Buffy & The Daughters of Gaia Ch. 03

NOTE : This story takes place in an alternate Buffyverse, a few years into the future. Faith has remained with the Scooby gang and has become Buffy's secret girlfriend. Willow and Tara are still together and Dawn is now at college.

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Music began to blare from Dawn's bedroom. Willow groaned. With a bleary eye, she looked at Tara. Her lover sat on the edge of the bed, already dressed, and brushing her long blonde hair. When she felt Willow stirring, she turned and flashed her a smile.

"Morning, sleepy-head."

"Urgh. It's morning already? We've only just got to sleep."

Tara leant over and gave her a peck on the cheek. "And whose fault is that? I seem to remember a certain redhead getting rather frisky with a soapy sponge, right about the time even vampires are saying 'Gee, it's a little late.' No wonder you're still tired."

Willow looked like butter would not melt in her mouth. "Yeah? Well, I seem to recall a certain blonde mentioning that she would let me have a lie in, if I could make her pop, just once more."

"True."

After fondly ruffling Willow's tangled hair, Tara got up. She placed the hairbrush back onto the dressing table and gathered her purse. While Willow rolled over and pulled a pillow across her head, Tara quietly shut the bedroom door. Heading down the hallway, she stopped at Dawn's door. The music drowned out the sound of her knocking.

"Dawn?"

She knocked again. Still no answer. Tentatively, she pushed the door open. Inside, Dawn was dancing to the music. Dressed in only a small pair of white panties, she pranced in a circle and sang into a pretend microphone. Her eyes were closed, and one hand cupped an imaginary headphone to her ear. Watching the teenager with a smile, Tara folded her arms across her breasts and leant on the doorframe. After a moment, realising that Dawn was still oblivious to her presence, she spoke up.

"Dawn."

Instantly, the young girl's eyes flicked open. Seeing she had been caught, she flushed pink and gave an embarrassed grin. With one hand, she reached out and dialled down the volume of her music.

"Morning," she said, hooking some hair behind her ear.

"Something, or someone, has put you in a good mood. You're normally last to get up." Tara was smiling as she teased her. Seeing Dawn squirm a little, she let it go. "I just wanted to ask if it's okay that we meet for lunch a quarter of an hour later than usual. I've got to go and see some people first."

"Sure, no problem. I'll get the orders in."

"Fine. Just a small shake for me. I'm watching my figure."

"Oh really? I thought that was Willow's job."

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Giles was sipping at a cup of tea when Anya got to work. From all the books on the table, it was obvious that the Watcher had been there for several hours. She peered at the tome he was reading.

"Tomulok's Compendium Demonica? I never knew that you had a copy of that. It's supposed to be one of the most complete catalogues of demonic species, and individuals, ever written." She hovered behind his shoulder, trying to see more.

With a sigh, he looked up at her. "I called in a big favour to get it and had Simpkins on the council send it over."

"But it does list a great many different demons in it?"

"Yes. It is remarkably informed."

"Many individual demons?"

"Yes."

"Sort of a who's who?"

"Yes."

"Am I in it?"

"Hmm. Let's see," he said, his interest piqued. "Vengeance demons. Vengeance demons. Ah, here we are, Vengeance demons. Anyanka. This demon concerns herself mainly with wreaking a bloody and savage vengeance on all who have wronged women. It was in Sjornjost in 880 AD that she first manifested her true calling. Then, she was a lowly peasant girl named Aud. When she discovered that her lover, Olaf, had been unfaithful with a bar matron named Rannveig, she cast a spell to transform him into a troll. The inventiveness of the revenge caught the attention of D'Hoffryn. He appeared to her, revealing her real nature and demonic name. Joining his ranks of disciples, Anyanka set about her chosen task with imaginative brutality. Many claims have been made about her influence on the passage of history, some are wildly exaggerated, but most are based on fact. She is fanatical about her cause, caring for no-one and nothing, except the smiting of faithless lovers."

Giles tapped his teeth with his glasses. "Of course, that last part's inaccurate, as of late, but that's hardly Tomulok's fault. Him having been eviscerated by a Shognath demon back in the sixties, that is."

The shop bell rang as Buffy and Faith walked in. "Hey, Giles," Buffy said, slipping wearily into a chair beside him.

Anya looked Buffy up and down. "Are those the same clothes that you wore yesterday?"

Buffy appeared taken aback. "W..Well," she mumbled, struggling for words.

