Chapter Ten

Cordy tells everyone how she was duped into surrendering her body to Jasmine by Skip. She says she is here to fight the Erus Veneficus but is forbidden to do anything else - a rule she immediately breaks when she goes looking for Dawn. Wes tells Buffy one more item of bad news - Dawn fled the house with the scythe and now the Erus Veneficus has it.

He is trying to break into the scythe's power when he is interrupted by a cockney vampire, who asks if their deal is still on - to bring about the eradication of something, but what remains a mystery.

Faith and Gunn return Dawn to the house and the alley victims are revived, allowing Wes to have a serious chat to Angel about his son.

Buffy gathers almost everyone in the dining room and they aim to make a database of their enemies, their supplies and other mystical objects which could aid them in their fight. They manage to finish most of it within a few hours, and then Cordy reappears. She admits she doesn't know what will happen once the balnce of the world is affected - for example when the First is destroyed. The planet could explode, or the dimension could be permanantly aligned to good. She is about to explain the Erus Veneficus' motives when the man himself appears, seeking to kidnap Willow to make her break into the scythe as he cannot. Cordy fights with him outside, but not after retrieving the scythe for Buffy, who tells Willow to perform the Slayer spell. After receiving much needed encouragement, she tries and fails, and the plan backfires when the First possesses her body and attacks the others.