“Would anyone mind terribly if I went and hid behind something?”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Xander,” Giles said over his shoulder. He was using a strip of dried salmon jerky to convince Ariel to sit still on the worktable, her soiled sealskin around her shoulders the way it had been when Willow had first found her.
“No problem,” Xander said cheerfully.
After Buffy had left to find Angel, they had moved operations to the chemistry lab, in the hopes that Dr. Lee wouldn’t think to hunt for them there, if he came back. Besides, while Willow was pretty sure she had the right spell, and the right spell components, any further mishaps here could be explained away as legitimate experiments if the results lingered until Monday. The spate of particularly bad smells in the library was starting to raise more questions than usual.
Plus, Giles was worried about his books. It was difficult to get the smell of iron sulfide out of parchment.
“Well, here goes . . . something,” Willow muttered, stepping up to the table.
Her tee shirt was untucked from the waistband of her skirt, and she was barefoot. Next to her, Giles was also barefoot, his jacket off and his shirt undone. This part should have been skyclad, according to the spell book, completely naked, but Giles had firmly drawn the line at that. Unfastening everything seemed the best compromise.
Oz and Xander backed away to the far wall, unwilling to leave, but not wanting to be in the potential line of fire. Willow glanced once at Giles, then raised her hands, palms up, and chanted:
“In your truest form I conjure you.”
One palm tipped, scattering a handful of colored salts onto the top of Ariel’s head. The selkie tried to look up, to see what it was, but Giles’s hand cupped her chin, keeping her still.
“In your truest form I cleanse you.”
The other palm tipped, and a shower of glimmering dust fell, sparkling in the fluorescent lights and catching in Ariel’s hair and eyelashes.
“In your truest form I release you.”
Willow brought both hands together, then down slowly, smoothing the spell elements into Ariel’s hair, and down into the skin, pressing firmly. Then she closed her eyes, concentrating on the rest of the spell, her lips moving silently as she traced the remaining steps of the modified changeling spell.
Ariel whined deep in her throat, but remained still under Giles’s hand. The skin twitched slightly under Willow’s hand, a hazy glow forming in her palm, and drifting out to cover Ariel’s shoulders, gathering over the surface of the sealskin.
“It’s working . . .” Oz said in a whisper. Xander nodded, his nose wrinkling slightly as some of the spell dust reached them on a current from the school’s ventilation system.
“Aegir, look upon your child with favor.
“Aegir, look upon your child with love.
“Release the bonds of human making.
“Release her to—”
“Haaa-chooo!”
Willow squeaked, Oz started, and Ariel leaped forward off the table, directly into Giles’s arms. The glow burst like a soap bubble, and Watcher and selkie both fell over backward, landing on the tile floor with a loud and painful-sounding crash.
Xander, his hand covering his offended nose, blushed a deep, unattractive red. “Sorry.”
“Xander!” Willow snapped, whirling toward him, her hands still coated with the faint shimmer of magickal residue. “We almost had it! Next time, I swear . . .”
“Willow, enough,” Giles said from the floor. “At least we know that we’re on the right track. Ariel?” he added, struggling back to his feet. “Are you all right? Uh . . . follain?”
The selkie, huddled on the ground, was sniffing anxiously at her skin. She turned large, pitiful eyes up at the Watcher, and said something in Gaelic that Willow guessed could only be, “It didn’t work.”
“Almost, child. Almost. Next time,” Giles continued, turning to Willow, “we really must consider using sea salt, not rock salt.”
Willow sighed. “Yeah. We both missed that one. I guess the health food store would—”
“Giles!”
Oz’s call was cut off as he was hurled to the floor. The thing attacking him was almost twice his height, but the same mass; slender and wiry, shaped sort of like an eel, all sinew and streamlined muscle. But it didn’t move so well, tumbling to the floor with the human, unable for a second to untangle itself. It paused long enough for a quick sniff, thin lips drawn back in a sneer, then scrambled over the boy, heading straight for Xander. Behind the first intruder, more forms crowded in the doorway.
Awkward movements, Giles noted, even as his body went into adrenaline overdrive. Despite their strength and viciousness, they’re not used to being on completely dry land. Right now, that’s to our advantage. Perhaps our only advantage.
Ariel! The selkie was the weakest of them all. If they were truly pack animals, they would go for the easiest kill first . . .