"Heavy night slaying vamps," said Faith, thinking quickly.

"Oh," replied Anya. "You do know that you have grass stains all over your back and are missing several buttons from your blouse?"

Buffy looked shocked and surprised. She raised her eyebrows at Faith in a why-didn't-you-tell-me gesture. The brunette gave her a grin full of devilment.

"Was it rough?" asked Giles.

Buffy kept her eyes fixed on Faith's. "Yeah, kinda."

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Tara lightly knocked on the dorm room door. After a moment, it was opened by one of The Daughters of Gaia. They all looked so much alike, that Tara was not sure which one it was.

"H..Hello. I wondered if I might have a talk with you and your sisterhood."

Jody looked Tara up and down. Still blocking the doorway, she glanced back at someone out of sight. "Meg, it's that Wiccan from yesterday."

A small tingle in the air made goose bumps rise on Tara's arms.

"Let her in."

Obediently, Jody stepped back and drew the door wide. Inside, the other four Daughters of Gaia were waiting. Kim and Ruth sat on a sofa. Mary had her back against the headboard of the bed and Megan perched on the edge of her desk. Her long black ponytail swung, its red tip bobbing, as she nodded for Tara to enter.

Once she was inside, Jody closed the door and leant against it.

"I wanted to offer you and your coven my help. You have done exceedingly well with your study of magic. I can show you h..how to focus and harmonize that knowledge. Thespia can guide and nurture your calling. I want to help you understand The Craft and its uses."

"Really."

"Yes. I was once a Daughter of Gaia. So was W..Willow." She looked around at the young witches. "You know. The girl I was with yesterday?"

Megan folded her hands across her black blouse. Her studded dog collar glinted as she took a step toward Tara. "You mean that pyro bitch that incinerated my spell notes?"

Tara frowned. Something was wrong. Megan seemed changed somehow. In fact, each of the girls seemed to exude an air of confidence that they had lacked the day before. This had been a big mistake. Opening her mind to the flow of life, she could see the aura around Meg swirl with a muddy green. A taint of corruption.

"Er… I think I'd better go. I can see that you don't need my help." She took a step backward, toward the door. The atmosphere in the room changed and became full of menace. Fumbling with her hip pouch, she felt the air tingle like it had just before she entered the room. Megan's features changed. The face of the beautiful young woman melted away and in its place leered the dryad. Her suddenly brown skin had the pattern of wood grain upon it.

"You’re gonna be sorry you ever crossed me.”

Tara cast a handful of lotus dust at the demon. As it struck her, it made a sizzling noise. Shrieking, she clutched her face and staggered back. Mary sat upright, making raking gestures with hooked fingers. "Gaia strike from the wilderness; let her feel the bite of the maw. Gaia strike from the deepest wood; let her bleed from the slash of the cla…”

Before she could finish, Tara spun toward her and twisted her hand in a pulling motion. Mary was yanked from the bed by an invisible force and crashed to the floor on her hands and knees. Kim and Ruth were already jumping to their feet, holding hands. As one, they snapped their free arms forward. Green bolts of energy exploded against Tara's side and threw her across the room.

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At five o'clock, Xander put down his hammer and stretched. His back ached. It had been a hard day. The rest of the guys from the construction site began to make their way home, calling farewell as they went.

Once he had put his tools away, he walked down to his car. A girl was leant against the passenger door. She was young, about nineteen or twenty, and dressed to impress. Her tiny black skirt accentuated her long, slim legs and her silk blouse was so tight that her breasts were clearly defined. She wore her hair cut into a pageboy bob and it was as black as a raven.

"Hi, handsome."

He recognised her immediately. It was impossible to forget someone that beautiful after only a couple of days. She was one of the girls that had surrounded Dawn at school.

"What do you want?"

Kim gave him a coy look and held out her closed hand. "Only to return this. Dawn dropped it when she was knocked down by Morris."

He glanced down as she opened her fingers. A brief spark of light flashed from her palm. When he looked back up at her, Anya looked back. Confused, he looked left and right.

"Where did she go?"

"Who?" said his girlfriend, pushing herself off the car door.

Realising that telling Anya he was looking for a hot young woman in a miniskirt might not be too smart, he shrugged. "Oh, never mind." He circled the car and got in. Reaching across the seats, he unlocked her door and she slipped in beside him.

"I got a quote from a mechanic about fixing those holes," he said, nodding at the axe marks in the hood. "You don't want to know how much that's going to cost."

