"Siniath Faers, Cadu Ad" By Shadow Master
(BtVS/Fate Universe/Lord of the Rings Universe)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my work. Therefore it would be appreciated if no legal action were taken against me. I can promise you that whatever you get from me won't even cover half your lawyer's legal fees.
Note 1: I know you'll all say I'm nuts, irresponsible, easily distracted and probably a half dozen other things. You're all probably right. However the fact of the matter is that I am a slave to my muse and write based on how easily scenes/stories are conjured by my brain then typed into a word processor document. If it becomes as difficult as picking up Mount Rushmore with a pair of sugar tongs then I'll stop until the writing bug for that particular story idea bites me again. If a story pops into my head and becomes so interesting you'll think my blood's turned into concentrated caffeine with how into it I get then I'll keep on writing until I run out of steam. This is one of those.
Note 2: I want to make one thing perfectly clear to every reader right from the get go: this is a hobby for me. It is not a job/assignment/etc and therefore I am under no obligation to spend a severe amount of time researching, analyzing and doing whatever is needed in order to achieve perfection. Having fun is the primary goal for me when it comes to writing stories and anything that gets in the way of that is ignored or discarded. I realize that some or perhaps even all of the other authors in this website write with the intent of getting better and eventually making a career out of their skills but not me. Therefore anyone who is contemplating submitting a review be forewarned that negative/bashing reviews will be ignored, constructive criticism will be considered but not necessarily acted on and positive reviews will be very much appreciated.
Note 3: Most of my source material will be coming from the movies, anime shows/movies and the wiki sites available online. If any of you readers who consider yourselves experts in any one of these properties and find an error or something in need of adjusting mention it in your review along with cited sources. If it is something I can correct with less than an hour's worth of typing then I shall do my best to see it done. However if it is something that will require a significant rewrite of the story possibly taking days to sort out then I'm afraid you'll have to put up with how I've written things.
Note 4: I know that the Fate series manga and games didn't get released until long after the Halloween episode so just tweak the timeline in this story's universe so that it all came out before nineteen ninety-seven.
Well now that that's over and done with let's get to the good stuff…
Siniath Faers, Cadu Ad
Anand na-a duin…
Time is a river…
A sinnarn ú- meth…
A tale without end…
Tales once recorded often remain unchanged save for the embellishments of those who later told it to others and took artistic license with the details to enhance the enjoyment of the listeners. Yet those embellishments stayed true to the seeds of truth they sprang from just the same. One would think the stories akin to rope, limited in length but, when lightly frayed, gained character, but what few considered was that one rope did not need to hang on its own. Others could be added to the one that began it all and once done both appearance as well as purpose changed in ways few could predict.
In the case of this tale the new ropes came from a world far removed for Ennor, far removed from the creations of Eru, where creation spawned a different realm.
A pattern of creation quite different forged this world and, unlike Ennor, light did not reign first over the land but rather the darkest of evils. For untold eons it held sway even as the mortal races struggled to hold on amidst the foul appetites of those whose power towered over them like ancient trees. However, just as night must pass onto day, so too did the reign of the Old Ones come to an end when beings of light chose to place their existences in harm's way to push back the darkness. Empowering those among the mortals in answer to their pleas for liberation and revenge, they declared war on the darkness taking advantage of any weakness found in their foes.
In just a few decades shy of an age the last of the Old Ones either fled for safer realms or fell to the magic set against them.
With the felling of the dark ones the mortal races did thrive, reshaping the world that they had inherited to erase the presence of their enemies while also preparing an inheritance for those that would follow. Years became decades, decades became centuries and centuries became millennia. While there were those who recorded what came before, that sought to preserve that which should not be forgotten, foul chance and bad luck plagued many a scholar. Scrolls, tablets and books were lost. Of the more plentiful remains of the Old Ones, various facts were discovered, recorded, lost and then rediscovered with sufficient repetition that the mortal races were never completely bereft of defenses.
Eventually one of the mortal races, the human race, began to rise above the others in both number as well as territory. This led, as was only natural, to differences of opinion and goals resulting in a splintering of the One Tribe into many. These differences did indeed lead to heated words but in the beginning the old stories of the horrors that'd come before and the hard battle that'd won their freedom kept blood from flowing. Instead the various groups sought to forge their own kingdom's elsewhere and respected those they left behind, honoring those who'd come before.
Within a few generations there was not a corner of the planet where the human race could not be found and with every region unique cultures did blossom.
Sadly time also had a way of reducing the horrors of the past to mere bedtime stories and warnings to the natterings of old folk. As this happened those with growing ambition looked for any means by which they could rise above their peers and feed their darker appetites. The lingering traces of the Old Ones noticed this and were quick to offer those humans what they sought… for a price. Like treacherous poison the vampires and those of mixed demonic blood trickled in between the cracks in the defenses meant to keep the mortal races safe.
Before long circumstances became so dire that the victory of old came perilously close to being in vain multiple times, only to be averted through the intervention of those who embraced the light.
In time those charged with watching over the mortal races began to worry that if something was not done to stem the tide of greed found within mortals, demonkind would once again rule over the world. Thus a meeting was convened between the light, the mortal races not human in nature and the darkness to forge an accord that all could agree to. Those of the light played upon the greed of the darkness, pointing out that if the end of the world was left to just anyone there might not be anything of value left to claim. Of the mortals the numerous failings of their brethren and the forgotten past that should have served as a warning was pointed out.
Weeks passed before a pact was hammered into place and sealed in blood.
All three parties would work to guide the human race away from the discipline of magic and towards something less likely to bring about the end of the world. As for the darkness, they would reign in their more 'chaotic' brethren while also abiding by certain rules when it came to their interactions with the mortal races. However the light was not left out of the terms; they too were forced to abide by codes of contact with the mortal races even if all could see the unfairness of some of them. Regardless, it was considered by all to be a small price to pay to keep an entire world from being torn asunder and maintaining the balance between the three parties.
Thus did magic, demons and the like become little more than stories for the human race as they were taught to favor the more tangible discipline of science. However still there existed those who remembered the truth, either through refusal to abandon it or via organizations founded by the light to keep a watchful eye on forces of darkness scuttling about the planet. For motivations too numerous to count, the balance was kept and those that threatened it dealt with by whatever method proved to be either expedient or effective.
