Title: Wanderings of a Lost Key
Rating: PG-13 (or thereabouts; depends on the rating system)
Spoilers: This chapter? For the whole of season one. Upcoming chapters might provide more specific spoilers
Verse: Mainly TV, possibly one or two forays into the book
Archived: Currently? At my lj (marozi) as well as on ffnet. Might go to tthfanfic and my home site as well. Please do not archive it without asking permission first.
Disclaimer: Blood Ties and all related characters, scenes, plotlines, etc. don't belong to me but the rest of the story does. Don't steal.
Summary: What if the blessed dagger hadn't been enough? Vicki comes up close and personal with what it truly means to be a demonic key
Comments: This story was born from the 'Ten...[insert random event/meeting/family/whatever...that never happened to...[insert character name' rash of stories on tthf, a crossover site that specializes in BtVS and AtS fics. My point is that it will become a crossover but it will also maintain some sort of plot. It might also cross with the book versions of characters and different time periods (who knows? Maybe you'll get to see Cursed!Vicki meeting Inquisition!Henry X3). Let me know what you think! Reviews are always appreciated. (and yes, I'm aware it's a truly pathetic title)
Chapter 1: Difference
She could still hear his laughter echoing inside her head, mocking and chiding as he sliced her hand and squeezed one…two…three long streams of blood into the cursed chalice. He'd been so sure of himself and his master, so foolishly dedicated to bringing Asteroth into the world that he forgot the final ingredient.
A sacrifice.
The enspelled dagger, cursed cup, and demonic tome were nothing without the blood of the key but even the full sequence would not catalyze the demon lord's coming without the ending of a life.
When the time came and the portal opened, Norman realized what he'd missed and decided to kill two birds with one stone; use Vicki as both the key and the life.
Thankfully, he hadn't read the Grimoire and didn't realize just why this would be a bad idea.
But Vicki had.
So even as Vicki fell through the chasm, she fought. Death was what would destroy her world; death would bring the monster to life. So she would not die.
As Henry's pained howl and Mike's scream of denial faded into nothingness behind her and pain became her world, she dismissed everything but herself and her goal.
She. Woud. Not. Die.
Grasping that thought with all her might, she closed her eyes and concentrated, ignoring the burning ache in her hand as Norman physically pulled her through the nothingness between dimensions.
She Would Not Die.
When Asteroth realized what Norman had done and took hold of his connection to her, dragging her by the wrists with a strength that made her feel like a child, she remembered her friends and ignored what might come.
There HAD to be a way out.
She had cheated death before, she could do it again.
The demonic tome had said a 'marked key' had the ability to be summoned far more easily than any demon because it could feel the call in the 'between spaces' and had no choice but to respond. Vicki was a marked key, thanks to her captors, but why couldn't she feel any summons? There had to be some sort of demon worshiping quack in a nearby dimension…
She began to writhe in panic as the brands on her wrists started to smolder, fighting to keep her cool but beginning to lose it.
She wouldn't die.
She wouldn't!
But how couldn't she?
The voice of the demon lord joined his underling's laughter as she fought just outside the gates of hell, determined not to cross but unable to keep herself from it.
No…NO! I won't betray my world! Someone…anyone! GET ME OUT OF HERE!
Something snapped.
Asteroth screamed, fading into the distance.
And Vicki Nelson woke up.
TBC?