Title: The Lost
City Of Atlantis
Chapter: One
Rating: NC-17
Pairing:
Willow/Kate, Tara/Willow/Buffy
Status: Complete
Time line: Last
seen episode
Spoilers: Maybe
Beta Readers: Dark Gremlin
Author:
Aeris Jade Orion
Co-Author: Dark Gremlin
Summary: Willow
decides that she needs to get away from the hell mouth for a
while,
so when her Archeology professor asks her to go on a six month trip
to
find the lost city of Atlantis, she agrees. But when they get
there, the
paradise of mythology they were expecting, turns into a
nightmare unlike
anything that she's experienced at home.
Notes:
This story is Willow/Kate, but the sequel will be
Tara/Willow/Buffy,
and
yes you will need to read this to
understand the sequel. This is also in
response to Gremlins pleas
that I put her into one of my stories.
Disclaimer: Willow
belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant enemy productions, and
Paramount
studios.
Man,
it was hot. No that was wrong it was absolutely roasting, and then
some.
Which was somewhat weird since the condensed forest didn't
let much of the sun
light in, keeping it dim and sort of beautiful
in it's own way. Except for the
fact that it felt like it was
about two hundred degrees, and that wasn't even
including the
humidity.
Then there were the noises. The sound of the wind
rustling through the trees
and overgrowth. The distant thunder of
the river, and the chatter of the
animals. It was...unlike
anything she'd ever heard before.
On the first day Willow had
done everything to keep from letting the heat beat
her. She'd kept
the heavy safari shorts and t-shirt on, but by mid afternoon
she
was covered with so much sweat that she looked like she'd dived head
first
into the river. By the second day she had Kate cut her hair
short, and
stopped wearing shirts all together, instead opting for
her sports bra. On the
third day, Kate had taken it upon herself
to throw all her safari shorts into
the river, leaving her with
only the light nylon shorts she'd been using for
sleeping.
After
the fourth day, her muscles were in such pain and so over used
they
were practically rubber. She found that her body had swollen
up from the new
muscles that were developing. But that was over a
month ago. Now she was
adjusting to her new, more athletic body,
and she was no longer embarrassed by
her attempts to keep
cool.
Of course, by now she was used to the temperature and
the need to wear so
little. The humidity at the best of times was
painful, and deadly to material
of all kinds. An unfortunate fate
they'd discovered one morning after washing
certain unmentionables
in a local stream.
" Hey, Will? Have you seen my flashlight?"
The short haired red head blew on the dust
covering the ancient altar, barely
acknowledging the colleges
track star. " Kate has it."
" Damn it, why doesn't she get her own already?"
" That's a little
hard considering we're about a thousand miles from the
nearest
store."
The bald African American runner stopped beside
her to get a look at the
writing that she was working on. "
Yeah, well, she should've thought of that
before she got here."
"
You're the one that threw her flashlight into the foliage." She
liked the
prankster, he reminded her a lot of Xander, including
his habit of doing things
that backfired on him.
" Hey, how was I supposed to know that it would get lost?"
" To quote you. You should've thought about that before..."
" Yeah, yeah. Sure, take her side."
She paused in her work
to watch Mike continue grumbling on his way out of the
chamber.
She really couldn't fault him. They'd been in the Congo for a
month,
and there wasn't a lot a person could do in the middle of
the primitive forest.
Despite the attention consuming
surroundings, it did get a little tedious.
Before she could
get back to work, a tall lean platinum blonde with electric
blue
highlights scrambled into the room through the crawl space under
the
statue of Poseidon, with a cheeky grin that reminded her of a
certain ex-
vengeance demon after one of her public trysts with
Xander.
" Where's Mikey?"
Willow snorted at Kate's behavior. " You just missed him."
"
Awesome." Kate giggled softly, plopping down next to the altar
while she
worked. " So? Whatcha doing?"
Willow
picked up the larger brush and began to sweep at the dirt in
the
cracks. " You are way too happy." She paused and
glared suspiciously at her
friend. " What did you do
now?"
Kate gasped in shock, grabbing her chest. "
Why, madam, I am hurt. Why I
would never..." She stopped at
the red heads cocked eyebrow. " Oh alright.
Let's just say
that Mikey will never touch my stuff again. At least for a while
that
is."
" Kate wh..."
" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! KATEEEEEEEEE!!!"
"
Whoops. That's my cue to scoot. Later hon." Kate slapped her
shoulder lightly then
took off into a sprint through the back
hall.
