Slayer Academy by Rainne

Disclaimers: Dakota and Mercedes belong to me; everyone else belongs to the Great Joss.

Summary: An unlikely pair find themselves in a position of authority.

Students. I never in my life thought I would have students, but here I am, Co-Headmistress of the Academy. In charge of Partner students. What a title for someone who, just a year and a half ago, was nothing more than an ensouled, daywalking vampire with no mission! But in that year and a half, I had watched the Academy grow out of the ashes of the Watchers' Council into a living, breathing entity all its own both as a training ground for new Potential Slayers and as an educational facility for future Partners, the new generation of Watchers. From a Slayer, a vampire, and six terrified girls, we had grown into an institution of twenty Potentials and sixteen future Partners. And we have two Potentials, three future Partners, and one "exchange student" going through Academy orientation today.

You know who I am. My name is Dakota Walsh. If you're reading this, you've previously read two stories detailing how I learned what I was and what happened to the Watchers' Council as a result of a prophecy that Quentin Travers thought to thwart. So I won't go into all that. I will tell you where I am today, what I'm doing, and why.

I'm in the Cotswolds, between the villages of Stow-on-the-Wold and Bourton-on-the-Water, at a manor that once belonged to the Council of Watchers and that was signed over, along with the entirety of the Council's assets, to the Academy by the last remaining active Watcher, one Rupert Giles, a year and a half ago. I would never in my wildest dreams have imagined that the Council could be as wealthy as it was, but I suppose that any organization which has been sensibly investing its funds for the last eight hundred years has the right to be so wealthy that a girls' academy could be run in mindless luxury on only the interest.

What I'm doing is a bit more complicated. On the surface, I'm running a girls' public school, as boarding schools are called in England. But beneath that, so much more is happening. Because this academy is where we train the future hope of the world - the Slayer.

Let me tell you a little about our Academy. We're very proud of it. We touting ourselves as a career-oriented British all-girls boarding school with a strong academic curriculum. No mention is made of the paranormal bent to the career or the fact that the Headmistress is a vampire - these things are discussed in Orientation, after prospective students pass the entrance exams.

Our Academy is very selective. We choose children as Partners who are in foster situations, permanently removed from their families and with little to no desire to return to them, due to the rather permanent nature of the placement. They have to excel academically and be willing to work hard at their studies, and they have to present no behavior problems. Misbehavior is absolutely not tolerated at the Academy, and they know that up front. We explain before Orientation that we apply the liberal use of corporal punishment to any student who should step out of line, and ordinarily once they finish Orientation, our girls have no desire to fool around. They understand that what we're doing is serious.

Potentials, on the other hand, are sought out by magical means. Willow developed a spell for us that the local witches' coven uses with great success to find Potentials over the age of thirteen for us, and they receive a different brochure. Theirs offers them a three-week introductory program at the Academy, all-expenses-paid, in certain unusual fields of study that unnamed "aptitude tests" have indicated they might be particularly suited for. Girls who come, and we have so far had precisely zero girls decline our invitation, are introduced to the other Potentials and have their destiny explained to them in as low-impact a way as possible. This is done by Faith. I have never been in on the sessions she has with each new Potential, but we have never had one yet refuse to come to the Academy.

It is in Orientation, which will be occurring today, that Potentials and Partners first meet one another. It is also when they learn that the Headmistress in charge of Partners is a vampire. Most of the Partners, up until this moment, do not realize just exactly how serious we are about what's going on. Many of them have come in thinking we were mad. None of them leave Orientation feeling that way.

We have a small faculty here at the Academy. Faith teaches math and science, I teach English and world history, and Mrs. Katherine teaches Latin and French. The girls have their core academics Monday and Tuesday only, though they do have Latin and French every day. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Faith instructs the Potentials and I instruct the Partners. Mrs. Katherine MacLeod, clan MacKenzie, came to us highly recommended by a vicar from Inverness, Scotland, as a well-educated governess/housekeeper with an exceptional ability to handle teenagers, especially emotional, moody, headstrong teenagers. She was a godsend. Also on our little staff was Miss Maisri Grant, another Scottish national, a witch with an exceptional healing ability who acted as nurse and instructed any student who showed an aptitude for the occult arts.