Plans within plans interwoven so as to make it nearly impossible for just anyone to threaten the accord forged so long ago.
Unfortunately for those that remembered, 'nearly impossible' provided a great deal more room to act than one might think.
Sunnydale, California, USA
October 31st, 1997
Sunnydale High School Library
Xander's POV
"How?"
"NO!"
"Bloody Hell."
These were the words that echoed throughout the library as all but one of those present made clear their disbelief at what had been revealed to them.
And what was so hard to believe?
A simple report and the 'A+' that was written on the cover page in red ink and at the bottom was the name of Alexander L. Harris.
"Read it and weep!" he said with the biggest smile he ever recalled putting on his own face.
"Nerd girl! Check it!" Cordelia ordered with all the authority she possessed. "No way is this real. He probably printed off a new cover and wrote that A on it himself!"
A look at him showed that his best friend felt great reluctance but nevertheless she did pick up his report before flipping to the first page and beginning to read the contents. He wasn't worried, though, because he hadn't done a thing to cheat or fake the grade he'd been given by Mister Thompson, so all he did was lean back in his chair to await confirmation of his work's value. Eyes set on Willow as she finished each page and turned them to read the next, he could see her become increasingly engrossed in the words. He felt a bit of pride at that since he knew that his best friend would not fake interest in something, or at least not very well. Thus, when she finally finished reading his report and he saw the look of awe and pride, he knew he'd accomplished something wonderful.
"It's not fake. He earned the grade," she said, setting down his report on the table. "No doubt about it."
There was nothing anyone could say about that because all of them knew that if there was one thing that Willow took seriously, it was schoolwork. With this acceptance came a certain wariness and it was all directed at him.
Why? Well, it was about two weeks ago, just after the mess with Ampata, the report he'd shown them had been assigned by Mister Thompson and, like most schoolwork, he hadn't been very enthusiastic about it. Willow had naturally tried to encourage him but had made the mistake of saying so while Cordelia had been within earshot. As was always the case the head cheerleader didn't hesitate to bash his ability to learn or even write a report worthy of anything but a D minus. He, of course, had fired back, implying that he had more between his ears than the entire cheerleading squad combined. However, in what he now realized had been an attempt at humor, Buffy then in perfect deadpan had said that he had rocks in his head where the cheerleaders had nothing but air. So full of anger and defensiveness he'd been at the time, though, so when he'd heard Buffy's words he'd believed her to be serious as far as they were concerned. That'd led him to, with some hostility, implying that perhaps Buffy and the cheerleaders had something in common given what she once had been back at her previous school.
He might've added something to the effect that she must enjoy letting her boyfriends do her thinking for her, too, only a little more colorfully worded.
Willow, of course, had tried to play peacemaker, to remind them of their friendship, but then she'd made the mistake of trying to gently point out that he'd needed her help ever since the sixth grade.
At that point he'd boasted that he could get a better grade than all of them and he'd do it without any help from her. This had caused the pride of the girls to puff up a bit but it'd been Cordelia that had brought up the key thing: the bet. All of them would work on their own on the report and whoever got the highest grade would get to choose the Halloween costumes of the others and NO costume would be out of the question. This, of course, had caused a little anxiety to well up within the Scooby gang since agreeing to the bet would potentially open them up to great humiliation. Buffy had handled this by pointing out his anxiety in order to divert people from her own but this, of course, had backfired on the blonde Slayer.
A cunning tactician and strategist Buffy was NOT; more like jump in feet first and let her weapon settle things.
THAT had caused him to say that he'd take that bet but ONLY if Angel got roped into it as well with Buffy's grade, putting Deadboy's evening on the line as well. Then, as much as it sickened him, he'd dangled the bait in front of her face that if she won the bet then she'd be able to choose her costume and Angel's as well. He'd barely been able to keep his face neutral when he'd seen the light spark in her eyes at the possibilities but his bait had done the trick since she'd accepted the bet. This had led to Willow to being the odd person out but, oddly enough, a single whisper from Buffy and some weird blushing got the girl genius on board, so that'd sealed the deal.
After that they'd all gotten busy when they had the free time working on their reports and, in order to make sure they came out on top, they'd done what they could to never be in the library at the same time with their report resources. The bet hadn't been enough to get in the way of dealing with the fraternity and Reptile Boy in their basement but, as soon as the latest bit of Hellmouthness was over with, they were once again adversaries in the bet.
It'd been hard figuring out the right approach for his report; even though Mister Thompson had given them their topic the details were nonexistent. Still he'd used his previous reports he'd written with Willow as inspiration but at the same time make it completely original so that no one would be able to say his top mark was all because of Willow. Giles had provided some help in suggesting a few books and had actually looked rather proud of the effort he'd been putting into the report. It'd been then that he'd felt a little playful and offered to let the Watcher in on the bet. Of course the stuffy Brit had tried to decline, claiming that he had a night of librarian work that needed to get done, but he knew the man's Achilles heel.
He'd told the man that if the Brit won the bet he would not use anything but his real name for an entire month. No G-man or any other sort of nickname, just Rupert or Giles or Mister Giles for an entire month.
The man had agreed right on the spot.
Now they were all regretting taking his intelligence lightly.
"So what is it going to be, dweeb?" Cordelia asked with a sneer. "Arabian harem girls? Playboy bunnies?"
"All good ideas but I've got something a little more interesting in mind," he said as he got up from his chair. "I mean if I just dressed you up in something like those sure you'd all be a little embarrassed but, let's face it, you've got the bodies to make them look good. It wouldn't be a punishment for losing then."
Walking over to the library doors, he spotted the dark hair of his secret helper and, with a wide smile, he pushed open the doors to reveal Jenny Calendar.
He'd been pretty confident that he'd be able to win the bet but, when he'd thought about what he'd have the girls and then Giles dress up as, he hadn't wanted to just go to a costume shop to grab the first thing to catch his eye. Much like his acing the report, he wanted his costume choices to be planned and deliberate, with an attention to detail that would surprise. So he'd gone to the only person he could think of that could help him out: Miss Jenny Calendar. Under the guise of after school tutoring they'd bounced some ideas around, had more than a few good laughs, before finally arriving at choices that were both cool as well as fitting punishments for the losers.
