1148/Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ares

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ares
Date of Scene:	25 June 2017
Location:	Sunnydale, Bludhaven
Synopsis:	Buffy and Ares consult with Giles on how to solve the situation in Sunnydale
Cast of Characters:	Rupert Giles, Buffy Summers, Ares

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Rupert Giles has posed:
The library is in the school. The school is closed, since it's summer. So, in theory, the library would be closed. So, Giles should have relative privacy. Which is why there is music playing, a CD that seems to have some sort of Celtic tone to it, a band called The High Kings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QdbeM2JWYE Giles can be heard singing, "Nearly broken hearted, salute to father dear, KISS me darlin' mother, drank a pint of beer...." and there seems to be a bit of a bottle of half-finished cider at the edge of the table he's sitting at, a stack of books in front of him that's working his way through. He had on a full suit per usual, but his jacket is off and the tie loosened. Giles...gettin' on with his bad self.

Buffy Summers has posed:
This is what her life has become. School's out. She's on summer break. Yet here she is, going back to the high school.

The unfairness of it all isn't lost on Buffy as she leads the way into the building, through the door that is always left open for them. As she heads for the library with her guest following behind, she frowns at the sound of music coming from the library. It's loud enough to be heard in the hall. And it's not even good music. It's actually kind of frightening.

She slows a little as she recognizes the other voice raised with the music, her mouth falling open slightly as she pushes open the library door.

The vision of Giles drinking and singing along with...whatever that is...she will never forget it. It may be more horrifying than a purple vortex of doom creating Hoplites out of scraps of junk. Yeah, don't ask.

"Giles?!"

Ares has posed:
    It had all meant to be easy, a simple visit to this convention at the behest of his boss. And then as soon as he had pulled into the parking lot of that Denny's it all started to go south. First meeting that Buffy person who tried to stab him. Repeatedly. And then the monsters. Then Faith. Then more monsters. Then Buffy and Faith together being horrible to each other. Then more monsters. Then Angel and Spike being horrible to each other. And monsters.
    It was all a bit much so that by the time the last round of animate creatures were dispatched, the visage of John Aaron had been lost. No longer is he that somber calm featured man who speaks softly to those around him. No, first Buffy steps through the door and then /BANG!/ the wooden door slams open as a heavy fist crashes it to the side and through the doorway strides a tall glowering being in a plated set of armor that clings to his forearms, chest, and shins.
    A blazingly red angry gaze sweeps the surroundings, features hidden in shadow beneath the severe Spartan helm with the crested crimson plume. A sword larger than a man's leg hangs at his hip and a great axe is slung over one shoulder, yet every tensing of the man's gauntleted hands seems to indicate the desire of that tall armored creature to draw the weapons and lay about him.
    But then he pulls the helmet off roughly even as Buffy calls out, his own words lift as he points, "Is that him?"

Rupert Giles has posed:
The shout out, is enough to have Giles moving out of his chair and then of course, the slamming of the wooden door gets Giles moving more quickly. He springs to his feet, turning to face those coming in and he almost assuredly sends the bottle of cider off to the side, as it rolls, pouring a trail of some of the fluid onto the floor before it rolls off the edge and crashes nicely with a somewhat satisfying clink and chink sound as the glass breaks. Menaciingly wielding the first thing he could grab, Giles looks ready to mark something to death as the orange hiliter he had in his hand is held in the same fashion one might hold a dagger...though with slightly less efficient when it comes to doing much more than marking a person's acne spots should he end up in combat.

Realizing the ridicoulousness of his pose, and seeing the rather intense gaze of the shadowed eyes behind the helm, Giles does look to Buffy first then back to tall, dark and spooky, before looking back to his Slayer. "Buffy?" The question says it all when two have worked together this long. Why are you out so late? Who is this? What's going on? Who's going to buy me another cider? OK, that last one is probably not encapsulated in the question but given how many times his saying that name is followed by the phrase "Giles, I can explain...." it's likely that Giles is ready to cut right to that part.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Yeah, that's him. I think," Buffy says to Ares as she looks at the highlighter wielding watcher. She's going to have to ask about that for a weapon sometime. She doesn't think it would be very effective but she's killed a vampire with a number two pencil while studying for the SATs with Giles in a cemetery. Again, yeah, don't ask.