“Willow! Protect Ariel!”
The witch hastily pushed the terrified girl behind her, and sketched ritual gestures in the air. Magic sparkled from her fingers, enhanced by the spell ingredients still on her skin. Bright blue lines of protection encircled the two girls, moving with them as they backed out of the way. A simple distraction spell, Giles recognized, and not one that would hold up under direct attack, but it should keep them unnoticed. He hoped.
Meanwhile, Xander was doing remarkably well against the merrows who had tried to corner him against a lab table, snatching up a stool and breaking it over a green head. The merrow crumpled, and Giles thought, Good lad. His endless lectures on using whatever was to hand had taken root in at least one of his students. The Watcher-trained brain that never shut down noted that the stool had broken nicely into stakesized pieces, as well.
Three of the creatures were trying to get Xander, and one was poking at Oz—
And that leaves one for me.
“Wonderful,” Giles said.
Bring the fight to the enemy. Grabbing a handful of the spell components, he moved forward into the fray.
* * *
“On the count of three,” Buffy murmured to Angel as they watched the solitary vampire pass in front of them.
“One . . .”
Angel leaped onto the vampire’s back, taking him down, face first onto the sidewalk.
“Three,” Buffy said, getting up and walking to where the two demons struggled. “Want some help?” she asked sweetly.
“No. I got it.”
Angel finally managed to subdue his fiercely squirming target, holding him still on the ground. Her un-boyfriend, Buffy saw, had vamped out during the struggle, and two ridged expressions glared at each other until the pinned demon looked away.
“What you want, Slayer-toy?” he asked, his voice a rumbling growl. “Stake me, or let me go. I don’t have time to chat tonight.”
“Gee, I’m hurt. Now, what’s so different about tonight?”
But that was apparently all the demon planned to share with them.
Angel shifted a little, adjusting his grip for long-term comfort, and noticed something on the shirt of his captive.
“Buffy. Look.”
The Slayer leaned over, careful to keep herself just out of reach, should Angel’s grip slip, and studied the dark green splotch Angel was indicating.
“Ooo, someone’s been playing rough. Merrow blood’s tough to get out, too.”
The demon hissed, showing his fangs, but his eyes were suddenly sharply alert. “Merrows. Is that what they’re called?”
Slayer and vampire exchanged a quick glance, then Buffy shrugged. Might as well tell him what we know. Weird though it seems, we’re fighting on the same team. Too bad Spike’s not in town, him at least I could sort of figure out . . .
“Merrows, yeah. Deep-sea flesh eaters. Horning in on your territory a little, huh? That’s gotta sting. Not to mention the fact that they obviously don’t think you’re all too scary.”
The demon lost it at that.
“We will drain their undrinkable blood till it flows back to the sea! Then we will throw their shredded bodies in as well! This town is ours!”
Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. “Gee, what were you in life, a B-movie actor? What, you’re going to fight it out until there’s only one side left standing? Oh yeah, that’s real practical. Typical demon thought process: if it moves, attack.”
“Pot, kettle,” Angel said, sotto voce.
“I think he’s told us everything he knows,” Angel went on, hiding a faint smile at her aggrieved tone.
“I think you’re right.” Only Angel’s hyper reflexes kept him from tumbling forward as the body he was restraining turned to dust.
“Sorry, my bad.” She frowned. “You think he was serious? About the whole blood bath thing?”
“Yes. Demons tend to be short-tempered about being crowded.”
“I’ve noted that, yeah. Pity I can’t just let them wipe each other out. But they aren’t going to stop with each other, are they?”
“I doubt it. And if the merrows win—”
“Then we’ve got people-eaters who aren’t stopped by sunlight. Right. Come on. Giles and Willow were going to give the spell another shot, so they’ll still be in the library. I want their brains in on this. We’re going to stop it before it becomes a full-fledged turf war. Somehow.”
* * *
Xander was panting and sweaty, flailing about at the merrows with whatever came to hand, but he wasn’t scared. All right, not really grossed-out scared.
I’ve seen better special effects on the late night Monster Movie. He slapped a merrow across the face, hard, with one of the stool legs.
Out of the corner of his eye, Xander saw Oz getting to his knees, then diving for the merrow guarding him, toppling it to the floor. Willow was nowhere to be seen, neither was Ariel. Maybe they got away.