The only thing better than looking embarrassing was looking embarrassing and have people attach a label to the outfit that'd stick long after you took it off.
The label? Otaku.
"Miss Calendar?" Willow asked in disbelief at the computer teacher's involvement.
"Yep. Xander asked for my help with your costumes and after I heard that English was involved, I said yes," Miss Calendar replied with a mischievous smile on her face. "And as luck would have it I knew someone who could do a rush job on costumes for the right price."
"You mean you hired some nobody to make the costumes?!" Cordelia asked incredulously. "Why not just get something at Party Town? I would've paid for them if it meant I'd be wearing quality work."
"Don't worry, Miss Chase. My friend Lexi has been making cosplay costumes for more than five years and some of her outfits have won top prize at conventions." Miss Calendar reassured as she stood next to him.
"Cosplay? Conventions?" Buffy asked, not understanding the term or what fan gatherings had to do with the costume she'd wear.
From there he'd explained to each of them who they'd be dressing up as along with the bare bones of the source material so they could comprehend the depth of the punishment he had planned for them.
For his own well-being, though, he made sure to tell Miss Calendar that they'd only be mentioning the Japanese manga and not the eroge visual novel.
Saying he got the costume ideas from a manga was safe because it was just a Japanese comic book and he knew everyone would immediately think of American comics in comparison. However if he said eroge visual novel, they'd ask for an explanation of what that was and one way or another they'd find out.
Letting them know he occasionally played what amounted to a Japanese pornographic video game would get him into the dog house REALLY quickly and take A LOT of groveling to get out of.
So keeping his lips sealed on the matter was the smart thing to do.
If Miss Calendar knew she was obviously choosing to keep the truth to herself as well but for her he could only guess at the reason. Personally he preferred to simply think of it as her not wanting to scare off the losers before they could be squeezed into costume and a picture taken.
It was safe, it was feasible and it didn't involve the woman's apparent romantic interest in Giles.
So he'd stick with that.
Yeah.
Later
Sunnydale High School
Auditorium Changing Room
Jenny Calendar's POV
This is going to be FUN! she thought as she worked to put on the white dress portion of her costume.
It wasn't one of the mentioned characters in the manga Xander had shown her but after she'd read a couple of the volumes she'd decided that the world depicted was flexible enough for her to come up with something original.
After all, if it could take King Arthur, one of the most famous kings in all of the United Kingdom, and turn him into a girl then technically she could take anyone from history and do the same. She'd contemplated a few possibilities but, when she considered that she'd be wearing it out for Halloween, she decided to go with something a little more in keeping with that. From there she'd done some quick sketches as possible people came into her mind but it wasn't until she'd taken into account her own status as a techno-pagan that inspiration hit her. From there she only had one choice that fit the bill and, since it'd be imagined in the manga style, it didn't need to be as gruesome as Hollywood usually depicted the character.
I wonder if English will make the connection with the dress? she thought as she finished putting on the white dress.
Sure, they were just beginning to step into dating territory but she'd seen enough of him that the idea of going THERE wasn't entirely beyond the realm of possibility.
With the dress on and the gloves on, all that remained was adding the accessories.
One metallic unicorn horn tiara? Check. Two metallic cylinders that when connected to a black veil could be put on like headphones? Check. One metallic collar/necklace? Check. Two high heeled knee high boots? Check.
The last item of her outfit was a bit on the big side but fortunately her friend Lexi had long since mastered the art of taking the impossibly large weapons commonly featured in Japanese manga and finding a way to make it work. The weapon was basically a mace the size of a baseball bat or golf club with none of the spikes sticking out of it. Just a large brass-looking sphere with random holes in it that looked like spikes could be inserted into them if the cosplayer wanted them.
Remembering what Lexi had told her about a special feature, she looked about the long rod going from the large sphere down to the bottom where a featureless grey square of metal was attached for some kind of switch or button. Once she found it she pressed the button and was surprised to see the large brass sphere separate into eight separate sections and for a small green light to rapidly begin flickering on and off inside. When taking into account who she'd decided to dress up as, albeit a female version of that fictional being, she could only conclude that the light must be meant to simulate electricity.
Cool. Lexi outdid herself this time, she thought, pressing the button again to turn off the light and close the sphere back up.
With her costume on she left the changing room she'd chosen to see how the others were doing with their outfits. As soon as school had let out they'd gone straight to the auditorium where she'd handed each person their costumes, though for Angel she just handed his to Buffy to be delivered. It was still day outside and, while there was a sewer entrance in the library, there were too many people walking the halls for 'Deadboy'.
After all Snyder would be assigning elementary school kids to chaperones who had 'volunteered', so there'd be a good number of grumpy students willing to spread their misery around. They'd pick out Mister Hair Gel and Black Coat in a second.
Plus Snyder never could pass up another opportunity to spill his cesspool vocabulary onto another unwitting victim.
You'd think Buffy and the others would actually be grateful that their bet with Xander helped them slip Snyder noose, she thought, remembering how the meeting to review report scores had happened at the same time the principal was gathering 'volunteers', aka conscripts.
Guess she'd have to wait and see how they felt in their costumes.
When she entered the hallway outside of the changing rooms she could see that of the six who'd gone in only two were standing fully dressed and ready.
The first, predictably, was Xander, dressed as the Servant of the character Tohsaka Rin who, while of the Archer class, was also a potential future version of the manga's lead hero Emiya Shirou. Black body armor consisting of a sleeveless shirt possessing silver accents, black pants with a black strap on the thighs as well as shins and metal plated shoes. Then came the more colorful parts of the outfit, starting with the two red sleeves connected by a metal plate in back and a white cord in the front before moving onto an open skirt of the same color that ended at his shins while being held closed by another metal plate. It was a quality piece of work rather than something someone had to throw together on a VERY cheap budget, but then again Lexi did say she planned on making a career of it. Even had hopes of being picked up by one of the big movie studios down the road once she got good enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with those already employed.
If this is any indication, she'll be good enough in five years, tops, she thought as she looked up from the clothes to see that Xander had dyed his hair snow white, along with his eyebrows.
Add to that grey contact lenses and you had a damn good Archer costume, though why he didn't have the twin custom Niuweidao that Lexi had sent with the rest of the costume she didn't know.
"I have them wrapped in the bag the costume came in," Xander explained, realizing what she was looking for. "Didn't want to give Snyder a reason to come down on us on our way out."