Seconds later a black streak shot by her, with a roll of
toilet paper hanging
by the skin of his palm, and in his other
hand... She laughed violently at the
sight of him with his hand
stuck on his zipper, or was it in?
" I never should've
encouraged them to come." Dr. Stone followed Mike into
the
chamber from the entrance, her expression anything but amused.
She
smiled kindly at the grey haired professor. Dr. Stone was without a
lot
of the social etiquette needed to survive, reminding her of
Anya, but she was
still nice. Just a little rough.
" They're
just restless. We've been doing
nothing but walking and working
for the last month."
" Yes, but that is what they
signed on for, not playing around." Dr. Janice
Stone glanced
at the inscriptions that she'd already uncovered. " I'm glad
to
see that someone is responsible around here."
"
Oh, I recognize most of the words too." Willow promptly dropped
the brush
and grabbed her small note book.
" Really?"
" Yeah, the first part says. ' The seeker
of the city of the fallen god,
shall find the entrance below their
feet. ' " She flipped the page to check the
words against the
altar.
" And?"
" The next part is some
sort of warning." She dropped the note pad and
squinted at
the faded carvings. " But use.. knowledge with caution, for
the
city is hidden not for it's protection, but those who are
strangers."
" Anything else?"
" I won't know until I finish cleaning away the dust."
Dr. Stone eyed her for a long moment. " You're a curious one."
" What do you mean?"
" How does a twenty year old know so many languages?"
" Oh, I collect old books. You
just sorta pick it up after a while, you
know?"
"
Yes, I suppose I do." Dr. Stone stood back up. " You know,
my assistant is
leaving the university when this is over."
" What? Why?"
" He's gotten a better offer. What I'm
getting at is that I believe you
should apply for the
position."
" But I'm still in college and..."
"
Willow, you have an eye for this. Besides, it doesn't matter. Half
an
archaeologist schooling is done in the field."
" And the other half?"
" In the library." Dr.
Stone clapped her shoulder then strode away, leaving
her more
puzzled than she was to begin with.
She shrugged at the air
around her. Things were just getting started, but
they seemed to
get crazier by the minute. " Next thing I'll know, I'll
fall
down some hidden tunnel and get all bruisy and..."
She
leaned against the head of Poseidon on the altar, squeaking as it
moved
in.
" Me and my big mouth. Eeeeek!!" The
floor under her feet opened up, sending
her into a plummet into
endless darkness rushing over her body. Years of
fighting evil
kicked her instincts into over drive, and she balled up throwing
her
body into a roll the minute she hit the ground.
She grunted as she impacted with some sort of statue, head first.
" WILL!! Are you down there?!!?"
" You don't have to
shout you know." The ex-witch shook her body out like a
dog,
then crawled over to where her flashlight had landed. " Yeah,
I'm down
here alright, and I've got the ouchies to prove it."
" Hey, are you okay?"
She squinted up at the entrance about five foot above her head. " I'll live."
She turned
slowly in a circle, running the beam of light over the area
around
her. " Ohmygod."
" What is it? What's
down there?" Kate leaned further in, her short spiked
hair
glinting slightly.
" It looks like some sort of.."
She trailed off as she caught sight of a
series fully colored
cartoons on the floor. But around them were four tunnels.
Each one
running in a different direction. North, south, east, and west.
Each
tunnel seemed to be about fifty yards wide and made of
thickly made stones.
" It's a system of tunnels."
"
Well, Miss. Rosenberg, it seems that you also have the touch for
this
also." Dr. Stone dropped down through the passage. "
Mike is getting the rope
ladder."
Willow paused in her
examination of the floor paintings. " Shouldn't we
finish
studying the upper parts of the guard post?"
" James
will be staying behind with the others to finish here. In
the
meantime I want to find out where these tunnels lead."
"
I agree with Willow. I don't think it's safe." Kate dropped down
into the
tunnel.
" I don't recall asking your
opinion." Dr. Stone snapped, then glared up at
Mike as he let
the rope ladder unroll. " Hurry up, we've only got a few
hours
left before the sun sets."
The track star
dropped Willow's and Dr. Stones, small hiking packs into the
cavern,
then proceeded to climbed down. " So which tunnel?"
The
professor snatched up her pack and sped towards the Northern
tunnel.
Leaving the others scrambling to catch up with her. At the
edge of the tunnel,
Willow stared nervously at the gruesome
drawings on the floor and walls. All of
which seemed to be
discouraging using this particular tunnel.
" Uh, Dr. Stone. Those drawings..."
