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dragonyphoenix) wrote2016-03-17 07:29 am
In a Corner of My Soul: The Pack: More Testing
Xander arrived so quickly after the bell that he must have sprinted from his class to the library. “So what kind of permanent damage are we talking about here?”
“I take it neither of the girls have explained the dangers of demonic possession?”
“Dangers? Um, that'd be a big no, but it's okay, right? Because I was possessed by a hyena, not a demon.”
“Demonic and animal possessions are similar in many respects.”
“Such as being dangerous exactly how?”
“The power of a non-human spirit can be too much for a human body to encompass. The body responds in a variety of ways, usually involving illness, deformity, and death.”
“Death?” Xander shrieked. “But we got this hyena thing out of me right? There should be no death, none at all.”
“That's what we're here to determine. Sit down please.”
Xander paled as Giles brought a hypodermic needle out from behind the counter. “What's that for?”
“I'll need some of your blood.”
Xander half-fell into the chair.
“Don't worry. I'll only take a small bit.”
Xander remained blessedly and unexpectedly silent as Giles drew the blood. “Stay there. This won't take long.” Giles chanted the words to an ancient spell as he mixed the blood and herbs into a sticky elixir. Xander winced back as Giles brought a blood laden finger up to his face. “Stay still. The markings need to be exact. Or would you rather die?” Xander remained still. The aura that became visible looked completely human. Giles handed Xander a chunk of amber and waited to see if it would burst into flame. It glowed but nothing more than that.
“It's glowing. Why's it glowing? What's that mean?”
“You're fine, Xander. The glowing is a natural reaction of the amber, under the influence of this spell, to a purely human aura. I see no residue of the hyena spirit in you.”
Xander jumped to his feet. “Oh thank God. I gotta tell you, G-Man, I was getting a bit worried …”
“I'm not done.”
“Huh?”
“There are more tests. Sit back down.”
There were other tests Giles needed to perform, tests that would allow him to determine how the hyena's spirit influenced a human body, but Giles had planned to work them on one of the other students who'd been possessed. He generally tried to avoid working the darker magics around Buffy's friends. It was the G-Man comment that had changed his mind. The boy deserved a bit of torment. Giles did despise that nickname.
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Gabrielle
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