Made sense even if it was a bit unlikely in her opinion.
Contrary to what many of the students of Sunnydale High School thought, Snyder didn't literally prowl the halls looking for unsuspecting teenagers to punish or serve up detention slips to.
As for the second person that had successfully managed to finish dressing in their costume, Rupert looked quite dashing even if he looked a bit uncomfortable in the white wig on his head. She'd been tempted for a time to just leave him with his own head of hair but decided to follow through with the manga theme. Like her outfit the costume wasn't based on a known character from the Japanese comic book but rather a famous literary figure that she'd thought Rupert might appreciate.
The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes.
The entire outfit was dark purple, could almost pass for black, with golden trim in all the right places along with a white scarf and some gloves to fit with the French aristocrat look. Add some fake jewelry that would imply wealth but not have people making comparisons between Giles and Liberace and you had a pretty decent costume for the lead character of Alexander Dumas' novel.
"Looking good, English!" she complimented, genuinely approving of how the costume looked on the British librarian.
"Thank you," Rupert said politely though he didn't quite lose his sense of discomfort. "While I will admit that I was somewhat concerned at what sort of penalty costume I would be forced to wear, this is… acceptable."
"Well, Xander and I figured that while there were some other options, we'd stand a better chance of getting you into something like this," she said with a small grin at some of the suggestions the teenager had tossed out during the brainstorming sessions regarding the costumes.
"Then I shall be thankful and not inquire as to what my fate might have been," Rupert said, wisely not giving either her or Xander an opening to divulge that particular clump of information.
Though the idea of the librarian walking about in the armor of a Greek warrior king accessorized with a fake red beard would've been entertaining to say the least.
Hearing the sound of one of the dressing rooms open, she looked over to see Willow exiting, looking uncomfortable in her costume but not spooked to the point of running back into the dressing room and locking herself inside.
The first and most notable things were the fox ears sticking out of the pink wig she had on her head and the fox tail that went from her waist down to about her knees. After that came the main outfit, though that was a little harder to describe since it didn't really match any normal type of clothing. The best way to describe it would be to call it a blue version of Mai Shiranui's outfit from the Fatal Fury game series except instead of the plunging V neck, it exposed skin from the top of the chest area to the shoulders. Add on sleeves that were attached covering the arms from the elbow to just past the wrists you had the stereotypical thigh high socks and you had some old school footwear that reminded her of platform shoes but looked more like sandals. All in all the outfit definitely made the redhead in disguise look taller and, while still somewhat conservative, the clothes helped put some distance between the teenage girl and her 'softer side of Sears' default look.
Hopefully this would illuminate to the right people, Willow included, that the girl was capable of being attractive given the right preparation and wardrobe.
"Not bad, Willow," Xander complimented, taking the entire outfit in. "You make a good kitsune girl."
Seeing the blush that popped up on Willow's face, she had to wonder if Xander realized that he'd just given a looks compliment to a girl who had a crush on him. As far as she knew it was obvious to just about everyone except, apparently, the teenage boy, so the only reason bets weren't being placed on when the guy would realize it was because it'd probably only embarrass Willow.
"Thanks," Willow said quietly but not quite at whisper level.
Any more pressure and the girl would probably faint.
The next revelations came as a pair as both Buffy and Cordelia exited their changing rooms at the same time, with the former looking more at ease with her costume than the latter.
For Buffy she just had a short haired brown wig, a primarily white kimono with red underclothing and a thick blue belt with a white cloud pattern adding to its beauty. Then, of course, there came the katana because it went against the laws of the universe for a Slayer to be completely unarmed and it probably made it easier for the blonde girl to accept her costume. It might not have been as majestic as say something from Beauty and the Beast but it still had a gracefulness to it just the same.
"Tomorrow I expect an apology from you for whatever sexy outfits you thought I was going to saddle you with," Xander said with mock offense.
"I'm sorry," Buffy said with a sigh but also with genuine regret. "I'll try not to assume the worst about you from now on."
"What about me?!" Cordy exclaimed, pointing at herself and sounding very displeased. "You might've gotten off easy but it's easy to tell his brain went right to the gutter with my costume!"
Looking at Cordelia, she had to admit that it would definitely be the highlight of the night of any guy who saw her, and possibly a few ladies who preferred female companionship.
A wig of long light purple hair that went down to the ankles, thigh high black boots with purple plates at the ankles as well as the top, a strapless black mini-dress, black gloves that went up to just under the armpits, a purple collar around the neck and lastly a purple visor that thankfully the cheerleader would have no trouble seeing through.
To someone who was ignorant of the Fate/Stay Night manga they'd never guess that this was the outfit worn by the Servant Rider, aka Medusa. Most people when they thought of Medusa they expected living snakes for hair and sometimes a serpentine tail from the waist down, but not in this case. Mentally she smirked at her suspicion about how Xander might've gotten introduced to the material but decided that, until she received confirmation, she'd keep it to herself.
"Well, since we're all in costume, let's head over to the Bronze," Xander said with an amused 'time for the other half of your punishment, smile. "They should be opening up for the evening's Halloween party and I want to make sure EVERYONE sees you in your costumes."
Rupert rolled his eyes, Buffy cringed a little bit, Willow's blushing spiked for a moment and Cordelia's glare made it pretty clear there'd be retribution for this down the road somehow.
All in all it looked like this Halloween was going to be lots of fun.
Spike's Warehouse
Shortly Before Sunset
Drusilla's POV
A world of ghosts and spirits it was.
That was the world she saw when she looked around her. Ghosts that were, ghosts that are and ghosts that might be in the future. The stars told her everything though sometimes they whisper ever so quietly that she could not understand what they were saying. Those were the quiet times when she spent time with her Spike or went for a walk for something to drink.
But yesterday the stars told her a wonderful secret.
Today the Slayer would be weak. Outsides would become insides. Everything switching.
That had made her Spike so happy. She liked it when he was happy and so did Miss Edith.
Spike planned on going out tonight to find the naughty Slayer and bring her back as dinner. Miss Edith had told her that Slayer blood was quite nummy and would help make her strong again. She wanted to be strong again. It was ever so hard just to get out of bed in the evening and impossible to do anything fun. Spike had even decided to get festive for All Hallows Eve and gone to the local shop to choose a costume.