" ..are simply false
warnings. Willow, relax, I've been doing this for thirty
years, I
know what I'm doing."
She fell silent, but the scooby in
her didn't believe a word the other woman
was saying. She'd dealt
with forces of evil and skankiness for a number of
years, and
slayer or not, she'd developed her own spider sense, and right now
it
was off the charts.
' Why did I think this was a good idea again? '
" Are we almost there?"
" I don't know." Willow said. Again.
" How long has it been?"
"
About a minute after the last time you asked." She growled
dangerously.
When her friend Kate pouted she sighed. " It's
been about three
hours."
" Damn. Shouldn't we be heading back?" Mike asked.
" NO!" Dr. Stone
glared over at the three of them. " Not yet, we're almost
there.
I promise."
Mike held up his hands. " Okay, no need to get cranky."
The professor picked up the pace yet
again, causing both women to reach over
and slap Mike on the head.
It was the fifth time he'd caused the older woman to
speed up and
they were on the verge of a total melt down.
" Hey, I'm
seeing the light at the end of the tunnel." Kate chirped up,
going
into a jog.
Willow felt the exhaustion lighten
somewhat and raced after Kate, with Mike
racing past them both. In
a few more minutes they were standing on the top of a
hill looking
down onto a massive city that was alive and active.
" My god..."
It looked like it was bigger than Sunnydale, and
sure as hell larger than a
one Star Bucks town. It was in a circle
pattern, layered. The very middle of
the city was an enormous
palace, and wide enough to take up a small town. It
was made of
light brown bricks, carved statues decorated the courtyard.
Next,
was a series of buildings, that were similar but on a tinier scale.
It
was impossible to tell what they were for, but from the looks
of the armed men
walking around them, she guessed that they were
for military purposes. The next
layer were smaller buildings,
markets, shops, businesses. It was a market place
of some kind,
and after that layer came a layer of houses that went on past
what
her eyes could see.
" Well, Doc, it seems that I owe you a..."
His body jerked back as the thick spear shot
straight through his chest,
killing him instantly. In the next
moment, the professor was laying next to
him, while her head
rolled down the hill.
Willow started to head for the tunnel,
but a large, very hairy man blocked
her path. The man sized lion
held a sword to her neck, until a tiger had
chained her hands
behind her.
" Take them to, Lord Otin."
"
Yes, sir." Snapped the tiger, jerking her down the path that
they'd missed
in their shock.
She glanced over at Kate, to
make sure that she hadn't been killed as well.
Thankfully, the
blue haired athlete was in the same situation that she was.
The
question was, what situation had they gotten into?
" Is this Atlantis?"
" Silence, girl!!"
She
eyed the large were-tiger. She'd dealt with weres before, but all
the
ones she knew about was brought on by a curse. This guy was in
complete
control though, or he seemed to be.
The large
tiger pushed her ahead of him, into the cities market. Each
person
stopped to stare at them, but the thing that had her the
most worried, was that
each person was male. The only female's
around were wearing slave collars, and
had different tattoos over
there bodies.
Each one was either naked, or barely clothed.
Their bodies were scarred and
thin from constant abuse. They kept
there heads bowed, kneeling at the feet of
their owners whenever
they stopped. When they weren't they stayed bowed,
following
behind like a dog.
" Move it, slave."
Willow
stopped at the base of the palace, and glared at the tiger,
refusing
to move. " I am not now, nor have I ever been a
slave, and if you yell at me
one more time I will turn you into a
throw rug."
" You insolent slut..." He raised his hand to hit her.
She simply smirked as a large man grabbed the tigers arm, mid-swing.
" So, Jir, I see you've
brought me some new toys." The six foot, two hundred
something
man studied the two women.
" Sir, I believe there's been
a misunderstanding. I'm from..." Willow
whimpered as the
large man punched her in the stomach.
" Cor?"
"
Yes, sir." The large panther stepped forward, relinquishing his
hold on the
silent blonde.
" I want you to personally break this one for me."
Willow gasped out through the
pain, trying to talk, to make this Lord or King
or whatever he was
understand. This wasn't right, she didn't belong
there.
She..couldn't
" Yes, my Lord, as you command."
Cor grabbed her hair in a painful grip. " You're mine now."
She glared up at him, " I. Will. Never. Be. Yours."
The panther's teeth flashed in a deep
growl that vibrated his entire body and
on into hers. She meet his
gaze fully, not giving into her fear, unwilling to
let this
creature turn her into some mindless droid.