On the other side of the room, Giles dodged one merrow, ducking under its reach, then brought his hand down hard on another merrow’s back. Dust rose, Giles’s mouth moved in some kind of silent chant, and sparks danced along the creature’s scales. It screamed, then fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
Supernatural creatures none, magic-using Watcher, one. Yay us.
“Hey!”
Cordelia barreled into the room, stopped short, and started rooting in her bag. What’s she doing here? Xander wondered wildly. What, does she just lurk until I’m in trouble, so she can see me get killed? After a second that seemed like a lifetime to him, she snatched out a small cylinder and aimed it at the merrow nearest her.
“Eat spray, fishface!” she said, and hit the button, aiming a steady stream of Mace into its face.
The creature fell back, clawed hands scrabbling at its eyes. A high-pitched keening filled the air, and Oz almost fell again, hands over his ears as it hit registers only he of all the humans could hear.
The merrows still standing turned as one to stare at Cordelia, who backed up against the doorframe, unsure which one to spray next. Whatever she did, it would leave six to attack.
“Help?”
A faint “eeep” came from Willow’s corner of the room, and the merrows turned with one accord, the distraction spell broken.
Giles rubbed his hands together, hoping for more of the spell dust. But there was nothing left.
“Damn,” he muttered. Then Xander’s shout made him lift his hand just in time to see one of the chair legs coming his way. He grabbed it, ignoring the splinters digging into his palm, and swung for the nearest green head.
Seven against four. Under normal circumstances, the humans wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Since when, Giles thought, have circumstances in Sunnydale ever remotely been normal?
Taking advantage of the merrows’ awkwardness, Oz rolled along the floor, playing bowling ball to the merrows’ pins. He knocked two over, taking them out of the fray for a few essential seconds, while the others prepared to charge again.
“Willow!” Cordelia waved wildly at her, then at the open closet door: a possible hiding spot for Ariel. She sprang back with a startled “Ewww!” as a merrow and Xander fell at her feet, scrabbling wildly.
The merrow opened its mouth, preparing to deliver a nasty bite to Xander’s forearm—but instead got a Ferragamo pump in its mouth.
“Ow! And those were new shoes, too!”
Xander brought the chair leg he was still clutching up into the merrow’s rib cage, forcing it in with the strength of desperation. The scaled body froze, oozing green blood from the jagged wound, then slumped forward, knocking Xander back down to the ground.
“Guess I hit something he needed. Cordy! Behind you!”
Oz tackled that one, bringing it back down to the floor, and Giles stepped in to finish the kill with one quick, efficient blow with an intact chair. The remaining four creatures took one look at the changed odds and made a break for the door.
“No.” Giles stopped Oz when he would have followed. “Let them go. They’re deep-sea creatures: In the dark, their eyesight is better. They’d have the advantage again.”
“No problem,” Oz said, and sank to the floor beside Willow and Ariel, grinning and panting.
* * *
“Guys!”
Buffy skidded into the library, stopping when she saw that the room was empty.
“Guys?”
She took a tentative sniff of the air.
“No ickiness in the air. So . . . no spells? No gang.”
She looked around again, half expecting them to be hiding somewhere. “Giles? Hello?”
Then she spun, listening intently. At night, sound traveled clearly down hallways. It didn’t take more than a second to recognize the sounds of a fight, and the location as somewhere nearby.
They’re not here, a fight is there, therefore, thus . . .
The thought wasn’t halfway finished before she was careening down the hallway, letting her instincts lead her to the science wing.
* * *
Xander lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. “Ow?” He tried it again, this time with feeling. “Ow.”
“Y’know,” a voice said from the hallway, “I’m starting to feel utterly unneeded.”
The gang looked up from doctoring their various wounds to see Buffy standing in the hallway, her arms crossed, a mock-petulant look on her face.
“Buffy! We kicked merrow butt!” Willow said triumphantly.
“Looks like some of the kicking was mutual. Everyone okay?”
“Ow,” Xander said again, but managed to get up, slowly.
Oz, sitting with his back propped up against a table, managed a weak wave. “Been worse,” the musician said. “I’ll live to not talk about it.”
“That’s of the good. Now what happened?”
