The Immortal Slayer - Chapter 3
"There is definitely a shortage of vamps around here." Buffy said to Giles as she walked in the library, carelessly tossing her books on the table. "I didn't find any on patrol last night. Not one." Buffy paused for dramatic effect. "It's weird. Totally gives me the wiggins. I mean, why would the vamps suddenly disappear at the same time this Immortal Slayer is supposed to be coming around? Makes me wonder what's up?" As she finished, Buffy sat down and rested her chin in her hands. Looking up expectantly at Giles she waited for him to share some sort of arcane knowledge that only he could express."You're right Buffy, there is something weird about all this." Giles told her while rubbing his temples as if he expected to extract the answer somehow.
Buffy sighed. That was not the arcane knowledge she was hoping for. "Well," she asked Giles, "do you think it has anything to do with the Immortal Slayer?"
"I'm not sure Buffy. Vampires are not given to running from an opponent before confrontation. The Immortal Slayer does not even exist yet. I don't believe they are running, but they may be trying to band together and combine their forces to battle the threat after it arrives."
Buffy nodded. That explanation made a little more sense. She figured that between the two options the vampires would be more likely to try and take down the Immortal Slayer together. "Giles, what was Willow researching for you? Could that be the cause of the vampires weird behavior, rather than the Immortal Slayer?"
"I suppose that is a possibility." Giles conceded, although he doubted it. "She was researching the Dark Goddess. We should try to talk to her and see what she's found out. Did she mention anything about coming by the library today?"
"No." Buffy replied, standing to gather her things. "She's been kinda sparse lately. She's working on some big science project or something. I'll stop by her house tonight before I go patrolling and see what's up, okay?"
"Thank you Buffy. That sounds like a good idea. Perhaps we should have a meeting tomorrow evening. Please be sure to let Willow and Xander know. We need to discuss what's going on, even if we don't provide all the details." Giles felt as though his head was spinning as he contemplated just how much he should tell them and what the council would say about his actions.
"I'll be sure to let them know. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Buffy headed out the door wondering what effect the Immortal Slayer would have on all their lives.
***
Willow was sitting in front of her computer, reading the latest messages. The site had only been up for about a day and a half, but seemed to really be taking off. She decided to scan through the messages and then go back over the ones that offered information on the Dark Goddess. As she finished looking them over in a few minutes, she realized that even though there were quite a few messages they were all fairly short and didn't say much except nice site, love the idea, and so on.
Scrolling the page back up to the top she found the first one she wanted to reread.
~ Hi! I've heard of the Dark Goddess. She's supposed to be this really bad chick that tries to unite forces of evil or something like that. There's supposed to be only one person who can stop her but I have no clue as to who that is. Sorry. ~ Anon
Willow thought back to all the passages she had read about the Dark Goddess. None of them said anything about her being evil. None of them said much about her at all really. Willow bit the inside of her lip, lost in her thoughts. She wondered if the Immortal Slayer was the one person who could stop the Dark Goddess. Not that it helped much, because Willow still had no clue who the Immortal Slayer or the Dark Goddess was. Willow skimmed down the page, finding the next message she wanted to look at.
~ The Immortal Slayer is supposed to be able to stop the Dark Goddess. Only thing I know is that they both unite their respective forces and go at it. Only problem is there are a lot more vamps and demons than there are slayers. ~ Anon.
The message confirmed what Willow already thought, the Dark Goddess and the Immortal Slayer were enemies. Willow understood now why the Immortal Slayer had to unite all the slayers, but she still didn't see how it was possible. If the slayers are all strategically placed throughout the world, and no one really knows where all of them are located, then how could one person unite them? Something else had to be coming into play here. There was some loophole or some other way to get all these slayers together. Willow doodled on a sheet of paper, trying to get her thoughts to make sense. She just couldn't figure it out. Sighing, she went on to the next message.
~ The Dark Goddess is the next big thing to come along, and she's going to kick some ass. Whoever this Immortal Slayer is doesn't stand a chance. Besides, there's only one slayer, so what can two slayers do against an army of vamps and demons? Good luck finding help. Ha Ha. ~ Vamp
Willow sighed again. That one was cordially signed, she thought to herself. According to that message Willow figured the Immortal Slayer should be someone who wasn't already called as a slayer. She knew who to rule out now, but unfortunately that didn't narrow down the choices very much. Looking over her scribbled notes and doodles, Willow realized what a daunting task lay ahead of her and knew she wasn't going to be able to figure this one out alone.