Miss Maisri and Mrs. Katherine are waiting for me downstairs, in a small anteroom where are seated our six newest pupils: Slayer Potentials Erica Ball of Franklin, Idaho; Diana Wood, a local girl from Staffordshire; future Partners Emma Masters of Valdez, Alaska; Chenay Freeman of Durham, North Carolina; Virginia Marcos of Pine Bluff, Arkansas; and our one "exchange student," Dawn Summers.

I am excited at the prospect of seeing Dawn again - it's been a year and a half, after all. Buffy sent a letter two months ago telling Faith and I that Dawn wanted to train as a Partner, and our response was a resounding Yes! Dawn flew in yesterday and made it here this morning, just in time for Orientation today.

I'm stalling now, standing in front of the mirror, adjusting and readjusting my button-down shirt. Orientation speeches always make me nervous - I'm never sure if one of the girls is going to try to stake me. Of all the things that can kill a vampire, staking and beheading are the two things I haven't quite had the cojones to test. No one has reacted negatively so far, but there's a first time for everything, I think.

Then my lover comes up behind me. "You're stalling," she whispers in my ear, before gently kissing my neck. I smile and lean back into her embrace, remembering the day I followed her across an ocean on the basis of a few smoldering glances and a few lustful innuendoes, to see if there was any chance to form a relationship. Thank God I did it!

I sigh, kissing her on the underside of her jaw. "I know. I hate doing these things."

I blink. It's rare that she sits through an Orientation with me. But I won't argue. I straighten my shirt one last time, and take her hand, and we head down the huge winding staircase in the center of the manor house, teasing one another and daring each other to slide down the banisters like some of the younger girls. At the third floor, she double-dog-dares me, and I feel that my honor is at stake if I didn't accept the challenge, so I hop onto the banister, pray that it won't mark the seat of my khakis, and push off.

The dizzying slide that follows results in my complete loss of spatial relations, and I land in a heap on the first floor, mumbling about trucks and low bridges. Kerry Roberts, one of our original Potentials, happens by and helps me up as my lover laughs her way down the last couple of flights. By the time she gets to me, I've recovered enough that I can stand on my own, but I need a minute or two before I can face the new girls. Kerry makes sure I'm not dead or dying, and goes on her way, grumbling about irresponsible adults.

Once I have my equilibrium back, I stick my tongue out at my laughing, brown-haired lover and head toward the lesser drawing room, where the new girls wait. As I enter the room, the first face I see is Dawn's, and she beams at me from her seat. I wink at her and step to the front of the room. My lover moves to stand behind the chairs occupied my Mrs. Katherine and Miss Maisri.

"Good afternoon," I begin. "My name is Dakota Walsh. Some of you ladies already know me. I am the Headmistress in charge of Partners. That means you, Emma, Dawn, Chenay and Virginia." I smile at each of them in turn, and then introduce Mrs. Katherine and Miss Maisri to them, explaining their roles. "And the young lady behind them," I conclude, "is Faith, the Vampire Slayer. She is the Headmistress in charge of Potentials. That means you, Erica and Diana.

"Now, down to business. There are a few things that need discussion before we can go on. You'll learn all about this as you go on, but I want to tell you about some things. You think you know who you are and what's to come, but you haven't even begun. Erica and Diana are the latest in a long, long line of girls that can be traced back into prehistoric times, whose sacred duty is to do battle each night against vampires, demons and assorted forces of darkness.

"Dawn, Emma, Chenay and Virginia are training to be what was once called Watchers. In the times before the Academy, there was an organization called the Council of Watchers, whose duty it was to aid the Slayer in her battles. The Council failed in its duty. Therefore, the Academy of Partners was born. We chose the title of Partners to remind both Slayer and Partner that they are a team, not a hierarchy. The Partner's job is to make sure that at all times, the Slayer is aware and informed of what's going on in the world around her and the world at large. Not all of you will become Partners to an active Slayer, but you will still be called upon to aid whoever is.

"The Watchers' Council said it this way: the Slayer is one girl in all the world with the strength and skill to battle evil. We say it differently, mainly because that's no longer true. Some years ago, the active Slayer, Buffy Summers, was drowned. Her heart stopped, her lungs stopped, and she died. Fortunately for her, she had a friend very nearby who found her and revived her. But in that moment of her death, the mystical forces that choose the Slayer summoned Buffy's successor, and from that moment on, there were two active Slayers. The vampire Drusilla killed the second Slayer, Kendra; at her death, her successor was Called. She was Faith."

A hand comes up. I call on the girl who wishes to speak. Erica inquires, "What happened to Buffy?"