As he drove the car down the street, Anya turned to him and kissed his cheek. "I've got a surprise for you."

"Yeah? Is that the good sort of surprise involving outfits and sweatiness, or the bad sort of surprise that involves large yellow demons with big slicey axes?"

"Oh, I guarantee that you'll get sweaty."

He took his eyes off the road for a second to flash her a leer. "Okay, straight home it is then."

"No, Honey. What I have planned for you is in the woods. Turn left up here."

Deep inside, a little voice was trying to tell him that this was wrong, but something made him ignore it.

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Buffy had long since returned to the Magic shop. After going home to shower and change, she had made her way back to help Giles with his research. At the moment, he was assisting Anya in filling an order for an old couple.

While her fingers turned the pages of a large book, her mind drifted. Unbidden, it flashed up images from her sexual encounter with Giles. She closed her eyes and felt his hands as they caressed her body; the gentleness with which he had stroked her skin. She could remember the sweet feeling of his kiss; soft and gentle at first, but with a mounting passion. The glorious sensation as he slid his long, hot shaft inside her. A sigh of longing slipped from her.

Suddenly, she bolted upright. Her eyes scanned left and right to see if anybody had heard. It did not seem like anyone had. Angry with herself, she pushed the thoughts away. They were wholly inappropriate. She did not think of Giles that way. She told herself that thought again, just to make it sound convincing. With a shrug, she shuffled her shoulders to move the fabric of her blouse from her hard nipples.

The doorbell rang as the old couple left the shop. Giles returned to the research table. As he sat down, Anya followed him.

"I'm just saying that perhaps we should have made them sign a form, absolving us of any injuries they incur."

"That's not very practical, now, is it?"

"On the contrary, I think it is very practical. My way, when they throw a hip, or whatever, they will not be able to sue us."

Giles removed his spectacles and massaged his nose. "Dear Lord."

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked.

"That couple wanted the ingredients for a temporary revitalising potion."

"They wanted to have sex," Anya interjected, helpful as only she could be. "And they shouldn't. They're too old. It's disgusting. And they will probably damage something trying, and sue us for lots of money. That's not fair. I like the money, it should stay with us."

Faith walked in from the training room. Her skin shone with sweat and she was mopping at her forehead with a towel. Almost at the same time, the shop door rang as Willow arrived.

"Hey guys."

"Hi, Will."

As the Wiccan moved toward a chair next to Buffy, Faith pushed past and dropped into it. Dabbing the sweat from her cleavage, she gave the redhead a look. Willow paused for a moment and then circled around to the other side of Giles and sat down.

"Any luck with Anya's fan club?" she asked, slipping her purse from around her neck and onto the table.

"No, none at all. Sorval demons are so rare that not even Tomulok's can help."

Faith rocked her chair back by pushing her feet against the table's edge. "I bet you ten bucks that chopping him into little pieces will work." Giles gave her feet a disapproving stare. When his eyes caught hers, she held them, daring him to reprimand her.

"Y..yes, quite," he said, looking away.

"Where'd you get ten bucks from?" Buffy cocked her head to one side and glanced at Faith.

"I didn't. But then, I won't need it. All I have to do is make sure that Bull wax dies when I cut him up. Then I get ten crisp bills from The Tweed Avenger."

"That's Bullthrax," Anya corrected.

"Whatever."

Giles once more met Faith's gaze. She lifted her eyebrows, suggestively. He was about to say something when the shop bell rang. Dawn walked in and boosted herself up onto the glass counter. She looked at Willow. "Tara owes me the money for lunch. She could have called if her meeting ran that late."

The colour drained from Willow's cheeks. "W...What?"

"Tara. She didn't show up for our usual lunch date. She said this morning that she might be a little late, but she didn't make it at all."

Buffy could tell that Willow was concerned. She stood. "Did Tara say where she was going before she was supposed to meet you?"

"No. Only that she had to go and see somebody. I don't know who."

"I do."

Everybody turned to look at Willow. "She wanted to help The Daughters of Gaia. Thought she could guide them in the right direction."

"Okay," said Buffy, already making for the door. "Willow, come with me. Giles take Dawn home. Anya you stay here and wait for Xander to pick you up when he finishes work."

Chairs scraped as everybody moved to do as they had been told. When Faith began to follow Buffy, she held up her hand to signal no. "You stay here, Faith. Someone has to keep an eye out for Anya. We don't know when this Sorval may show up."

"Bee..."

"Just do it."

