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Ethan sat across the table from the girl. "Now you help with this bloody substitute Slayer mess." He sighed, "Its actually a rather direct spell. Problem is I've come to a bit of a bloody difficult impasse."

"Oh?"

"Using these samples it should be rather easy to bind and activate the powers. Problem is that for a transformation spell of that caliber you need to anchor it within a physical item. Usually something related to the spell its self or what ever deity you're drawing from. It stabilizes the effect. With something like this it usually has some kind of proximity issue. If you're too far from the focus, the spell weakens. If the focus is destroyed, it ends. The difficulty here though, is that this whole Fish Man bit isn't bloody magical. Spell's going to bloody activate it."

"You mean Xander'll turn into a fish?!" Willow exclaimed.

"No, I'm going to make sure he stays human. It's what I was hired to do," Ethan replied indignity, "Problem is that if the spell anchor is destroyed or lost, the spell keeping him human will fade and he'll turn into the bloody Creature from the Black Lagoon."

Willow winced. "So how can I help? I mean, I don't want Xander turning into a fish. It was all scary the first time, and those fish men are icky..."

"What I need," Ethan interrupted, "Is an anchor that is connected to the spell itself, is unique enough to serve as a strong focus, and cannot be destroyed or removed from his person. If I can't figure this out, then I'll have to pay back the money, and considering I already spent it on this month's rent... I really need to figure out this damned spell."

Willow paused for a moment. "Something connected to the spell, that’s unique, and can't be removed...?"

Willow leaned back in the chair and blankly looked into space as she considered it. She needed something unique, something related to the spell, and something that could not be taken from Xander, at least not without removing the threat of that funky fish DNA.

Willow eyes widened. "Unique... Related..."

"Is there a size limit?" Willow squeaked.

Ethan sighed "No..."

"So it can be really small, and I mean can't see it small?" she happily rambled on.

"I guess so..." Ethan drawled in confusion.

"Then use the fish-man DNA as the anchor!" She exclaimed, "It can't be removed without making sure he doesn't turn into a fish! It would always be there. It could even make his powers hereditary so they carry on like a family trait! So maybe there'll always be a fish-soldier-hyena guy around, kinda like a real Slayer! He'd be really tough, really strong, and all that without the risk of the fishy bits getting out of control or the easy to lose power core!"

Ethan smiled as he began to consider what she had just said. "Willow, if you can think of a way to bind it to his genes then I will do it. You'd need something much tighter than a normal magic circle though. Any ideas, kiddo..?"

"Well, I remember reading something about Indians using henna tattoos for some physical modification charms on the internet. Here, I brought my laptop..." Willow stated and she pulled a notebook computer out of her bag. "If you let me use your phone line, I can show you the site."

Ethan smirked. He could see why Ripper liked the little redhead. The girl was a bloody genius.

Hunter, Chapter 2