GILES: Ashes To Ashes

Well, it's been a while since I wrote anything, so to quote the great Michael Jordan in his motion picture debut....let's see if I remember how to do this.


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Even inside the cocoon of his vehicle, Giles could hear the wind howling through the trees, whipping around the mist-enshrouded hill as if it were a thing alive, both hungry and angry.
What should have been a gentle drizzle turned out to be a storm, with wind-driven raindrops the size of .44 Magnum bullets pelting away at his car. The din this created was something akin to rough ocean swells crashing mightily against rock and beach.
One could scarce see out of the windows now. Common sense said to wait, it couldn't last forever after all. In a few minutes it would doubtless have eased up enough to make what he was about to do more pleasant.

Pleasant? Giles smirked to himself at that. He knew full well there would be nothing pleasant about it, even if it were a perfect summer's day. Truth be told, he actually welcomed this foul weather. It seemed somehow appropriate for the task at hand.
With a sigh he placed his umbrella on the passenger seat, then reached over to the back to retrieve a large canvas bag...resting it on his lap. He pulled his collar up around his throat and stepped out into the world.

Immediately the wind pulled at his body, surprising him with it's strength and chilling his flesh even through the thick wool coat that was violently lifted up and snapping around him.

Gently, he pulled his glasses off and tucked them into his coat as he squinted up into the drenched sky, allowing the cleansing waters to impact against his face and saturate him. Perhaps a good soaking would help snap him out of this lucid "madness".

No.


Ahh well, it was worth a try.

He turned and began to walk, his eyes fixing on a distant spot just beyond the hill. His pace quickened as he drew nearer to the old, abandoned cemetery...and with each step he grew more and more convinced that he was about to do the right thing.
If it meant his death, then so be it....for the end result would be all that mattered.

He shut his eyes tightly and spoke aloud into the deluge, hoping that his words might somehow pierce the veil and carry over to the ears of the woman he still loved....

"Jenny, your suffering ends tonight. I will not fail you a second time............"



to be continued.....


:einstein:

It's about time OM, 🙂 and I have to say, so far I'm liking this best of all the stuff I've seen you present here. That's not a back-handed compliment, or a dig at your previous stuff (which I liked). That's just the way I feel.

You are going to finish this one, right? You can't just leave us in the rain, on the road with Giles. That would be cruel.

Oh my goodness! You know, a couple of weeks ago, when you sent me the first couple of paragraphs, you said nothing about Jenny! How dare you? 😛

Mind you, things like this is why I love you and your writing so much! Can't wait to really get into this story. You better finish this one!

Loving it so far...

I like where this is going, I think! You've set the mood nicely...dark and stormy, salvation promised...more soon, my friend, is good!

PS: Notice I am still avie-less...the last hold out...

I think what I'm liking about this one in particular OM, is you seem to have found your voice. I don't know, it's like you feel more comfortable, or something.

Agreed, N4H. It doesn't feel forced, just relaxed and loose! I am looking forward to more!

A good start OM...don't keep us waiting too long now...

More, more, more!!! Wish I could write half as well!!

I'd forgotten all about this dusty old thing. 😛
A very belated thank you to you guys for the comps on this. I just wished I'd had the necessary focus to continue with it. Perhaps one day.

But now that I'm on here, let me take this opportunity to ask for some advice from you guys, if I may? It would help greatly in my continuing this.

Now, even though this tale is a sort of "Elseworlds" type of story, which means it doesn't necessarily have to stick with canon....I still want to stay as true to the character of Rupert Giles as I possibly can.

In the story I began....Giles is about to unleash some powerful magic to get to Jenny. (Yep, Angelus killed her in this reality as well). My question is, would Giles be at all capable of putting the world in danger to save someone he loves? (Jenny in particular).

I've already posed this question to our beloved Jacklyn, and she came back with this:

* I have a question for you in return for your Giles question: In "I Only Have Eyes For You", didn't Giles' need to believe that Jenny was the ghost haunting the school almost get the Scoobs killed? His morals aren't so clear when it comes to her. Plus, he has a profound ability to believe he can handle any magick he touches. Would he put the world in danger for her, probably not. But would he truly believe the world was in danger if he was the one controlling the situation? Probably not. *

Do you guys agree with that?

That question becomes more complicated the more you think about it. My first impulse is to agree with Jacklyn, then I remember how he flipped on Willow for bringing back Buffy. On the other hand he did compromise his morals a bit when he killed Ben. He showed he will go his own way and get tricky in spite of the feelings of even those closest to him when he tried to kill Spike. He is full of contradictions. He is comfortable with his position in the chain of traditional authority, but he will rebel against it, as he has done with the watcher council.

Then there's that whole power and control theme you see throughout BTVS. If you go there as Jacklyn suggests there may be a way. For example if Giles acquires power, and thinks he is in control of it, perhaps he might be corrupted into compromising his judgement. Like what if his original intent is more communication than resurrection, but once the power is in his hands he gets other ideas.

Edit

One thing which might fit in here is Giles faith in his books, and arcane knowledge. Could he find a loophole?

