Royalty
Cilia

Author's note: Right, many years ago I wrote a sprawling story that started with a little one called Royalty and the overall story was never finished. So now many years later I'm going back to what started it all for me on the BtVS fan fiction writing scene. Now I've got it planned out, so it's time to bring this puppy home one last time before I get too old to be legally allowed to write stuff like this.

My plan is to rewrite the entire original series of stories into a tighter and more focused narrative. Using the plot and most of the dialogue from those old stories of mine, while at the same time tightening up the overall storytelling style hopefully making sure it flows better. Let us hope that works.

Finally don't go looking for any solid connections to the show itself here, some of this stuff was originally written back in 1999 before we even had things like a chipped and souled Spike, one eyed Xander or a fun witchy Willow, so a lot of this was and is just me taking our beloved characters from early on in their lives and running with them like crazy. Now enjoy!

Prologue: Time for a change

Just like every other night, Buffy Summers, the Vampire Slayer, fresh out of high school, patrolled the cemeteries of Sunnydale. Her best friend Willow Rosenberg tagging along acting as bait and backup, and it was a well practiced routine by now.

Willow acted the lost and upset girl, the bad mean vampires showed up and Buffy kicked their butts, but tonight something was different. As Willow hit behind a headstone watching Buffy dispatch her would be attackers. That's when the little voice that had been nagging at her ever since that business with Anya and Cordelia making that stupid wish, started whispering sweetly to her again.

Just do it, the little voice in the back of her head whispered to her as Willow struggled to her feet almost not in control of herself. It's so easy just point and say it. Just like in the books you've been sneaking out of the library the seductive voice in the back of her head insisted. Oh doesn't' she look pretty too, go on help your pretty Buffy the voice teased her. Willow shook her head and bit down hard, but slowly and shaking like a leaf she raised her hand pointed at the vampire her friend was fighting and uttered one word.

"Burst…" she whispered and then she gasped feeling as if the air was being sucked out of her lungs. The raw magical energy built up in her, gathered at her fingertip and then burst out in a flash of brilliant green light.

Buffy was thrown to the ground as the force of Willow's magic slammed into the vampire's chest, knocking it on its backside and then it, with a confused look on its face, staggered to its feet. Fingering the green glowing ball of magic embedded in its chest, the bloodsucker while turning to attack Willow exploded not into dust, but into a shower of gore and bodily bits. Without even thinking Willow threw up a hasty shield of glimmering green energy, like a bubble around herself, as the vampire bits splattered against it like bugs on a windshield before turning to dust.

"Willow?" her best friend asked and looked at her wide eyed and Willow could feel the uncertainty and fear radiating of her friend, although the fear she was feeling was much greater. It wasn't the first time Willow had sensed fear or uncertainty in Buffy, but it was the first time she'd felt it directed at her.

"I got to…" Willow turned and she was about to run away when she felt her friend's hand on her shoulder and she took in a sharp breath.

"Willow is there something you want tell…" Buffy didn't' get to finish her question as Willow spun around, eyes blazing with green flames and slammed her glowing hand flat against Buffy's chest.

"I said; I've got… to go!" she shouted and the next thing Buffy felt was a massive release of energy as she was hurled back against a headstone, breaking it cleanly in half in a shower of broken marble.

"Willow…" she coughed and struggled to get to her feet. By the time she'd shook of the aftereffects of Willow's mystical whammy and started looking around she saw nothing but the dust of the vampire and a burnt circle in the ground where Willow had thrown up her shield. "Giles!" she said to herself as she ran for the Watcher's house and full speed.

Once Buffy was gone Willow peaked out from behind a tall tombstone and looked around the destruction she'd caused, then a lock of her hair fell in front of her face.
"Uh…" she muttered as she took hold of a silvery lock of her hair and her eyes went wide as she turned and darted for home. "Not good…" she muttered to herself over and over again as she raced for home. She raced for safety knowing that no place near the Hellmouth or Buffy could be safe for her now.

Rupert Giles was many things; a watcher, a father figure to a whole host of young men and women, a lover of good tea and he could play the guitar and sing. What he was now however was nervous; he was sitting at his desk, studying a long wooden box that had showed up on his doorstep that same day. He slowly opened it, peaking at the contents as if they would in some way be harmful to him.

"Why now of all days," he muttered to himself and then flung the lid on the box open and ran his fingertips across a very elegantly crafted sword made of blue steel that was almost black in color.

He heard a frantic knock at his door and closed the box then he heard a loud crack just as he was about to stand up to get the door. Then his Slayer, correction of his primary Slayer ever since Faith had been turned towards the light, burst into the room

"Buffy what is the matter?" he asked seeing her obvious state of panic as Buffy gestured around while still holding onto the handle and bits of his front door, pointing in the direction of the cemetery.

"Willow… whammy… magical badass… vampire explode-o!" she blurted out and his eyes went wide and then they both jumped as lightening crashed outside, with not a cloud in the sky and green tint to it, it sounded like it came from somewhere across town near where Willow lived. Then in keeping with his reserved nature he calmly took of his glasses and started to polish them.

"I see… is that my door handle?" he asked as Watcher and Slayer wondered just what had gotten into their sweet Willow.

Willow stared out of the window of the bus she'd caught out of town after hastily packing and leaving a note for her parents. She wondered if they'd even notice as she caught a glimpse of the: You are now leaving Sunnydale sign and then the bus was speeding towards San Francisco. She had an address for a coven there that would take her in, she'd had it for a while, and they had said they would teach her what they could in exchange for her knowledge of the Hellmouth.

Yet this was not the way she'd imagined leaving. She'd planned on telling Buffy that night, she'd planned on it being less explode-y, she'd planned on asking Buffy to come with, she'd planned on telling Buffy a lot of things.

Sighing she closed her eyes for a short nap, ran her renewed promise of always to be calm and in control through her mind and waited for the bus to pull in at the station on the other end, far away from it all, but she kept seeing Buffy's face so full of uncertainty and fear. Murmuring that it would all be better in a few weeks, it would all be so much better. She opened her eyes and saw her reflection in the glass, three silvery streaks in her otherwise red hair, she closed he eyes, it would be better, and she would make it so.

To be continued in Chapter 1: Where in the World is Willow Rosenberg…