With that thought in mind she decided to head over to the mansion where Angel stayed. It wasn't quite yet dark, so they would have plenty of time to talk tonight. She was hoping he would shed some light on the whole thing.
***
"Um, Angel? Are you here?" Willow called out as she knocked lightly on the huge door. She always felt overwhelmed at the size of the place. It was silly, but she still couldn't help feeling like she might lose herself whenever she was around the mansion.
"Willow. Come on in." Angel called, standing in the entrance of the hallway. As he was wont to do, he observed Willow's mannerisms, trying to decide why she was there. Since she seemed more nervous than usual, he figured something was up.
"Oh, Hi! Uh, I was wondering if you could help me with something?" Willow asked, her whole body fidgeting. She quickly took a seat on the couch, trying to calm herself. She couldn't understand why she was so nervous; going to Angel for help was something she actually did quite often. Although since he and Buffy had broken up Willow's visits had become more infrequent. As she was trying to figure out the best way to broach the subject, Angel saved her by stating the most probable reason.
"A new prophecy?" Angel prodded, saying no more than what was needed.
"Yeah, it's a new prophecy. About the Immortal Slayer, have you heard of it?" Willow asked, though she could tell he had by the look on his face. Angel was surprised by what she had said, but tried not to show it. Willow found the resulting face to be rather cute.
"What exactly do you know about this Immortal Slayer?"
"All I really know is that this Immortal Slayer is going to unite all the slayers to fight off something. You do know there's a whole gaggle of slayers, don't you? Anyways, I think that something may be the Dark Goddess. I've been doing research on her for Giles. She's supposed to unite a bunch of people too, but according to a post on the website they're all demons and vampires. So she's the bad guy and the other one's the good guy and I think they're gonna duke it out." Willow quickly said, noting that Angel didn't seem surprised by any of this. "I haven't told anyone else. I'm not sure how Buffy would react when she found out there were other slayers, and I haven't been able to talk to Giles yet without Buffy around."
Angel slowly nodded. "I follow all of that except for the website. Care to enlighten me?"
"Okay, but you're going to tell me what you know." Willow said with her resolve face firmly in place. Angel quickly turned away as a small smile crept up in amusement at her determination.
"I created a website called Slayers Anonymous so people could talk about vampires and demony-stuff anonymously. I didn't know there were any other slayers at the time. I didn't find that out until later. The website's really more of a big message board at the moment. It's not all that great, but it's kinda cool. And that's how I learned that the Dark Goddess is bad. From people posting on there. Okay, your turn."
"That really isn't the most reliable source, is it?"
"What? The website? Well, no, not really. That's why I haven't told Giles about it yet. Buffy and Xander would probably know by now, but they've been busy with other things."
Angel took in the hurt look on her face and the disappointment she tried to hide.
"The website sounds cool, just be careful with it. Here's what I know. The Immortal Slayer has also been called the Universal Slayer. As the story goes, they're the same person. She will unite the other fourteen slayers of the world. I don't know how, but from what I've found out I don't believe it to be literal. I don't think the slayers are actually going to meet each other. I don't even know that all of them will know what's going on. I think you're right about the Dark Goddess being evil, I've heard that she and the Universal Slayer will face off and there will be a battle ranging all over the world. I don't know how."
"I found a reference to a Universal One earlier, and wondered how it tied in with the Immortal Slayer and the Dark Goddess. If they're the same person, that makes a lot more sense." Willow sighed in frustration as she realized this puzzle was no where close to being solved. "Well, it's more than I had to begin with. I still need to talk to Giles, and I'll see what else I can find out on my own. Thanks for everything." Willow stood, preparing to leave.
"I'll see what I can find out from Whistler. Maybe I'll go talk to Willy too. You mind if I walk you home?"
"Uhh," Willow began giving Angel a quizzical look, "There's really no need. Vampires have been scarce lately. Plus, bother. As in I wouldn't want to be one."
Grabbing his coat from the back of a chair Angel shrugged it as he took in the girl, "Willow, you're not a bother. Besides, I've got that visit to pay to Willy's anyway."
"If you're sure it's not out of the way…"
"No, not at all." He responded while pulling open the door and waiting for her to pass through first.
Willow gave him one last questioning look as she ducked out into the night air. She decided having Angel's company on the walk would be pleasant, and besides it would give her more time to pick his brain about the Immortal Slayer.