AN- Hey there! First Buffy Fic! First fic on this site, actually. Okay, please read and review, flames are allowed but please don't go too hard on me! This will hopefully be the first in a trilogy, the second story being "Legacy of the Present", and the third being "Survivors of the Future". Sorry if it takes me a while to update, I'm still just getting the hang of this site...

Summary-I know the story might be confusing at first, and it doesn't strictly follow what is in Buffy, but it's my take on it. This is basically around 25 years after the end of season 7, Angel was killed at the end of AtS, but he was brought bak human as a reward [bare with me here, I'm not a huge AtS fan, and know little of it and thus Buffy and he were able to, y'know, copulate. They had twins, Kennedy and Aria. Tara was only wounded in 'Seeing Red', and the events still take place like they do in the proceeding episodes, but just askewed slightly. By divine means, Willow and Tara had a daughter, Samantha. There's another character, my own creation, named Taylor. She's roughly the same age as Tara in this body, her soul's much older however. Complicated there, but there might be a prequil to this story centering on her. Kathryn is her daughter with another character who's mostly out of the picture right now. I think this may be too long! Just... read. Don't take my summary for the story, it's going to be much more [I hope!

Disclaimer: I don't own any Canon Buffy the Vampire Slayer stuff... yet... you just wait, Joss, someday, it will be mine! But seriously, the only things I own are the things I've made up. Don't sue, please.

Chapter 1-Remnants of the Past

Darkness. Nothing other. Not even a hint of light, a soft glow from the moon, or even starlight. Nothing. She stands on the tips of her toes, expecting to see something outside the barred window. Nothing. She shivers slightly, sitting on the damp and dirty floor. She closes her eyes tight and tries to make her mind go blank. A small sigh escapes her lips, but she silences it quickly. If they let her see nothing, then she would let them see nothing. The familiar darkness once again enters her mind as she leans against the cool wall. Her once bright eyes have long since dimmed, her once beautiful hair now matted and knotted, and her once built body has slimmed to what would appear to be unhealthy, but under closer inspection it's still made up of all muscle. Even her mind is less than what it was. The only thing that has not degraded is her will, her passion, her fury, her love, her emotions. They are there, but they aren't apparent. Her eyes, hair and body are physical, and easy to lose. Her mind is mental, easy to corrupt, but her emotions, her emotions are instinctive, primal, unchanging.

She doesn't know much now, except that she wants them to pay, she needs them to pay for what they did, what they took. Although the memories of what actually happened and what occurred in the aftermath are long since hidden within the depths of her subconscious, she knows that much. She knows only one other thing as pure as their need to pay; that she will make them.

X

In the beginning, there was only nothing. That is how everything came to be, how everything was birthed. Without nothing there would not be something. To have one, you must have the opposite. At one point nothing and something became one. Much like the creatures that were born from the Joining. Nothing brought The Hollow, the dark. Something brought The Spirited, the light. Yin and Yang. Being dark or light does not necessarily mean evil or good, it just means alternate. Naturally, they began to struggle to become dominate, as everything and everyone that has an opposite will and always has. If something is truly opposite from another, then a war between will result in nothing but a draw. This is not the case. With The Hollow and The Spirited, one gained an edge. The Spirited found that it was not always an advantage to be such; they soon found some falling from ranks, joining The Hollow and even combining. Eventually many of the two became indistinguishable from one another. Almost all had some of the other within themselves. There were still some pure left, but their numbers declined, pushing their status higher in their hierarchy. The war between all took a different direction, no longer all honourable or truthful. The now few pure Daemons and Aengels were disgusted at what they had created, this bastardization of what they had once stood for. The Hollow Daemons and The Spirited Aengels left this plane of existence, leaving few, if any, behind. Thus grew the world we are in now. Within all you see, even those you don't, are traces of The Hollow and The Spirited. Most are so muddled with each other they have nothing that the originals had. There are a high number with the Gifts, but with some it remains unbidden, secluded within a part of themselves they will never access. There are also many who have embraced the Gifts. Some take no sides, remaining keepers between the balance, whilst some choose dark or light. Many more mistake the choices for evil and good. Some of the Originals even take these sides. The only ones that remain true to the Originals are the Null. They are nothing and everything, an equal balance between. Observers, nothing more. Ones with too much blending are now known as Humans; the ones with distinctive or even strands of Original are known as Demons, Archangels, and number of things other, gaining attributes specific to their mix. With sides growing in power, some were made that targeted the opposite specifically; ones infused with higher power of one side to destroy the other. Slayers take the light offensive to the Darks' Hunters.