It had been such a delight to see her childe choose a costume that let him pretend to be one of their old friends from London. She remembered having such a lovely time with him before leaving for Russia. She was saddened to learn upon returning years later that he'd been turned to dust by the grumpy old Greek for being too noisy. To see her Spike with top hat on and two shiny daggers ready to be used, she giggled with glee at the blood and the insides that would be brought outside in a lovely display.
It was then that the stars began to whisper louder to her.
They told her that something had changed in the last few hours; they told her that thanks to the winged messenger taking notice of the knavish Roman's plans, her Spike was in danger.
She had to stop him!
As much as she loved to see the red of others and hear bones crack, if she did nothing then her childe's dark soul would drown until it sparkled one last time before going poof.
Getting up from her chair she did her very best to get to Spike quickly but her cursed weakness made this difficult. Her head swam with her vision more than usual, forcing her to slow her pace so she could remain on her feet. It was frustrating but she remained determined, the stars continuing to tell her what would happen if her Spike left their dark little home. One step after another she took until she reached the talking boxes Spike had been looked at for when he went after the Slayer but sadly all that was there was the bag that his costume had been in.
The stars told her that now there was no hope now. Her Spike would fall to legion and be no more.
Then the stars whispered to her that she had a choice to make.
Would she remain in the warehouse and mourn the loss of her childe or would she follow him?
Fear welled up within her but it was not of oblivion, but rather of being alone.
Daddy wasn't daddy. Darla was ashes to ashes. Now Spike would be no more.
She would be alone.
And to be alone on the mouth of hell was the same as being dead.
What choice did she have?
With that she reached into the bag and took out a pair of leather gloves and a black-white handkerchief with a red jewel attached to it.
This, the stars told her, would do.
Ethan Rayne's Costume Shop
Shortly After Sunset
Ethan Rayne's POV
"Yes, yes! Have a happy Halloween!" he said, smiling his fake smile at the last batch of customers that he was politely pushing out the door. "Bye!"
As soon as the door was closed he locked it, flipped the sign to 'CLOSED' and then pulled the blinds so as to further emphasize that no one else would be purchasing anything today.
Or any other day because, despite the perk of tweaking the nose of his old chum Rupert, he wouldn't be going through all this rot if not for incentive he'd been offered. Yes, the incentive, it was indeed a prize that would allow him to take his fun to a whole new level but he couldn't for the life of him figure out how his current employer had come by it. It'd been long sought by practitioners of his preferred brand of sorcery and that artifact that would soon be his was more likely to be tripped over than found by someone actually looking for it. Indeed he'd been rather skeptical that the man could actually deliver but that had been laid to rest when his employer had reached into his right coat pocket.
The authenticity of the artifact was as clear to both his eyes and his arcane senses as knowing that he was alive. It had details in it that he had never seen in any of the fakes that peddlers had tried to dump on him and the metaphorical sound it made to his arcane senses felt very, very old.
From the moment he'd seen the artifact he'd applied himself to his task acquiring just the right accessories and just the right costumes to accomplish what he'd been hired to accomplish. Fortunately for him there were no too few bars where people from both the mundane world and the supernatural world came to drink or relax. A few questions led him to an employee of a major costume store chain who was down on his luck, making him the perfect patsy. All it'd taken in the end was a mild compulsion tied to a crystal bauble he'd had in his pocket and something that he'd claimed would make him look like his boss with just a magic word.
The glamor charm he provided would do precisely that but it could only be activated and deactivated ten times before it would lose the magic he'd placed in it.
Tough luck but that was what you got for mucking about and pressing your luck.
Once he'd acquired the costumes he'd gone to work, properly preparing them for Janus' power to be poured into them at the height of the ritual. His employer had sent bottles of some fluid that were to be placed on very specific accessories, with almost no two being the same. It made him wonder how the man could be so certain that the items would be purchased by the desired people but he just shrugged and did what he'd been told to do.
So long as he followed the orders of his employer to the letter, he'd get the artifact and that was all that really mattered.
Turning away from the door he started when, he saw just outside the back room where the ritual would take place, the very man who'd hired him to come to Sunnydale in the first place stood.
"Bloody hell!" he gasped, pressing a hand to his heart. "Would you please stop doing that?!"
The man had an infuriating tendency to pop up out of nowhere when he came to check up on the progress of the job and never failed to near give him a heart attack.
"Terribly sorry," the grey bearded man apologized with both hands on his black cane. "I was just so interested in finding out if all has gone as I wished."
He could tell that the man was more amused by once more getting a start from him than feeling genuinely sorry for startling him but he let it slide since soon he would have payment and be gone from the Hellmouth.
"Then you need not worry yourself. All of the items you wished got a bit from the bottles you sent me and the pretty bird you mentioned plucked all of them up. A neat trick, knowing exactly which ones she'd choose, but I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me how you knew?"
"I am a man of many talents," his employer replied with his enigmatic and amused smile.
I thought not.
If the man had some sort of trick or spell that let him glimpse into the future then he could see any number of uses for the power, ranging from wealth to simply staying one step ahead of the Watchers. Perhaps once he'd left Sunnydale and was sure of his own safety he would ask around to some of his more informed associates to see if they knew anything about the black clad man.
It always paid off to know who the players were in the arcane community.
"Did a vampire come by last night to procure a costume from you?" the white gloved man asked in a bit more of a serious tone.
"Indeed. The local vampire leader if what I've heard is right," he replied, remembering the odd late night visit that he'd been told MIGHT occur. "Gave him what you wanted set aside and he seemed quite pleased."
"Yes, I imagine he would be," his employer said with a hint of a malicious smile peeking out. "You have performed your job admirably thus far, Mister Rayne. Now all that is left is the ritual itself. I will leave you to it but I would advise that you take some time to mentally and physically brace yourself. Tonight will be a night unlike any other."
THAT was a bit foreboding and he made a mental note to take a gulp of a little pick me up potion he kept with him at all times for moments when he needed more than he had naturally. It had some unfortunate after effects sadly but with the defensive wards on the shop he would be safe enough.
"I shall take that under advisement," he said honestly and that was met with approval.
"Then I shall leave you to your work and find a nice spot to view the fireworks from," his employer said with his smile of amused anticipation easily reaching his blood red eyes. "Until later, Mister Rayne."