"Giles, I can explain..."

She motions to the armored ginormous figure at her side. "This is Ares. Yeah, that Ares. Which you probably can figure out by his rainbows and kittens demeanor. And since he came to town, all sorts of hell has been going on. Well, not exactly hell. Less demons, more mythology. I was going to come ask you how to kill him or banish him or whatever earlier but you weren't here."

She looks at Ares. "No offense."

Her gaze goes to Giles again. "But now it looks like this mess is because of his being all god stuff and the Hellmouth being here or something. I tried to call you, texted you and I've been looking for you for a while between battling..." Another glance to Ares. "What did you call them. Hiplits?"

Ares has posed:
    The tall warrior looks at Buffy as she speaks and his brow furrows, holding his words until he seems as if he's about to burst when he steps forwards and roars. "Enough of this inane chatter." He points at Giles with a hand shaped like a blade, as if issuing commands. "Your land is being invaded by a being of divine power who wishes me ill. Chances are he has come across this /hellmouth/ as you say and is exulting in its power. If it is Hades he will be growing used to it and shall strike in strength soon. If it is my father then we will have more of a chance as he will wish to gloat first."
    He rounds towards Buffy, "We cannot waste too much time, every minute will count." But then the man with that deep baritone voice swings his attention back to Giles. "I need you to tell me all you know of this Hellmouth and how we can alter its flow of power. At speed, man!"

Rupert Giles has posed:
Giles looks between the two, and listens to the conversation, such as it is, fairly one sided and full of the rainbows and butterflies demeanor Buffy mentioned before. Folding his arms for a moment, before he sighs and puts the cap back on the Hiliter and THEN refolds his arms, Giles gets right to it in the fashion only Giles can. "Ares...is it...well right then. About the Hellmouth, ash...ahh well...so you see the way the..." and yes, this is getting to it 'at speed.' "Well if it were simple to just...reverse the flow of power...that would have been done some time ago. Trying to keep it sealed is possible in doses, but its mere presence is able to influence the area around it which is why there are so many different types of supernatural activity. If you go back through history and look at periods such as The Black Pla...yes, right. At speed," he says and pauses. "Reversing the flow of the Hellmouth I dare say would be impossible. Limiting the influence of one particular deity or sphere of influence however..if you could narrow down the specific deity or realm of influence they are operating from...that is more likely. Though not to oversimplify things...if your being here is causing the influence, would it not be easiest for you to just...not be here?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy listens to the speedy explanation. Really, for Giles? That was quick and to the point. Until he gets to the end.

She gets Ares a huge, angelic smile. One that says she was right in the first place and he needs to take his grumpy supernatural self back where he came from.

"Oh he has a construction convention to go to though, Giles. So much more important," she says with that beautific smile on her face. "Cause, y'know, the god of war is all about Homes for Humanity!" Then she catches sight of that axe on the god's back and the smile is gone. She turns to Giles.

"And I need a battle axe. It is badass and I look badass holding it. Why have you never given me one?"

So her priorities may be a little skewed.

Ares has posed:
    "Unfortunately, no." Ares scowls looking askance at Buffy pointedly. For an instant he perhaps imagines doing something horrible to her with the aforementioned battleaxe... but then. He looks back to Giles. "It is my fault that their attention has fallen upon you and yours. They intended to strike out at me, but then realized the power that is hidden here. Now, if I left, they would but prey upon you further until they could secure what power they could for themselves."
    But then he straightens up, drawing rein on his temper and worrying at his lower lip with such a look of consternation. He looks back towards Giles, "I understand that stopping the Hellmouth is impossible or if not impossible extremely extremely difficult, hence your standing sentinel here. But is there a way to cause it to flare, or to stifle its feed at a specific moment? It could be enough to cause them to make a misstep."

Rupert Giles has posed:
"Yes, Buffy. A battleaxe. Because the forces of hell have always shivered in fear in the face of your aesthetics. Nothing terrifies them more than looking good."

