Okay, new chapter. Now in this one, I have Illyria starting to have some sort of bond with Elena, so I apologise if Illyria seems out of character

18.  The Arcane Book

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“I found it,” the scientist cried

He waved several sheets of paper, before handing them to Harmony, who flicked through them with Wesley looking over her shoulder

“Yes, those are it,” Wesley said, “Come on, Harmony”

“Isn’t this Fred’s work to recorporealise Spike?”

“Yes, it is. If I can covert it to magic, then perhaps I can use her work on myself”

“How can you convert a bunch of maths like this into magic?”

“With magic. I’m sure I have a converting spell in the office”

They reached the office, as Harmony grabbed a book and started to go through it for Wesley, just as Landon came into the office

“How are things?” he asked

“Things were good,” Wesley said, “But now I think they’ve gotten better”

“Really? I’m not so sure about that. I heard that Spike and Illyria have escaped from Rome and now Gunn has no idea where they’ve gone”

“Well, the locator spell they’ve been trying to use has been blocked”

“How unfortunate,” Landon said, “But surely you can do some mojo that will break that? After all, you do have Cyvus Vail’s magical abilities”

“Yes, that is true,” Wesley agreed, “One thing at a time, Jack. I am close to completing one thing and then I’ll help Gunn out”

“Good. Hope you do it quickly. Hate to anger the Senior Partners”

“If I recall, it didn’t go down so well for the Partners last time they got angry,” Harmony said, “I’m not too sure how that went anyway. I’m just guessing”

“Stop guessing and start working,” Landon said, “Hurry up, Pryce”

He left the office, as Harmony flipped him the bird behind his back, after making sure that Wesley wasn’t watching her of course

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The white wolf growled, as Dracula stood nearby, watching intently, as mist covered the wolf, settling into its fur, as the wolf transformed into Spike. He stumbled slightly, not used to the magic, his eyes going wide as he stared at his hands

“Did I really just do that?” he asked incredulously

“Yes, you did. You became a wolf,” Dracula answered, “And only after your third try. You seem to have done well with the magic”

“Well, it’ll be handy if I need to track someone down,” Spike grinned

“Would you like to give it another try?”

“Yeah, actually, I wouldn’t mind”

Spike closed his eyes, concentrating on the magic his body was now covered in, thanks to Dracula. He felt the changes happen and when he opened his eyes, he was closer to the ground, having transformed into the wolf again. Focusing on the magic, he transformed back into a vampire, as Dracula drew his sword and threw another to Spike. He caught the weapon and raised it, as Dracula got into a stance

“Shall we begin?”

Spike lunged at Dracula, slashing twice, but Dracula blocked both blows and stepped away, as Spike whirled around, slashing at his waist. Dracula avoided the blade and brought his sword down overhead, but Spike blocked, before breaking away and stabbing. Dracula deflected and stabbed at Spike’s throat, missing when Spike inclined his head and slashed at his chest. Dracula brought his sword back, smacking Spike’s sword downwards, before jamming the hilt into his ribs

“Your skills are impressive,” Dracula said, “But not quite good enough”

“Oh, they’re good enough,” Spike grinned, “I’m not even trying”

He raised his sword, but then his cell phone went off. Spike headed over to his duster and retrieved the item, before answering the call

“Hello, road kill café. You kill them, we grill them”

“Spike, it’s Harmony. How are things?”

“Things are good thanks. What’s going on?”

“Wesley is trying to become corporeal. And he has a lot of power under his belt. Once he’s corporeal, he will hunt you down and he’ll be more successful than Gunn”

“That’s always charming to hear. Is there anything else?”

“No, not that I can think of”

“Right then. If you can, Harm, try and sabotage his plans, but discreetly. I’ll talk to you later”

“Okay, Spiky”

Harmony hung up, as Spike did the same and tossed his phone back onto his duster

“Right then. Where were we?”

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Spike and Dracula were still training into the night. Lindsey and Oz had retreated to bed, while Illyria was heading to the bedroom she now shared with Spike. On the way there, she went pass Elena’s room and saw the young girl tossing and turning in her bed. Curious, Illyria ventured into the room, sitting down on the edge of the bed and brushing a strand of hair away from Elena’s forehead with a tenderness that surprised her. Elena slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Illyria in confusion

“You were moving in your sleep,” Illyria said, “Were you have nightmares?”

“Not really,” Elena said, “I can’t sleep. Daddy hasn’t been around here yet”

“And Spike is the one who helps you sleep?”

“Yes. He read me a story last night and that put me to sleep”

Illyria looked over at the book in question and picked it up, before opening it to where Spike had left off. Back in her times of glory, she never read books, never having the time. Now that she had the time, she found them confusing, but wanted to please this little girl. She found young Elena interesting, being the child of the ‘insolent half-breed’

“You can make yourself comfortable if you want,” Elena said

She snuggled under her covers, as Illyria stretched out beside her and started reading the story to the young girl, finding some contentment in reading and putting the child to sleep. Once Elena drifted off, Illyria found herself too tired to leave and ended up staying on the bed, drifting off to sleep

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Spike woke up the next morning, finding that Illyria wasn’t in bed with him. Thinking nothing of it, he got dressed and left his room, heading towards Elena’s room, where he found Illyria sleeping on the bed, still dressed in her leather armour, with young Elena curled up beside her. With a small smirk on his face, Spike headed off, arriving in the vast library where he found Oz seated at a table, pouring over a book

“Bit early for you to be up, isn’t it?” Oz asked without looking up

“How did-? Never mind. What are you reading?”

“Something about the Senior Partners. Dracula and Lindsey filled me in on quite a bit and now I’m looking for a way to help you guys out”

“The best we can do is kill the CEO,” Spike said, “Who is actually incorporeal”

“Don’t worry, I think I might have found something”

“Really? Enlighten me”

“There is a weapon that can sever the Partner’s hold on the world”

“You’re pulling my leg”

“No leg pulling involved. Although, this is just a legend”

“Give us a look”

Spike grabbed the book and started reading about the weapon. However, the language was not English and Spike couldn’t read it, as Oz watched with slight amusement

“Yep, looks like a legend to me,” Spike said, “And it really breaks their hold?”

“Only for the next century or so. But during that time, they have no influence here”

“No influence from the Partners for a hundred years? Find out if it really is a legend”

“What do you think I’ve been doing for the last several hours? Twiddling my thumbs?”

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Illyria slowly woke up and realized that something warm was curled up against her. Looking down with a frown, she was surprised to see Elena sleeping against her body. Illyria sat up, careful not to wake the child and looked around, seeing that she was in Elena’s room and that she had spent the night here

“What is going on? What am I doing here, especially with this child? Oh, now I remember…why did I stay here? What is this feeling that I feel? This is all too confusing”

Illyria left the room, as Elena continued to sleep, before heading to the nearest window and staring down at the snow, her gaze falling upon the snowman. Ever since meeting Elena, Illyria had been intrigued by the child, having never met a child before. She found it interesting that Spike had been able to create something like her, something that had her own mind. While she was reading the story to Elena, she had felt some attachment to her, but couldn’t understand how or why, not knowing that Fred’s residual maternal instincts were slowly coming through to the surface. She had a feeling to protect young Elena, to shield her from harm, but couldn’t understand why she was having this feeling. She knew Fred had something familiar for Connor when he was a baby and was wondering if this feeling was because of Elena or because of the feelings Fred had for Connor

Spying Dracula walking around the courtyard, his cape billowing behind him, Illyria walked away from the window, wanting to speak with him about Elena and wondering if he could offer some help. If not, she would speak to Spike and see if she should get rid of these maternal feelings or just listen to them

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