With that the man turned away as though to leave by the rear entrance of the shop but then something happened that had him wondering just how grand a thing it was that he'd agreed to be a part of. Without a gesture or a magic word a tear in space appeared before his employer and the best description he could come up with was it was like one of those children's toys you peeked through.
And as soon as his employer passed through the event horizon of the tear sealed back up in the blink of an eye, leaving him gaping at the area where the breach had been.
"Bloody hell…" he gasped as he slowly came back to himself.
For a moment he considered simply cutting himself loose and running for the hills but then he figured that even if he did a man who could open up tears in space with nary an effort would be able to find him easily.
In for a penny, in for a pound, he thought with a sigh before walking towards the back room to begin the ritual.
Such was the life of a man devoted to Janus and the amusement of chaos.
Sometimes you knew when to jump ship and sometimes you had no choice but to ride out the storm.
Rules.
Everything that existed had rules that it was meant to follow and even when something unanticipated happened the rules inevitably forced the anomalies back in line. In a way the rules made it difficult for anomalies to even occur since they were often like a pebble that eventually became a landslide. So long as the right forces went to work to keep the pebble from making things worse, for the most part any such disturbances remained fairly low key.
What happened next was DEFINITELY not one of those low key disturbances by anyone's definition.
It started out innocently enough with the chaos mage known completing a ritual that had been done dozens of times since it had first been created. Unlike what some might think there had indeed been a few times when it had been performed atop an active Hellmouth so there was nothing wrong with doing it in Sunnydale.
The trouble began when the energies of Janus made contact with ten specific people thanks to the unexpected interference of a deity and an old prankster.
Traditionally the Janus ritual only made changes that never ventured more than skin deep with those altered physically and mentally could barely be considered enough to fill a light novel. It was because of this that when the ritual came to an end nothing lingered for longer than a week: it was easier for a paper house to fade away than a properly constructed house. This was the reason why those that protected the balance allowed such a ritual to work in the first place.
It wasn't designed to last.
As the magic swam up the forms of the ten, their flesh began to change from a level invisible to the naked eye all the way up to the parts one would see of a stranger standing across the street. It was not a painless process for there was nothing involved that could be mistaken for a painkiller and for some, the changes were quite dramatic. Three of them lost roughly twenty centimeters of height, others gained muscle mass while others gained other things, but all of them lost something that they likely would miss dearly. However there were two things that all of them gained that truly existed at the very center of the calamitous Olympian energy and awesome arcane energy.
The first that they gained was power, power far beyond anything that'd been seen in an age, and the power was tailored to fit the fictional beings they were pretending to be. Whether it was physical power or magical power, the ten gained a level of both that few on the planet currently could match, with most of those owing their greatness to beings from other dimensions. If someone were to claim that the combined power of the ten could decimate a good sized army, they would not be all that far off whether those armies were of the supernatural world or not. One possessed an arcane attack strong enough to decimate even the strongest of stone fortresses while another possessed a method of attack capable of decimating all foes within a set area. Any one of the ten possessing such power would be formidable but if all of them were to ally against a common foe, feel VERY sorry for that foe.
The second, and likely the more profound thing, was the collision that occurred between two profoundly different beings that could very well be called different species. On the one side of things you had six humans, two vampires, a vampire Slayer and a young lady who was more than what she appeared to be. On the other, though, were beings that could only be those things in appearance but never in substance for they drew both from a well of power far beyond any Earthly source. While normally the ritual would not be trying so hard to take the first side and transform them into the second, the secret additions made at the request of Ethan Rayne's employer changed that. As a result what these ten had been prior to the ritual, all of which abided by the rules of the world, fought against what the ritual wanted to turn them into.
Turn them into something that most decidedly did NOT follow the rules of the world.
As the subtle tinkering of the mystery employer continued to influence the ritual, power was pulled from others who had bought their costume in part or in full from Ethan's Costume Shop. Funneled into the ten that were apparently the primary targets of the man the changes continued despite the efforts of both the afflicted and the world itself to force things back under the purview of the rules of the world.
In the end the framework of the ritual could not endure the war that was taking place between the rules of the world and what it was designed to do.
It shattered.
However while those who had only been lightly touched immediately reverted to who they had been before, the same could not be said of the ten that been revealed to be the true focus of the ritual. Nothing and no one so inundated with Olympian arcane energy laced with ominous mystical potions could ever return to that which they had previously been. They could only be what they now were: beings with a foot in two worlds, metaphorically speaking, and as such oddities.
No one could predict what path these ten would now walk down.
Not even the wisest of beings.
Not even the one who set the events of this All Hollow's Eve in motion.
The Streets of Sunnydale
Xander's POV
To be a hero of justice… to save everyone… the hypocrisy of a foolish dream…
The words echoed in his head even as he tried to bring the mess to some manner of order because, up until a few moments ago, his brain had more in common with a snow globe than a traditional human mind. All manner of memory, all manner of sensory input, felt like it had just been forced through his brain and, if his mind had been a computer, then it very nearly had crashed from the strain. Even though it felt as though it was still in one piece, he very much doubted that it had emerged unscathed from whatever the hellmouth had just happened to him.
Am I still sane or am I simply a madman who believes himself sane? He opened his eyes to once more take in the world beyond his body.
He nearly shut them again due to how abnormally bright the light of the stars but thankfully they adjusted swiftly enough even as he placed his hands on the ground to push him into a sitting position. As his strength was brought to bear he instantly knew that more than just his eyes had changed because never before did he feel such tightness and firmness in his limbs. As soon as he was in a comfortable sitting position he looked down at his arms and it was easy to see that crimson sleeves were fuller than he remembered seeing them in the dressing room. Looking to his legs, he found that the black pants were tighter than they'd been and were wrapped around muscles he did not recall creating through months of rigorous exercise.
He had changed in more ways than one.
Hearing the sound of something scraping against the street, he turned his head quickly for fear of some demon having snuck up on him.
But what he found was no demon but instead something decidedly strange yet familiar.
Looking at the person who he knew to be his best friend Willow, he saw the fake tail swinging back and forth behind her in manner indicating agitation. The logic of his mind told him it should not be moving since it was an artificial thing probably manufactured in a factory overseas. Then memory informed him that logic only commuted to Sunnydale whereas magic and the demonic had been residents since the town's founding. Obviously if he was right about something Hellmouthy changing him then it is equally possible that something could've changed Willow.