I smile. "Buffy is still alive, still guarding the Hellmouth in southern California. It is because Buffy is alive that we are able to have Faith here, training you girls for what's to come. Buffy is the most successful Slayer that we know of today; in all the written records of the Council, Buffy is the only one to survive for eight years and counting. You have to understand, ladies, that the life of a Slayer is extremely dangerous. She fights for her life on a nightly basis. To be called as a Slayer is not a duty to be taken lightly. That is why the Partners are so important. A good Partner can keep her Slayer alive longer."

There is another question, this time from Virginia. "So, who's Buffy's Partner?"

"He still retains the title of Watcher, as he is the last remaining member of the Council of Watchers and probably the last man to serve in this capacity; as such, he commands a great deal of respect. Buffy's Watcher is one Rupert Giles. Mr. Giles occasionally comes to visit the Academy here, and you will all have a chance to meet him at some point." I take a deep breath. "Now, there are certain housekeeping rules which will be discussed with you by the heads of your dormitories. But there is one other thing we must discuss in here, and that is me."

Now we come to the reason why Orientation is always held in this room and in the late afternoon: the westerly windows emit direct sunlight, which I now walk into. I stand there for a moment, facing the sun long enough to make an impact, then I turn to face the girls. "What I am about to do will startle you. Please do not be alarmed. All will be made clear." And then I change to gameface.

They are startled, their reactions ranging from horror on the part of young Chenay, who is only thirteen, to anger on Diana's face, to the grin displayed by Dawn, who is amused by my theatrics. I change back and hold up my hands. "Please. Please. Relax. I did warn you."

The expected question about the sunlight comes from Emma, a soft-spoken sixteen-year-old. "Excuse me, Miss Walsh, but I thought vampires burn up in the sun. Is that a myth?"

I shake my head. "No. The vampires that you will encounter will die from the usual list of things: sunlight, garlic, holy water, stake through the heart and beheading, and a cross or crucifix and certain other holy objects will repel them. I, however, am not your average vampire. Before I was turned, I was what Diana and Erica are - a Slayer potential. I was caught unawares, on the Hellmouth no less, and turned by a group of vampires who served a Master vampire. From the moment I was turned, I was able to walk in sunlight, although other immunities came slowly. I became immune to garlic, crosses and holy water over time; but I didn't get my reflection back for nearly five years. But the most important thing, in my opinion, is that I retained something that normal vampires don't have - my soul."

The usual silence follows that comment, and I smile around at them. "Our Orientation is now concluded. As I said, you'll get your housekeeping rules during your dorm orientation from your dorm heads. Potentials' dorms are on the east wing of the third floor and your current dorm head is Cassie Singleton. Partners' dorms are on the west wing of the third floor and your current dorm head is Quontavia West. Meals are served promptly at their appointed times and if you miss them, you go hungry. Classes each day begin precisely at nine and if you're late, you'll regret it. Administrators' offices are on the fourth floor. Dorms, as I said, are on the third floor. The second and first floors and the grounds are open for recreation of almost any type: we have an extensive library, of course, and a good computer lab, and lots of leisure-type activities.

"There is only one other thing that you must know, and this is a hard-and-fast rule with absolutely zero-tolerance for breakage. At no time may any student be anywhere above the fourth floor without the accompaniment of myself, Faith, Miss Maisri or Mrs. Katherine. I really can't express how important it is that the two upper floors are absolutely off limits. Is that quite clear?" They all nod seriously, though I catch a wicked gleam in Dawn's eye and pin her with my gimlet eye. "Absolutely no student under any circumstances without accompaniment," I repeat firmly, letting her know that this means her, too. She nods once, and I know she will comply. "All right. Any questions?"

They shake their heads as a group and I nod. "Your dorm heads will meet you in the main hall. Your things have already been transported to your rooms. See you all at dinner."

They file out, heading toward the main hall, and I watch them go, seeing their straight backs and square shoulders, the unconscious pride that they carry in themselves already, even though they have only just taken their places in the grand dance of destiny. I smile, thinking to myself that the fate of the world rests in very capable hands, indeed.

I feel the touch of my lover on my back and I know that she is behind me, also watching, and feeling much the same way that I feel. Her voice burrs into my ear. "They'll do, won't they, hon?"

She pulls me close and I revel in the warmth of her loving embrace. It's another productive day at the Slayer Academy, and all is well in the world.

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Slayer Academy

By Rainne

Djgirl1978@bellsouth.net