After all the others had left, Faith put her hands on her hips and turned to the Vengeance demon. "Okay, you just volunteered to hold the punch bag while I work out."

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The door to the dorm room swung open as Buffy pushed it. Stepping inside, she looked at the trashed room. The sofa lay toppled on its back, the bed had been pushed awry and the desk looked like it had exploded.

Willow followed her friend into the room and her face fell. Seeing several scorch marks on the wall, she pressed her hand flat against one. Her eyes fluttered shut and her lips moved in a silent spell. Faint blue ovals appeared around the scorch marks. Buffy saw Willow's lips tighten into a narrow line.

"There has been magic cast in here," she said, indicating the glowing blue marks.

Suddenly, the Wiccan let out a strangled little gasp and jumped to the side of the bed. She ducked down and then straightened up holding a purse. It was made from tan suede and had a felt picture of a black cat and daisies sewn onto the front. The shoulder strap had lots of cotton woven around it in multicoloured bands.

"This is Tara's purse," she said to Buffy, not taking her eyes from it.

The Slayer nodded, looking around, "They must have taken her somewhere else."

Buffy placed an arm around her friend's shoulders. She could see the tears brimming in Willow's eyes. "Don't worry Will. We'll find her. I don't know how, but we'll find her."

"I can find her."

She opened her hand and a small globe of white light lifted into the air. Without any command, it drifted toward the door and into the hallway. Students walked right through it, oblivious to its presence because it was invisible to them.

Buffy and Willow followed the telltale as it skimmed out of the building. When she spoke, steel filled Willow's voice, "If they've hurt Tara, I'll show those bitches what real magic is."

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After he parked the car, Anya led Xander deeper into the woods. For a while they walked hand in hand.

"Are you not even going to give me a hint as to what my surprise is?"

"Okay, but just a little one. The ancient Romans used to have a lot of them."

He thought for a moment, watching his feet plough through the wild flowers. "Baths? You're going to give me a bath. Out here?"

Anya laughed and cast him a fond glance. The sunlight made her hair shimmer with a golden halo. "No, silly. Think of something they put on for entertainment."

"Toga parties?"

Her free hand gently slapped his bicep. "No."

"Feasts? That'd be great. I'm quite hungry."

"You're always hungry. And no."

As they entered a clearing, he shrugged. "Well, that only leaves orgies, and I know you wouldn't..."

In the middle of the clearing, he could see the girls waiting for him. Four of them. Completely naked. For perhaps the first time in his life, Alexander Lavelle Harris was speechless. Not even a jokey quip crossed his mind. He just could not believe what he saw. As he and Anya reached them, one stepped forward and gave him a little peck on his cheek. He felt arousal flood through him as he looked at her small breasts, crowned by firm pink nipples. Her Lolita-like body was bathed in sunlight. It glinted on the smooth moist folds of her bare quim.

"Wow, Dawn. You look great!"

Dawn looked puzzled and turned to Buffy, "Dawn? I thought his girlfriend was called Anya?"

Anya let go of Xander's hand and began to take off her clothes. "It is. He's been calling me that all the way here."

Buffy smiled. "Ah. I see. The glamour makes him see what he wants to see. The other guys all saw just their own girlfriends. This one must be seeing her, and ones he has fantasies about, as well."

Faith stepped forward and planted a kiss on Xander's lips. Her tongue slipped into his mouth and played there. Hesitantly, he slipped his hands down her back and cupped her soft buttocks. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him, tightly. Her lips roved against his as he felt her breasts squash against his chest.

For a long moment they embraced, ignoring the others. When she pulled away, he looked at Anya. "Are you sure, Ahn? You don't mind?"

She wobbled on one leg as she unclasped her shoe. "No, Honey. You go right ahead and have fun. In fact, it is important that you do. Very important. Do anything you wish. They'll let you. Anything."

"Are you the best girlfriend ever, or what?!”

With a beaming grin, he drew his T-shirt over his head and cast it aside. As he did so, Buffy looked at Willow. "Ruth, you be the first gate. I'll be the second." She turned to Dawn, "Mary, you're the third gate."

As Xander struggled out of his pants, Dawn pulled a face and cupped her hands protectively around her buttocks. "Aww! Why do I have to be the third gate? That last guy was big and it hurt!"

Buffy fixed her with an unsympathetic stare. "You know very well why. You're the youngest. The gathering spell to draw the energies that summon The Spirit of Oak requires the three gates of woman to be blessed in a particular order."