Prompt 519 - Clone - Dragon's Phoenix - In a Corner of My Soul - BtVS

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Title: In a Corner of My Soul
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 519 - Clone
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1071
Note: Locked to members of Taming the Muse

Giles couldn't prepare for the real spell, the one that would trap Angelus' essence, until Buffy had left the building. Still her Slayer strength did allow her to be of use. He had her cart the library's main table off to one side, unobstructing the floor tiles set out as an octagon. Mystically a hexagon, having associations of distance and clear vision, would have been a more felicitous geometric figure but one worked with what one had.

To give himself time to prepare for the spell, Giles send Buffy out on an early patrol, telling her to return in two hours with the vampire. In his own office, out of sight from the main room, Giles laid out an octagon in salt and sat a scrying bowl in its center. Within that bowl he set one of a pair of magically attuned crystals, a chunk of ametrine. Combining amethyst, which would allow him to pull out part of Angelus' essence, and citrine, which would allow him to transmit that essence between the charged crystals, ametrine's association with the astrological sign of Gemini would allow Giles to twin Angelus' essence, to clone it in a sense. Part of Angelus' essence would be trapped in one piece of ametrine in the main room of the library while the other part would be transferred to the ametrine in Giles' office. If all went well, the vampire would never suspect that Giles had piece of his essence trapped within the crystal. By the time Buffy returned with Angelus, there was nothing left in the library's main room to indicate that the spell would do more than test whether or not the vampire had a soul.

“Giles, Angel. Angel, Giles.” The abruptness of Buffy's introductions suggested she was nervous about the spell.

The vampire fit the descriptions of Angelus that Giles had read in the Watchers' journals although none of his demonic menace came through. His almost sincere facade confirmed what Giles had read, that Angelus had the patience to play a long game.

When Giles asked him to sit in the center of the octagon, Angelus looked confused. “Why wouldn't you just perform the Revelation of Anubis?”

Damn. Giles hadn't realized that Angelus had any awareness of magic. “You can't expect me to trust a spell that is little more than a folk-charm, not with something as serious as whether one of the most vicious vampires in history has a soul. Obviously I must revert to the higher magics.”

The vampire had looked disturbed when Giles had called him vicious. His performance as a penitent with a soul was certainly outstanding. As Giles had hoped, the attack on his character had distracted him from a discussion of which spell Giles was invoking. The vampire had no more objections.

“Where do you want me?” Buffy asked.

“Outside of the sacred circle or, in this case, sacred octagon.” Giles gestured toward the figure laid out in darker tiles on the floor. “Never cross into or out of the circle while magic is being worked. It can unleash dangerous forces.”

“Okay.” She didn't sound entirely convinced but in this case the sacred circle was more supplementary than essential. It would help focus Angelus' essence and transfer it to the second crystal but wasn't actually necessary to hold the energy.

Angelus sat in lotus position in the center of the octagon. Giles, now knowing the vampire had an awareness of magic, performed three spells to dispel demonic influences. They were for show more than anything else, charms to distract the vampire from the true purpose of the working. Since Angelus was aware of the Revelation of Anubis spell, Giles used an older and more obscure charm, not Egyptian but Sumerian and something only a scholar would recognize.

“Peta mudutu shi.” The ametrine started glowing. Interesting. The vampire hadn't been lying about the soul.

Now that he'd captured some of Angelus' essence, he could double it and transfer part to the ametrite in his office. “Maharu abanyaruahhu abnu melammu libbu qamu ina etuti absu zeru babu.” Giles could only trust that the spell had worked. He made a big show of dispersing energies, hoping that it would keep Angelus from focusing on the pertinent part of the ritual.

Buffy, surprisingly, waited until he was done before speaking. “The stone's glowing. Does that mean he has a soul?”

“It does. The spell carved out a bit of his essence and trapped it in the crystal.”

“Told ya.” Buffy practically bounced on her feet which was more than a tad disconcerting. She obviously felt far more for the vampire than he'd imagined. Ah, well, the vampire's death would resolve that little issue.

Angelus, rising, grabbed the crystal and smashed it so hard against the floor that it not only shattered but left a dent in the wood. Giles fought to maintain a calm demeanor. The two crystals were still bound. The destruction of this one might have released Angelus' essence from the second crystal.

“Angel, what the hell?”

Giles replied before the vampire could. “The crystal held part of his soul. If it hadn't been destroyed it could have been used to damage him.”

“Sorry about the floor.” The vampire did look contrite. Giles suppressed a snort. Whom did the beast think he was fooling?

“Once Buffy's moved the table back, the damage won't be visible.”

Giles kept watch from the library doors, keeping an eye on the pair until they'd left the high-school. As he stepped into his office, he breathed a sigh of relief. The second ametrine crystal was glowing with Angelus' essence.

Giles spoke the words of the final spell. “Ati me peta babka. Talamu gug sibum ina ahisa masku manzazu abanyarahhu zeru sa akhkharu.” As the scrying bowl glowed, Giles could see an image of a beach, waves crashing against a shoreline. Chanted directions drew his viewpoint up, giving him an aerial view. It seemed the Amulet of Dominion, the amulet that would give him power over the line of Aurelius, was in southern California.

As Giles leaned in for a closer look, he could feel Eyghon's power rising within him. “No! Don't!” Giles caught a glimpse of a dark room and an identifying tag – 1914AG-672319 – before the crystal cracked into three pieces. Giles swore as he fell against the closed door of his office. Eyghon's power had destroyed the spell, had lost him Angelus' essence.