Yeah. Probably not. Still though, as Ares asks the question Giles seesm to not, a moment. "Sure...that's possible. I'd have to look up how for a bit. There's some consequences. Too much power going the other way and that feedback sort of loop could blow the Hellmouth open and swallow Sunnydale and the better part of the eastern seaboard into a sinkhole. But assuming that didn't happen and the subsequent tsunami was abated, some sort of divine expulsion aimed at the source of so much evil could....as you say momentarily stun it and those connected to it. In theory..."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Good, he saw it her way. She's getting a battleaxe.

But as they go into the long boring drivel about sinkholes and tsunamis, she is listening but not listening. Some sinks in. Sunnydale going bye bye? Bad. Abated divine expulsion. Not a clue. She folds her arms over her chest and just lets the grown-ups talk for the time being. At least until they point her in the direction of something she can break or kill.

Ares has posed:
    "What will you need to create this variation?" It must seem so surreal in some ways, if there was a person watching from afar. This tall towering grim looking man in armor speaking rapidly with Giles as he peers up. It's a quick exchange of ideas, a rapid-fire back and forth as the two pitch options and possibilities.
    "And if this alteration would endanger this settlement then we will have to come up with another option. If we can force the aggressor into manifestation then we could force parley and a possible agreement."
    For a moment Ares squints sidelong at Buffy, perhaps just making sure she's not getting into stabbing position, but then he looks back towards Giles, "The ways arcane are not familiar fully to me. I have some craft, tis true. But this..." He waves a hand, "This is beyond my ken."

Rupert Giles has posed:
"Something like this is beyond anyone's Ken, really. I mean it's not like going to the drive thru and ordering a big mac with a side of how to stop the guy who hates Ares from destroying the city..." he says and puts his hand to the bridge of his nose. "I do recall an Egyptian ritual for stopping those who had crossed over from returning from Duat. Some trouble back in the 7th century BC with Osiris and Ra having a bit of a spat..." he offers. Cause you know...gods not getting along, that's old hat, right. "If we can somehow mirror some aspects of that ritual and alter it just enough to target the Grecian pantheon...then in theory it should work. I can't promise that you'd get more than a minute...and we'll need to be close to it. This isn't a cast from afar and hope it works, this is a...prepare and cast -at- type of thing. So...give me a few hours to figure out the correct ritual and gather the components needed. Right at sunrise would be best or immediately at noon would be next. The location of the sun is important mostly due to the transition of power from one deity to another. The forces of dark are weakest when their time to set approaches. So looking at...yes. Right. Well we have...." and he turns to check a newspaper, flipping it to the local section. "3 hours and 9 minutes exactly."

Buffy Summers has posed:
Timeframes. Plans. Rituals.

For a moment, Buffy wonders which of the forces of evil there is. God of War. Hello. Sounds pretty damn evil too. Course, wars happen in daytime too. Unlike vampires. So she gets it. Hellmouth weaker, hopefully Greek god just as strong as normal.

"So my job for the time being is go out and beat up anything trying to eat people." She tilts her head to the side. "Pretty much what I do every tnight. Huh." Here she thought this was going to be a bigger deal.

Oh not that blowing up the town and creating tsunamis isn't a big deal but she thought it would be different. Instead, it's jus ther going hunting.

"Any special weapons I should add to my goody bag?" She pats the messenger bag. "To deal with Grecians gods and monsters? Other than my battleaxe."

Ares has posed:
    "Very well, make ready." Ares gives a short sharp nod to Giles, then turns towards Buffy. "No. Stay here and guard your mentor." The tall armored man is already walking, issuing orders hurriedly and then moving as if expecting them to be followed. Over his shoulder the great armored being calls, "I shall return and serve as support for our patrols. Be wary, Buffy of Sunnydale, our enemy may well be very canny and could seek to deceive you."
    He reaches the doorway and turns around, even as he unslings the battleaxe from his shoulder and clasps it in both hands. "Perform your duty well and you shall have that blade you wish from the craftsmen of Olympus."
    A few more steps backwards as he walks into the hallway, "If you succeed, sorcerer, then you shall enjoy my thanks!" And with that he turns away, stalking back down the hallway from the library and heading back into the night.