"Willow?" he asked to get her attention and confirm that it was indeed his best friend.
Immediately the fox girl turned to look at him, the ears on her head flicking in response to his voice.
"Yeah?" Willow replied, sounding uncertain of the answer.
If she felt anything like he did and had undergone the same degree of changes then that was understandable. The new sensations and unfamiliar body would be enough to make anyone uncertain of who they were and perhaps what they were.
It was then that a fact rose to the top of his consciousness that he couldn't believe he'd forgotten about: the others.
He'd forgotten about not only Buffy, Cordy, Giles, and Miss Calendar but also the two that they'd bumped into along the road to The Bronze: Missus Summers and Dawn.
It'd been a surprise to be sure, especially since Dawn had chosen to approach from their blindside and tackle him from behind. She came closer than most would think to knocking him on his ass and the reason became obvious when he'd looked down at her.
She'd been dressed in the costume that made her looked like a female knight, complete with sword, and for a moment he'd wondered if chance had made it so Artoria Pendragon had been added to the mix. However when she'd stepped back allowing him a better look at her he'd realized that the design of the armor and even the coloring was very different from the saber of the manga. Red, black, silver and gold were the primary colors used. As for appearance, if Artoria's armor could be considered regal, beautiful and inspiring, then the armor that Dawn was wearing emphasized combat and power. When he'd spotted the helmet hanging on her back, she'd said that it'd come with the costume but that the eye slits had been so small that her mom had told her not to wear it.
It'd been then that the aforementioned woman had made her presence known and it'd been right then that he'd known without a doubt that the saber of Fate/Stay Night had arrived. With the holy sword Excalibur in hand and dressed in mostly blue, white and silver, Missus S gave him a picture of what Artoria might've looked like had she not become king until much later. With some hair dye to provide an anime level of blonde and even a decent job braiding it, he'd been impressed. When he'd made an offhand comment about Saber and King Arthur he'd found out that they'd had no clue about that and had just chosen their outfits because they'd looked high quality.
Both then and now he had to smirk at how chance could bring about the oddest outcomes.
Looking about the immediate area, his smirk transformed into shock as he beheld a sight that made him wonder just how bad their current situation was. In terms of overall size most of them were the same… except for Missus S and Dawn. Both of them, while dressed in surprisingly more realistic looking armor, had lost easily eight or nine inches.
Well, there go any short jokes Dawn might've dreamt up for Buffy, he thought offhand as he figured that now it was the Slayer who had a slight edge in that department.
Another thing he noticed when he looked at the group that was slowly regaining their mental equilibrium was that their ages did not match what he remembered. Dawn looked more like someone who'd just graduated from college whereas Missus S was now of an age where she could be called a slightly older sister to Dawn's college graduate instead of the mother. The others among the changed were different in ages as well but only to a lesser degree of a few years rather than a decade or more.
Other than that he only saw cosmetic changes like hair or eye color with the rest remaining as he recalled them being before.
They, like he, had been changed to more closely match the ones they'd been pretending to be albeit in real life rather than in anime style.
"Everyone… okay?" he asked, getting the attention of those who that'd been thrown for a loop.
"I feel a little strange but…" Missus S replied before falling silent with a look of surprise on her face.
He knew why.
If he and the other Scoobies were surprised by the changes they'd undergone then those who were ignorant of the truth of Sunnydale would be completely struck dumb. Missus S had been completely in the dark about the supernatural as had Dawn and, despite his belief that safety rested with knowledge, Buffy had insisted that her family remain in the dark about vampires and demons. While he could see her point a view, the preservation of a little slice of normality amongst the craziness, he did not share the blonde Slayer's obsession with such things. Besides that, he believed that no slice of normal life was equal to the lives of loved ones.
If the only way that their lives could remain safe lay in informing them of the dangers that they had previously been ignorant of, he would sacrifice the slice of normalness in an instant.
Getting to his feet as best he could, he knew that he needed to take charge of the situation or the distress over the changes would lead to chaos.
"I know this is a lot to take, Missus S, but you need to stay calm," he said, slowly approaching her so as not to startle her. "No problem gets solved if the people who need to solve it lose their heads."
"B-but…how?" Missus S asked as she followed his lead in getting to her feet. "How is this possible? It shouldn't be possible."
"I know and I don't have all the answers. I wish I did," he replied, placing comforting hands on her shoulders, "but I promise we'll all work together to find the answers. Everything'll be okay."
"No, young man," came a voice that filled him with dread and wariness. "It will not."
At once the ground shook, sending those who had not yet succeeded in getting back to their feet once more to the ground and those on their feet fought to maintain their footing. They were no stranger to earthquakes, it was California after all, but at the same time those who lived upon the Hellmouth knew that such events often served as a warning for bad things.
When things settled down a bit he thought it might be over but then the ground shook again, this time more violently than before forcing all who stood to lower their stances in order to stay off their backs.
This was not good.
"What's going on?!" Willow exclaimed even as she fought to stay standing on platform shoes.
"That would take quite a long while to explain, dear girl, but simply put: Gaia is awakening," the voice from before said and this time he forced himself to both look at the owner and maintain his footing.
What he saw did not improve his disposition.
Standing a little under twenty feet away was an old man of fifty years or so, with a perfectly trimmed beard and red eyes that memories that did not belong to him connected to the term 'Dead Apostle'. The clothes the man wore were dominantly black with grey trim, a waist length cape held together by golden rope, white gloves and in one hand a black cane that currently was planted in the ground.
All this added up to one thing, a name that stood out in his mind born of memories he should not have, and it made him wonder if he should credit this man with the excitement of tonight.
Who was he?
Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.
Zelretch of the Jewels.
Or, as he was more infamously referred to, Kaleidoscope.
"What do you mean Gaia's awakening?" he asked as more information sprung forth from his mind that he was fairly sure that he hadn't known that morning.
Gaia was the will of the Earth, the planet's intrinsic wish to survive and prosper. Paired with Alaya, the collective unconscious will of mankind to avoid extinction, the two served as balance keepers to prevent the end of the world. It was to these wills that he… no… no, that Archer Emiya Shirou made a deal on the eve of a calamity that threatened to kill one hundred people. Archer Emiya would become a hero capable of producing miracles and become a Heroic Spirit after death if 'the World' as the two wills were collectively known would give him the strength he needed.
