Revelations of Vengeance

Part 9

“Giles, who’s this Larabee person? Why are both you and Anya so scared of him?”

“And why’d you let Wills go with him, Anya?”

“We’ve been quiet and patient since we left the airport and our best friend in some dark, wiggy guy’s hands. You’ve had your glass of ‘brain-number’, now answer our questions!”

“In point of fact, you lot have been neither patient nor silent since we left the airport.” Giles snapped, putting down his empty glass rather forcefully. “And if Willow left of her own free will-“ Anya nodded emphatically “-then there is nothing we can do.”

“Who is this guy, Giles?” asked Buffy, still not accepting any of the current situation.

“Simply put, Chris Larabee is Death.” began the former Watcher. “He is the most powerful magic user ever recorded, and has surrounded himself with others like him - dark and dangerous.”

“He’s into black magic?” asked Dawn, trembling slightly at the thought of Willow in his hands.

“Very heavily.” responded Giles.

“Then we have to get her out of there!” proclaimed Buffy, seconded by Xander and Dawn.

Anya, however, looked less than impressed.

“Where the hell did you get your information from? The cover of an Anne Rice novel?” the vengeance demon demanded. “Or do you make it up as you go along? No wonder the Watcher’s Council is in decline.” The last mumbled under her breath.

“I beg your pardon!” exclaimed an affronted Watcher.

“You Watcher’s spend so much time focussing on vampires that you have no idea what goes on in demon circles.”

“What is that suppose to mean!?” demanded Giles.

“It means ‘of course’ the vampire community sees him as evil incarnate - he decimated one of their oldest clans!” Anya was just beginning a good rant. She might be more scared of Larabee than D’Hoffryn on a really bad day, but he’d been good to the demon community, a group she was again a part of.

“He may be dark, glowery, bad-tempered and have dabbled in black magic a time or two, but if that makes him the ‘devil made flesh’ then sign black-haired, evil Willow up, too!”

“Anya-“

“Chris Larabee may be considered ‘Death’ by vampires, but most demons, and quite a few humans, call him ‘the Guardian’. He literally holds the future of the entire demon world in the palm of his hand.” the vengeance demon finished.

“But still, his unprovoked attack-“ argued Giles, only to be cut off again.

“‘Unprovoked’ my ass!”

“Anya . . .” Xander tried to interrupt. It was the first word spoken by any of the young people, too stunned watching the argument escalate between the Watcher and the blonde demon.

“Tell me you didn’t want to dust every vampire in this town when Angelus killed Jenny Calendar!” she challenged him.

All movement in the room stopped at that.

No one had brought up the deceased gypsy in a long while, knowing how much Giles still grieved for the woman.

“Chris Larabee lost his wife and young son to a deliberate and brutal vampire attack, and in retaliation massacred most of the vampires in his town. A few years later, when he found out it was all due to an obsessed Master vampire who hadn’t wanted any competition for his affections, he hunted and killed every minion and childe of the Order of Olavia.”

“Is that what happened to them?” Giles murmured speculatively. The mystery behind the disappearance of the clan had the Council confounded.

“Is he dangerous?” asked Dawn, speaking up. “To Willow, I mean.”

“He’s claimed her as blood.” Anya explained. “No one will dare go after her, because if she doesn’t blast them into the next dimension, Larabee and his men will make them wish she had.”

“A-and the demon community accepts him?” asked Giles, his mind still not processing that fact.

“Yes.” answered Anya, as if it were the simplest of questions, but went on to explain. “When he finally pulled himself out of his grief, he decided no one else would suffer as he had, and put wards like no ones business around the city. Vampires are exclusively banned, and anyone who tries to pass through them, comes under the watchful eye of Larabee and his men. The city is treated like humans would treat a church, with powerful magic users as the bouncers.”

“How would that-“

“Don’t you see, Giles? We can live regular lives, without the fear of humans hunting us. Chris Larabee created a safe haven where demons can make lives for themselves in the human world, without the fear of discovery.”

“Does it work?” asked Dawn, curious as to the place Willow would be living for the next few months.

“Yes. Most of the clans and tribes have declared it a Sanctuary, the wards and his presence simply reinforce it. It is the only thing that has ever united the demon population.”

“I still don’t like-“

“You can ‘not like it’ all you want.” Anya interrupted the Slayer. “It won’t change the fact that if you violate Sanctuary in some brain-fried attempt to bring Willow back to where ‘you’ think she should be, every demon species will be out for your blood! Slayer be damned!”

“Is there some rule banning Slayers from Sanctuary?” asked Giles, never having heard of that particular amendment.

“It’s more of an unwritten rule; an implication.” answered the blonde demon. “In this particular case, Buffy would need permission to enter the city.”

“Permission? Why wou-“

“And even if Larabee, and the various heads of the demon clans did allow her in, she wouldn’t be able to go more than two feet before she has a death sentence on her head because she violated Sanctuary!”

“I wouldn’t violate Sanctuary - whatever that it . . .” defended Buffy.

“Right! Because you have such good impulse control when it comes to your violent tendencies.” taunted Anya, though a part of her would love to see the Slayer in Denver. She hadn’t seen a decent blood hunt in more than two centuries.

“I don’t have impulse control problems!”

The look Anya sent the blonde Slayer clearly conveyed her disbelief. Not that Anya could blame her - the Slayer was made to kill ‘what goes bump in the night’, and Buffy did her job very well. However, Denver was a city ful of such creatures, where following her instincts would get her killed.

“Just let Willow do what she needs to do.” Anya told them. “Besides, Sanctuary means you can’t force Willow to leave against her will.”

“But what if this Larabee guy tries to hurt Willow?” asked Xander, his concern still for his friend who had lost so much already.

“He wouldn’t have extended his protection if he intended to hurt her. Besides, once inside the wards, the rules apply to him, too.”

With that, Anya decided her time was up. If they wouldn’t let Willow recover in peace after all she’d said, nothing would get them to leave it alone - except maybe Larabee in a rage.

As she was walking out the door in search of her own brand of vengeance, Giles’ voice paused her exit.

“You never mentioned the name of the city.”

Smirking in smug satisfaction, Anya ignored him, closing the door quietly behind her.

That’s right. She hadn’t.

End

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