Giles as if trying to work something out. Giles answered her unasked question. “I hid.”

“Go you.”

“Did you learn anything at the zoo?”

“The zookeeper …”

“Dr. Weirick,” Willow interrupted.

“Huh?”

“The zookeeper, his name is Dr. Weirick.”

“Uh, right, anyway, he said he can work out the ritual, which means we need to get Xander over there ASAP. Willow, wanna help me pull him out? You go for the arms. I’ll grab the legs.”

“He what?” Giles asked.

Willow, leaning down to grab Xander’s arms, stopped halfway and looked over. “Dr. Weirick,” she said. “With what you’d told me about the predatory act, he said he knows what needs to be done to get the hyenas out of everybody.”

Giles glanced down at Xander and then over his shoulder to the broken window. “I see. But the other students, we’ll need them at the zoo as well, yes?”

“I’ll handle it,” Buffy replied. “Once Xander’s in the car.”

Giles held open the library door as the girls dragged Xander into the hallway. “You two go on,” he said. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”

“Giles, we don’t have time.”

“Just one minute.”

Once the doors had swung shut, Giles stepped into the remnants of the rare book cage, opened the cabinet, and pulled out a dagger.

Xander was already laid out in the back of his car when Giles joined the girls. “You two get everything set up,” Buffy said. “I’ll bring the hyenas to you.”

“Be careful.”

“I will.” With that, Buffy was gone.

“Right, lets get going ourselves.”

As Giles navigated the streets, Willow kept checking the back seat. “Should Xander still be knocked out? How hard did Buffy hit him anyway?”

“I’m sure he’ll come around soon. Could you, um, help me navigate? I’ve never been to this zoo.”

“Oh, sure.” He hadn’t actually needed her help - the zoo was only a few blocks away - but it did keep her from asking questions about the boy.

They half-carried, half-dragged Xander toward the hyena house. “It sure is dark,” Willow offered.

The display itself, the one containing the hyena cage, was well lit. A ritual circle, laid out in red paint, already marked the floor, much as Giles had expected. “Here's good,” Giles said just inside the doorway. They put Xander down. “Willow, you go back and watch for Buffy.”

“Are … are you sure?”

“Yes. We’ll need to know when she’s on her way.”

Giles waited until Willow had vanished into the dark corridor before calling out. “Dr. Weirick? Doctor?”

Weirick stepped out in full ritual regalia. His blue robe seemed almost pedestrian when contrasted to the stylized skull painted in blue and white on his face. “Of course, the, uh, Masai ceremonial garb. Yes … Very good. Are you, uh, otherwise prepared for the trans-possession?”

Weirick nodded. “Almost.”

Giles gestured toward the sacred circle. “How terribly frustrating for you, that a bunch of school children could accomplish what you could not.”

“It bothered me, but the power will be mine.”

Weirick swung his staff. Giles dodged to the side, moving in closer. As he grabbed the staff and yanked it, Weirick lost his balance. Giles shoved the staff back, straight into the man’s stomach. Weirick doubled over. Giles grabbed one arm and twisted it behind Weirick. “Listen and listen well. We don’t have much time. There are entities stronger then hyenas, more powerful. I can get you that power but only if you do as I say.”

Weirick remained remarkably calm. “And what is it you want me to do?”

“Remove the hyena spirit from those children.”

“And how will we be performing the predatory act? Whom will you kill? One of your own?”

Giles pulled out the dagger and held it to Weirick’s throat. “I believe I won’t have to kill you.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“It is a gamble, I admit, but my knife is already at your throat and I do have a certain experience with these situations. I’m fairly certain you will survive. Do we have a deal?”

Weirick nodded. “I get the power if we succeed.”

“Yes.”

Willow ran in calling his name. “Giles. Giles.” She stopped at the edge of the room, taking in Giles’ knife at Weirick’s throat. “What is this?”

“Get out of the way.” Giles nodded his head left, toward an alcove. “Hide over there.”

She looked worried but did as he asked.

Buffy ran in and, like Willow, stopped short. The students, growling, gathered around her. Giles held the dagger closer to Weirick’s throat. “Now would be a good time.”

“YU BA YA SA NA!”

The eyes of each of the students flashed green. As Xander’s head raised, Giles thought the drug had worn off, but the boy’s eyes flashed green and then his head fell back to the floor.

The students looked confused and then ill. One of the girls ran off with her hand across her mouth as if she were about to be sick. The others slinked off after her. “That appears to have been successful.” Giles let Dr. Weirick go.

“That was sort of wiggy,” Buffy said. “You holding that knife to his throat.”

“Based on my conversation with Willow, I had deducted that the predatory act could be more symbolic than actual.” In fact it was the intention to kill that made the act predatory, but he wasn’t about to share that with Buffy. Let her think he’d never meant the zookeeper harm.

“I’m glad it worked without anyone having to do, you know, anything icky,” Willow chimed in.

Buffy walked over to the hyena cage. “So, what do we do with this guy?”

Giles exchange a glance with Weirick. “I believe a bit of research is in order. It’s possible the trans-possession ability can be arrested. In the meantime, I believe a good lock, one strong enough to keep students out, should be sufficient.”