The memory of what happened after that slipped away but still he had enough info to speak on.
"This is not Archer Emiya's world! Gaia and Alaya do not exist here!" he said even as a fear took form in the pit of his stomach.
These days back to nature types and wannabe shaman might speak of worshipping Gaia but nothing he'd seen in Sunnydale or heard of from Giles had led him to believe that any spirit comparable to Archer Emiya's memories existed here.
"You are correct. The Gaia and Alaya you are probably thinking of, Archer Alexander, do not exist here," Kaleidoscope agreed with a nod of his head.
This act caused the fear he felt to begin fading away.
"However that does not mean that their counterparts do not exist here," Zelretch of the Jewels said with an amused smile on his face. "Fortunately for you Gaia is the only one you need worry about now."
KR-ACK!
Lightning danced across the sky with more strength than almost any other time he could remember in his life.
"For a little while at least," Kaleidoscope said, looking up with a hint of seriousness. "After all, the dead don't worry about anything, or so I hear."
"Xander? Who is this guy?" Buffy asked, sounding a little off but still disliking being kept in the dark.
"Well, he's either a guy from another reality or someone pretending to be a guy from another reality," he replied, not liking how things were beginning to add up. "As for the rest, Gaia and Alaya in the Fate universe were the wills of mankind and the planet. When those two get up to something places like Atlantis disappear from the maps, busy cities drop to a population of zero overnight and sometimes the right people as well as the right things are maneuvered in place to keep the world spinning."
"So basically the guy's a liar and likes playing tricks." Buffy concluded, obviously not accepting anything that didn't fit in her own personal world. "He's probably the one that did this to us."
"I will admit that the timing of your arrival is a little too perfect," Giles said, shifting from his British accent to a light French accent.
The last bit caused the Englishman to grimace a bit.
"Perceptive. However that does not change the fact that your new forms are acting like a stick poking a sleeping Gaia," Kaleidoscope said with a nod of respect. "If your superiors have told you anything about the final battle with the Old Ones, Mister Giles, then you know that it is best if she remains asleep."
"Giles?" he asked, wanting to learn more even if he hadn't quite decided if he wanted to believe that this man really was Kaleidoscope.
"Sadly very little is known about that battle. Scrolls and tablets were the primary means by which information was recorded and neither whether the passage of time very well," Giles said, turning to look at him. "From what little has survived it was a fierce battle but the strength of the combined spirits of mankind tapped into the power of the very planet to banish the Old Ones that could not be sealed away."
"Human willpower and the power of the planet," he said, seeing the Watcher's words as further fuel for what Kaleidoscope had said. "Sounds like a variation of Alaya and Gaia to me. But that doesn't explain why it's bad for Gaia to wake up."
"Doesn't it, young archer? In order to banish beings as powerful as the Old Ones, a great deal of power was required. Some of it might have come from this reality's variation of Alaya but the majority of it came from Gaia. So much so that it placed the goddess of the Earth in a sort of mystic coma," Kaleidoscope said, raising his left eyebrow in challenge. "She did this knowing she would be forced to rest for a long time in order to recover. She placed her trust in your reality's Alaya to guide the mortal races that fought against the Old Ones and care for them until she woke. Given how your world currently is, how do you think she will react?"
"Not well I would imagine," Giles replied, instead looking quite worried.
"Giles?" Willow asked, obviously not far behind him.
"Even if we only take known recorded history into account, it does not paint humanity in a favorable light, Willow," Giles replied, reaching up for his glasses only to find them missing. "While I cannot say for certain what sort of future this 'Gaia' expected to come into being as she slipped into a coma, I presume it would be one that victors in a war would be grateful for. A future of peace, prosperity and a fading of all that came before into memory."
"Yet instead of bringing that sort of future into being the unity has fractured, conflicts of all sizes sprouting up multiple times a century and people adopting the practices of those that'd been banished," Kaleidoscope said with a frown of disapproval. "That's not even touching on the pollution and the various species of animals and plants that have gone extinct."
"So she's going to be a little grouchy," Cordelia said, sounding a little wary but not as worried as Giles did. "We'll just tell her we're doing our best and to go back to bed for another thousand years."
"She will be more than 'grouchy', Miss Chase," Giles reprimanded, looking like he sorely wished he had his glasses at the moment. "Deities, especially the strongest among them, are not human though they have appeared before humans in such forms. They are a different existence and as such have different ways of thinking and feeling. It is not unheard of for them to lay waste to an entire kingdom for what we might consider a mild insult. Given Gaia's reputation throughout the ages then she is indeed powerful and has more than sufficient reason to take offense with the human race's actions."
RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!
"If she keeps up with the earthquakes, everyone in California is going to have a reason to be offended with her," Dawn said as the most violent quake yet almost took her off her feet.
"You are thinking too small, young lady," Kaleidoscope said, glancing past them for a moment. "These ground quakes are not confined to California and neither is the lightning in the skies. The entire planet is experiencing them and they will only get worse as time passes."
"So all this… is basically Gaia grumbling and moving before waking up?" Missus S asked, entering into the conversation.
"Yes," Kaleidoscope said gently as he understood how fragile the woman's mind likely was at the moment.
"How bad is it going to get?" Willow asked even though he suspected her mind was already coming up with likely scenarios.
"Chaos and destruction will flow over the planet," Kaleidoscope replied, showing mild grimness. "People will die, will suffer and will take many years to set right even if Gaia goes back to sleep."
All of them, everyone there, were no doubt using Hollywood movies to envision a world thrown into chaos by earthquakes and violent lightning. He knew he was and after a bolt of lightning dropped from the heavens to strike a nearby house, causing it to explode as though a bomb had gone off inside there was just one question to ask.
"How do we stop that from happening?" he asked even though his instincts already knew if the sinking feeling in his stomach was anything to go by.
No one was going to like the answer.
Of that he was sure.
Note: Before any of you say anything I am aware that Servants as they're depicted in the anime are what could be considered 'overpowered' when compared to what can be found in Middle Earth. Don't worry. I've already come up with a way to make things more even and therefore more interesting.