" I think it's time you learned your place."
Somehow, the quiet
statement was more terrifying than any yelling or
screaming. The
pure control behind the rage was so precise that she doubted
she
could find his chink.
She was thrown back into two
other werecats, and her handcuffs removed. She
kicked out, punched
out, squirmed, screamed, and refused to move willingly as
they
drug her over to two poles. The bindings hanging from them only added
fuel
to the adrenalin that pumped through her system, forcing her
to redouble her
efforts.
But no matter what she did, she
couldn't get the super naturally strengthened
creatures to notice.
First one then the other wrist was bound
tightly with the metal
cuffs attached to the poles. Each with little slack to
them,
holding her in place as they ripped her cloths from her body.
She
stared straight at the King standing in front of her clearly amused
by
her display. She could feel the embarrassment of her nudity,
but she refused to
drop his gaze. She would not be broken, not by
some pompous arrogant bastard.
The large panther stepped in
front of her with a smirk. His fangs glistening
under the dying
suns light. The cat seemed to glide forward until their bodies
were
pressed together, and then sank his teeth into her throat, licking at
the
deep bloody wound.
" Just to make sure." He whispered, disappearing behind her back.
" Count." SNAP!!
Her body jerked as the sharp pain cut across her back,
sending tears into her
eyes. A scream fought against her tightly
sealed lips, threatening to rip from
her throat.
" I said to count!!" SNAP!! SNAP!!
The thick leather tore
into her back, and she kept her eyes locked with the
King.
" I will keep going until you count the lashes."
SNAP! SNAP!! SNAP!!
Willow simply stared numbly ahead of her, never
letting her eyes leave King
Otin. She would not let them break
her.
It
was dark. Nice and cozy and safe and dark. Dark was good. Dark was
very
good. Dark usually meant she was unconscious, and being
unconscious was a good
thing. It was a very good thing, especially
when there was pain involved. Pain
was bad. Pain was very very not
good and bad.
Except when the unconsciousness became
consciousness and then she felt the
pain again. Cause she was in
pain. A lot of pain. Pain that made her want to go all
scream on
that bastards ass. Pain that made her want to inflict lots of
Angelus
type of nasty tortures. Pain that...
" Are you awake?"
Damn. The woman, feminine sounding voice just had
to go and interrupt her
inner babbling that was currently
distracting her from the intense, sharp,
constant, concentrated,
inhuman, fire like burning pain that was blanketing her
entire
back or at least what was left of her back, and was currently
spreading
out into every other part of her body.
Of course
the spreading part might also have had to do with the tattoo of
King
Otin's symbol, which looked suspiciously like an evil merman.
Then there was
Cor's symbol with was intertwined with the evil,
skanky, and probably gay
merman, which surprise surprise had
turned out to be a panther. Both of which
had been forced onto the
left side of her stomach.
Then again, it could be the fact
that they left her hanging by her wrists
in the middle of the
square all night. Or the way that they hung weights from
her
ankles. Or maybe it was from when the different citizens had taken
to
punching her around. Or when they'd shaven her head. Or when
they'd reduced her
to a number. 23.
" I've brought you dinner."
Or then it could have been when he'd... She
shook of those thoughts before
they caused her more pain. "
W-who are y-you?"
The room was huge. The walls were made
of carved marble, the complicated
designs let the outside air flow
through it. The only source of heat from
the atmosphere was from
the five foot by five foot circular fireplace that was
sunk down
in the middle of the room. The walls were bare except for the
long
dark colored banners with finely stitched threads, that wove
into animals and
symbols of godhood.
She tried to swallow
around her swollen, scrapped up throat. Leaving her
hoarser than
before. When that failed, she slowly lifted her one good eye lid
and
stared at the female demon.
The demon was no more than three
feet tall, and petite in frame. Her skin was
leathery and grey.
She reminded her of a cross between a bat and a gargoyle.
Her eyes
were completely human though, with a clear mixture of shyness
and
mischief that struck so close to home for her. Then there was
her wings... She
had wings. Bat like wings at that.
"
You're a gremlin." She muttered with a hoarse raspy voice. "
What's your
name?"
The small creature ducked her head
in obvious sadness. " It's against the law
to name a
gremlin."
Willow slowly inched her way off her side,
until she was sitting up on the
stone floor of Cor's bedroom. The
pain flared throughout her body, making it
harder to breath, but
she determinedly pushed it away.
" H-how do you know when they want you and not another gremlin?"
" Oh. Well, I just sorta know."
