"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked, her voice low and full of pain. "It's beyond cruel."
"It wasn't meant to be unpleasant. You see, we have no physical forms of our own. It was decided that these forms would be the ones you would be most likely to listen to. We do need you to listen, Buffy."
"Where is my mother? My real mother, not this..." she pointed behind her at the Joyce lookalike.
"Your mother is fine, Buffy. She's in a different place, a good place. She's at peace," At the sound of Joyce's voice, Buffy released a choking sob then collapsed into the chair again, burying her face in her hands.
"Please, Buffy..." The Giles imposter looked at his companion for help. "I told them this was a bad idea. She won't listen to us now, and how can we blame her?"
"She has to listen to us, or all this has been for nothing. And you know she can't stay between forever. She has to make her choice or it will be made for her."
"Mnmmphh," Buffy said, her voice muffled by her hands.
"I beg your pardon?" he responded, startled. Buffy lifted her head and glared at him, her eyes rimmed in red.
"Names," she said thickly. "I will not call you...and her...by their names. You must have your own. What are they?" The two exchanged glances, then shrugged.
"It is difficult to explain, but we have no need of such things. Without form there are no sounds, and no need to have sounds with which to call ourselves," The Giles double spoke first.
"We have...impressions...of each other, that serve to identify us," The one that looked like Joyce added.
"Fine, guess what? I'm naming you. You," she pointed at the Giles lookalike, "are now known as Thing One. You," she could barely look at her mother's face as she waved at her, "are Thing Two." They nodded, both more than slightly mortified, then Buffy continued. "Now, you say you want me to listen. Consider me all ears, especially if you plan on explaining what the HELL is going on around here!" The replica of Giles now known as Thing One cleared his throat and nodded, indicating that he would begin the story.
"I know you know something of Slayer history. I believe that you've even encountered the spirit of the First Slayer on occasion."
"She tried to kill me in a dream, then she gave me cryptic and dreadful gift ideas. We're practically sisters. Go on." Buffy settled back into her chair, since it was clear that this might take a while. Neither of the two seemed to be in a hurry to get to the point.
"At that time, evil nearly won the day before the battle had even begun." The Joyce lookalike that Buffy was forcing herself to think of as Thing Two took up the tale. "The First Slayer was originally intended to be the ultimate instrument of the darkness, to bring about a quick end to the light that they saw emerging in the human species. She was the demon's first attempt to create what eventually became vampires."
"The girl was strong, and her soul was pure," Thing One continued speaking as she paused. "She cried for justice as they attempted to tear it from her body, and we heard the plea. We gave her a choice. We would grant her release or she could choose to fight back. She chose to become the Slayer, to fight against the demons knowing it meant an early and probably violent death. She fought for humanity, and she died."
"The Slayer was the one hope that humanity had. But how could we ask another to take up that mantle?" Thing Two asked, and Buffy could sense the compassion she felt. Another twinge of longing for her mother nearly brought her to tears again, but she forced herself to continue to listen. "The First had called to us, but we knew the light within humanity had to be saved, despite the cost. So another girl, another soul was given that horrible choice and she agreed to become the Slayer. When she died, there was another. For hundreds of years, I can't even tell you how many there were. As humanity became strong, more and more demons were pushed or fled into other dimensions. Humanity had won the earth, but the victory was far from secure. We knew the battle would need to be fought perpetually or the demons would eventually overrun the earth anew. And the demons had figured out how to force out human souls and possess them."
"Vampires," Buffy said flatly.
"Yes." Her expression clouded as Thing Two nodded. "And things had to change. People no longer remembered the truth about demons and now vampires, they began relegating that knowledge to their fairytales and myths. We had been asking each Slayer to take the responsibility. We realized that soon no one would, and we could not risk that. So we took the choice away, keeping it until after the Slayer died."
"Okay, you just lost me. How can you choose not to be the Slayer after you've already been the Slayer?"
"You can't. You, Buffy Summers, are the Chosen One. You are the Slayer, and you fought the forces of evil and you died. In fact you died twice, but the first time you were here, you never got a chance to choose." Buffy stared at his so familiar face in even greater confusion.
"The first time..." Buffy trailed off. A sudden flash of memory hit her. Her eyes widened. "I was here when the Master killed me. But then Xander brought me back."
"Yes, another Slayer had already been called. It was a very...unusual situation. Quite unprecedented, in fact." Thing One flashed Giles' little self-deprecating smile.
"So what does that have to do with why I'm here now? What is the choice you keep talking about." The two gave each other long looks again, before the Joyce clone began speaking.
"The choice we put to most Slayers here is really quite simple. They can choose to proceed to the next level of existence, what you commonly call Heaven, where they are reunited with others that have also gone on, or they can return to the earthly plane and live out as normal mortals the lives they were previously denied."
"But in light of your unique circumstances, Buffy Summers, we wish to offer you a third choice. One to which I beg you give serious consideration," The Giles double was once again polishing his glasses as he spoke, the absurdity of the gesture sinking in for Buffy.
"Do you even need those?" Buffy asked, pointing at them. She knew she was going off-topic, but it was driving her crazy. He looked sheepish as he replaced them.
"In this form, I do, actually. It's rather annoying."
"The third choice is vital, Buffy." The woman with her mother's face glared at her companion, pulling them back to the topic at hand. "We need you to do something we have never asked any other Slayer to do. We would not ask it of you, either, if so much didn't depend upon it." Buffy had to look away as she saw strain in the eyes that she knew so well. Even though she knew these beings were not actually Giles or her mother, her instinctive desire to please them had already kicked in. She fought to remain unaffected as she looked Thing Two in the eye again.
"So you're telling me I can choose to be with my mother," she emphasized the word to let this Joyce know she was painfully aware of who she was not looking at, "or I can choose to have a normal life. What's behind door number three? And why am I thinking I'm going to really hate it?" Both the beings sighed and looked at each other again. When Thing One spoke, it was with a hesitancy Buffy knew too well. Giles with bad news.
"The third choice...is for you to return to be the Slayer again." The silence that hung in the air was heavy, charged like before a major thunderstorm. When Buffy finally spoke, her voice was soft but fury tinged every syllable.
"It's never enough for you people, is it? I fought, I died, I lived, I fought and I died again. I saved the world, I saved my sister, I did everything I could, everything I was supposed to. When is it enough?" Thing One nodded gravely, clearly hating his own duties in this matter.
"It is enough, Buffy. This is your choice, and no one will force you to make a different one. Just please let us show you why we're asking you to make this sacrifice."
"Please," Thing Two echoed his plea, tears shimmering in her eyes. Buffy couldn't bear watching her mother cry, even when she knew it wasn't really her.
"Okay, this had better be the best reason ever." Buffy's words echoed in the air as the three of them shimmered and faded out.