To answer your question you have to give a little more info. What is the date for this story? If it is set early after Jenny's death then Gile's is not thinking properly and is blinded by selfishness. If the years have past then obviously he understands the implicaitons and has researched the ramifications. Which would contradict his personel experience's with borrowed powers when he went toe to toe with Willow and cheapen the result that a mere mortal, Xander, beat evil.
So depending on the time frame of this story will dictate the mindset of Giles, IMO.

Sorry for the delay in response. I wanna thank you guys for your most excellent input.

The fact that Giles is capable of contradicting himself makes it much easier to do this.
Looking for a loophole in his books? Nope. Giles sought something specific in his research, but it wasn't a loophole he was looking for. He basically wants to open a gate....and enter through it. The thing is, it's to a really bad place, and if done incorrectly it could spill it's contents. Giles does understand this and has wrestled with it at length, but he feels he has to do this, as the Giles of this otherverse hasn't totally gotten over Jenny's death, and his recent acqusition of knowledge as to where her soul has ended up, and what she's going through, is more than he can handle.

Yes, perhaps I should explain all this in better detail, as Titan suggested.

Firstly, the stories that I write take place in a sort of "Elseworlds" type of setting. This is more a device to allow me to get away with not sticking to canon. My understanding of Buffyverse characters is not as strong as those here who write REAL Buffyverse stories, so it is necessary for me to go this route. Nonetheless I try to stick to the characters and the past events of the mainstream Buffyverse as closely as I can, only deviating from that in certain places.

Giles in this otherverse does not run the Watcher's Council, and Sunnydale hasn't been destroyed....at least not yet. He's back in England and has his own adventures with his own set of new companions. This happens not too long after Willow goes back to America after recovering from her "Dark Willow" phase. (that should answer the question as to where in the timeline Giles is at the point in my story).
As a consequence of the recent sitch with Willow, he has taken up his studies of magic anew, to be better prepared for future threats. He doesn't plan to become a great wielder of magic....he more or less would be on a level akin to the Vertigo Comics character "John Constantine", as suggested long ago by our own Buffy Boards Moderator Mr. Pointy.

The story I started comes after the events of a follow-up story I never actually got around to writing (to the epilogue of my "Seventh Hell" story, found elsewhere in the Watcher's Diaries).
In that unwritten tale, the villain of "Seventh Hell", known only as Mistress, taunts Giles with the information of the whereabouts of Jenny's soul during their final battle...and even SHOWS him what's happening to her...which slightly messes him up and leads him to his present course.

I'm rambling now, sorry.....was that too much info? Lol.

Thanks for the background info.
This is a Giles that has methodically researched and has prepared himself for what lies ahead. His head is on straight and he is not trying to heal his wounded heart over Jenny's death.
Now not to be pushy but with that description work the keyboard and post some chapters mister! lol

I think I get it. What's really motivating Giles, even more than his desire to have Jenny back is a compassionate need to release her from unjust torment. Is that correct? Sounds good, if it's clarified in the story so we feel his justification. I do think we need to get past the idea if it's not OK in Giles' mind for Willow to bring back Buffy in season 6, how does he justify doing pretty much the same thing himself. Hey, he could even flash back, and have that arguement with himeself.

Here's something though... Willow did use a similar arguement to the eternal torment one, to justify resurrecting Buffy. Season 6 is pretty much the same in this alternate reality, right?

From the way you're describing it I think you're saying Giles knowledge of Jenny in torment is a for sure thing. With Willow, she was going, "what if..."

Just do it man!lol I mean Giles going down a rocky grey area road just sounds good, and i know it may contradict his lecturing Willow on raising Buffy but what if that was the reason why he did...? cos he has been been there..?
and that would explain why he reacted the way he did.Sorry didn't reply soon just didn't see this! (and there was me moaning about lack of replys lol)
I am looking forward to you continuing.

Spirit_Of_Fred agrees: it's an awesome story!!! great imagery! if it had been more a surprise what will happen, it might have been cooler cause i love surprises, but now im just excited to read more! 🙂

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Thank you again.

So, you feel I tipped my hand by mentioning Jenny too early? You may be right....I do tend to do things like that in my overzealousness to keep the story constantly moving forward. But hey, I'm not a real writer so those things are gonna happen quite a bit.
Thank you for your input, SOF. :: tu ::

no problem! and this whole part was more the spoilerish part:

Old Master III said:

In that unwritten tale, the villain of "Seventh Hell", known only as Mistress, taunts Giles with the information of the whereabouts of Jenny's soul during their final battle...and even SHOWS him what's happening to her...which slightly messes him up and leads him to his present course.

Click to expand...

Old Master III said:

Giles sought something specific in his research, but it wasn't a loophole he was looking for. He basically wants to open a gate....and enter through it. The thing is, it's to a really bad place, and if done incorrectly it could spill it's contents. Giles does understand this and has wrestled with it at length, but he feels he has to do this, as the Giles of this otherverse hasn't totally gotten over Jenny's death, and his recent acqusition of knowledge as to where her soul has ended up, and what she's going through, is more than he can handle.

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he he, you could use spoiler tags 😛!

but again, i dont mind 😀.

Spirit_Of_Fred said:

Spirit_Of_Fred agrees: should we be expecting more anytime soon (i hope)...? 🙂

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You betcha, little lady.
I just gotta wrap my melon head around some more ideas. Keep watching this thread.