“As near as I can tell,” Giles began, then winced as Willow put a disinfectant on the cut across his forehead. “Sea magic,” Giles continued, stopping her from applying a Band-Aid as well, “when performed in terrestrial surroundings, has a, um, a sympathetic magical reaction which creates—”
“What he means,” Xander said, “is that our brilliant spellcasters here called them to us.”
“Well. In short . . . yes.”
“But it was working!” Willow said, determined to find something good in the situation. “The spell, I mean. Until Xander distracted me.” She turned to the Watcher, concerned. “Which means, when we substitute sea salt, to give it the extra resonance we need . . .”
Giles nodded. “They’ll come more quickly, drawn even more strongly.”
“And head straight for Ariel again,” Cordelia predicted.
Buffy, following the conversation as best she could, sighed. “Great.”
Giles nodded, putting his glasses back on. “Selkies would be a logical food source for merrows in their, ah, natural habitat. And, too, it would appear that they are motivated in part by spite. Ariel’s ability to walk on land and live in the sea at will must irk them. We have to assume that they will not simply forget about her.”
“So, what,” Xander asked, “we stash her somewhere until this is over?”
“No,” Buffy said firmly, before Giles could respond. “We don’t. We get her out of town, now.”
“Buffy, while I’m sure—”
“No, Giles. Maybe it’s the magic, maybe they just want a taste of home. But I’m not going to leave her helpless, especially if . . .” Buffy paused for just an instant, then continued firmly, “If something happens to you or Willow, she’d be stuck here forever. Besides,” she added when he still hesitated, “I don’t like having to work around someone who’s completely helpless in a fight.”
“Not good to have kids in the line of fire,” Xander agreed. “Very distracting.”
He suddenly straightened, painfully, his expression cold. Which, on Xander, generally meant only one thing. “Speak of distracting.”
Buffy turned as Angel came into the lab. He stopped short, seeing them sprawled in various stages of exhaustion, his gaze flicking over each one and coming to rest on Buffy.
“You’re all right!” The vampire amended that quickly to, “You’re all all right.”
“Shouldn’t we be?” Xander asked.
Ignoring him, Angel said to Buffy, “I saw the merrows going into the sewers. I would have followed them, to find out where they’re denned up, but then I realized they were coming from the school . . .”
And you panicked, Buffy silently finished for him. “We’re all right, Angel. All of us. The merrows got the worst of it. But I think this concludes today’s game.”
“Merrows zero, humans one,” Oz said. “I like that score.”
“They gonna wait on a rematch?” Xander asked. “Or do we have to go into sudden death overtime? Okay, bad wording, forget I said that.”
“They’d go back to the ocean,” Angel said. “From what we heard tonight, there’s only one group of them, following a leader.”
“Like a school of fish?” Willow asked.
Giles nodded. “That would make sense. It would also explain why we haven’t been completely overrun, as of yet. If there is only one, ah, school.”
“Alpha-pack system,” Oz observed. “Infighting’s a possibility.”
“So the leader will have to keep the rest of the school happy, or risk his position.” Buffy thought it through. “That makes sense. So first, they’re going to find food, probably fish, something that’s not going to fight back too much. Then rest, regain their strength before attacking again.”
Giles nodded. “A few hours of sleep would not be amiss for us, either,” he suggested. “I don’t want to attempt this spell again without a chance to recuperate. And you need to rest as well, Buffy, if you are to convince this school that they don’t want to tangle with you.”
“Right. So we try again in a couple of hours,” Buffy continued, “those of us who . . .” glancing at Angel, “are sort of morning people, anyhow. After everyone’s gotten some sleep.”
Willow nodded. “I’ll get the salt, and then we’ll be able to send Ariel home.”
Ariel made a yelping, happy sound, and Willow grinned down at her. “You know that word now, huh?”
“I would suggest some additional precautions, however,” Giles cut in. “We’ll perform the spell itself on the beach. Then, assuming that the merrows do try to come after her, her escape route will be suited to her natural abilities.”
“And then I can go after the merrows,” Buffy said firmly. “Bad enough having one set of supernatural bottom-feeders hanging around town. Two, and I’ll never get downtime.”
Angel nodded. “I’ll see what I can do about keeping the violence to a minimum tonight. But I can’t promise more than a few hours.”
“Then that’s what we’ll take,” Buffy said grimly.