Willow stared at the forlorn creature
that seemed so human to her. " Then I
guess I'll just have to
be the one to name you. How does Francie sound?"
"
Francie." The gremlin lit up so bright she was nearly blinded
from the
sheer joy. " I..I have a name..No gremlin has ever
had a name before...Thank
you." The small creature suddenly
blushed and popped out of sight.
" Hey, Francie, if
you're still here. Would you come back later? I'd like to
talk
you. That is if you don't mind?"
The gremlin reappeared
in the exact same spot as before looking curious.
" About
what?"
" You, your life, the city, the cities
history. Anything you can tell me to
get us out of here."
Francie deflated quickly. " Oh. Sure."
" Great. Maybe
if I know about this place I can find a way to get the three
of us
out of here."
" B-but there's only two of you."
Willow frowned a the gremlin. " Oh, I thought you wanted to go with us."
" Y-you want me to go with you?"
" Of course, why do you think I asked for
your help? Unless, I read you
wrong, cause if I did I'm sorry. I
just don't think that you're the type to
want to be here, not that
there's a type. It's just that you don't seem to be so
hell bent
on being all arrogant and bossy and mean and just plain bad."
" I want to go with you." Francie said firmly.
" I'm
glad." Willow pulled the grey creature onto the floor beside
her. " Now
is this Atlantis?"
" Yes."
" But the myth's are always making this place sound like a paradise."
" Poseidon's twin spread the story after his fall from Olympus."
" Twin? And why isn't this
place on an island, not to mention closer to
Greece?"
" Th-that's all I know."
Willow leaned forward, onto her
knees with a grimace. " What would happen if
one of the weres
bit someone?"
" They'd become a basset."
Willow
winced as the fire in her body became more unbearably. " Why
would he
bite me?" She muttered to herself.
" All slaves are turned, it makes them easier to control."
" So now I'm some sort of were cat?"
" If Lord Cor bit you, then you're a werepanther."
" How do I shift?"
She questioned quietly. She didn't want to be another
Veronica or
Oz, but if the human in her was in control then she could use it
to
her advantage.
" I don't know."
She
nodded slightly, then closed her eyes, just imagining what it would
be
like to be a panther. The way the fur would feel, the lean
muscular body. The
senses she'd have...
" Wow."
She
forced her eyes open at the gremlins soft exclamation, and looked
down.
Her body was black...and furry...very furry. That's when it
started. The
blinding pain that flared throughout her body...
forcing her onto her side,
curled up, trying to get away from it
until it enveloped her and...
" Willow?"
She
looked around her in confusion. She was no longer in the Congo, or
at
least her astral body wasn't. She seemed to be standing on one
of the many
astral planes. " Dawnie?"
" Willow."
The short haired red head staggered under the force of the dark haired teen.
" I miss you, and it's
just no fun without you here. You have to come home.
Please?"
" Dawnie.."
" I know you said you needed to get away
from the hellmouth for a while, but
I can't do it. The homework is
too hard, and even with Tara explaining it, it
just doesn't make
any sense. And Anya is always glaring at me, and being mean.
And
Buffy is all depressed and she beat up Spike really badly. And..."
"
Dawn!!" She hugged the teen close to her. " I want to come
home, but
somethings happened."
" What? Are you okay?"
She ran a hand through the girls hair. " No,
I'm not, and I won't be unless
you help me."
" What? What do I have to do? Should I come after you?"
"
I need you and the others to get all the information you can on The
city of
Atlantis, Poseidon's brother Trition, Bassests, and
gremlins."
" Why?"
" When you get
the information, I need you or Tara to bring me back here to
tell
me what you found. Can you do that?"
" What if they don't believe me?"
" Tell Tara that I have a birthmark on my right cheek."
" I don't see a..." Dawn gaped slightly. " ..oh. Right. What's it look like?"
"
I'd rather not say." Willow blushed slightly under the teens
gaze. " Dawn,
promise me that you won't let them come after
me."
" I promise." The teen tightened her hold on her, " How bad is it?"
" Bad." Willow whispered tiredly.
" I promise we'll get you back." Dawn backed off quickly.
Willow smiled then turned to go back
to her body. " I'll talk to you later,
Dawnie."
The
teen watched the red head disappear. She couldn't believe this
was
happening. Even thousands of miles from the hellmouth they
still couldn't get a
break. The worst was the sudden aching that
was engulfing her stomach. She
couldn't handle it if anything
happened to the red head. It would be too much
like losing her
father again.