By being labelled one or the other, you aren't choosing a side; it is not in the name or the Gift, but the wielder. This is a tale of the Gifted, of Demons and Angels, but most of all, of choices.

X

"Come on! Hurry up!" 22 year old Kennedy Summers' voice rang out in the forest as she ran along at a brisk pace, her long, black-brown hair flying behind her. Matching eyes twinkled, a smile reaching them. Her twin, Aria, kept pace behind her, neither of them showing any signs of strain. Two others lagged back from the other two.

"I can tell she's really enjoying this." Kathryn Nika whispered to her cousin as the two of them went slower, her naturally highlighted brown hair nicely commenting her brown, green, and blue literally mixed eyes. Kat was also 22, her cousin only months younger than her at 21, and the twins only a month and a half older than Kathryn.

"You think? She doesn't realize that we aren't all as strong as she and Aria are," Samantha Maclay smiled sadly, "and, well, at least I'm not. You, on the other hand, you have gifts ad you still choose not to use them." Kat looked at her cousin, her eyes studying her high cheekbones, dirty blonde hair, and pure blue eyes, with the barest hints of green flecking the rims. She was of average height and had a good build, but she was showing signs of exertion. Her cheeks were flushed, but she wore a smile. Kathryn on the other hand looked much like their friends; relaxed and at ease with the exercise.

"I told you, I... I just don't, y'know, like, using them. My powers," she sighed then continued "they aren't-"

"Good?" Sam cut her off "Kat, no matter what a seven million year old prophecy says, you and your powers aren't evil." she finished, a cross and stubborn look settling on her fine features.

"It's seven thousand, not million, years. And I'm not sure about me -them- whatever, being good. Remember Jackson?" Kathryn said, trailing off, her eyes downcast.

Sam stopped running at this remark, prompting her cousin to do the same. Kennedy and Aria kept running, oblivious to their friends, or perhaps they knew all too well what was happening, but chose to stay separate from it.

"Kat, that was... complicated, to say the least. He was hurting me. It was my fault. You were just protecting me, doing what I would do for you, what anyone who loves another would do."

"Never, ever, say that it was your fault." Kathryn said, her eyes angry but pleading at the same time. "What Jack was doing was of his own will, not of yours. I know he was hurting you, it's just that that doesn't make it right. I should've let him suffer, I shouldn't have lost control like that, rather than-" Kathryn tried to get the last part out, but her words were cut short by Samantha's exasperated tones.

"Please, Kat. Stop. I don't blame you for what you did, neither do Tara or Willow, your mother didn't, or pretty much anyone else!" Sam finished, placing a comforting arm on her older cousin. Kathryn meant like to shrug it off, but she suppressed the urge. Sitting down on the damp moss covered forest floor, she sighed. Sam followed her lead, taking her place on a rock opposite her cousin. The two cousins shared a look, a mix of sadness and regret. Finally, Kathryn spoke.

"What you said before, that's exactly true; pretty much no one else blames me. Pretty much in particular Buffy, and Xander, and Anya. The only reason that they tolerate me being under the same roof as their children is because it was Moms "dying wish" and everything, and because Tara and Willow are vouching for me. I can't even hope for having a shot with… well, you know. Do you think that it would ever, in seven million or thousand years, fly with Buffy that I'd be dating anyone related to her, much less her child?" Kat finished her rant, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She sighed once again and brushed them away. Looking into the depths of the forest to avoid her cousins eyes, she saw something blur across her line of sight. It would've been too fast for anyone with just human perception to notice, but Kathryn sure as hell caught it. Apparently, so did Sam.

"Manifesto." The slight word parted from Sams lips, barely a whisper. The wind rushed up around the two, and Kat could only hope that Kennedy and Aria were out of range of whatever this creature was, and hoped that it didn't have any accomplices. Suddenly in front of them…

X

Dun-dun-duuunn... Cliffhanger. Kind of. More will follow soon, don't worry.