Chapter 13: To Kill a King
28th of September 2010 11:30 AM, Seat of the Vampire King, Manhattan, New York
"We shall learn a lot about ourselves today." Dark Willow said while looking over the group. The Vampire King dropped his hood and took away his sun-glasses.
Willow could not believe what she saw, it was impossible. She let out a gasp, she was looking at Xander Harris in vampire form.
"Y-you died." Willow said while panic was flooding in her.
"Gee, we are observant today aren't we Will?" Xander sneered.
Before anyone could react at least four dozen slayers came crashing trough the windows. Immediately the battle started in all honesty. Dark Willow fled back up the stairs as soon as the battle started and Willow saw Buffy follow her.
Willow did not notice much about the battle that erupted around her, all she could see was Xander laughing at her. It was as though everything was happening in slow motion. Willow's brain seemed to have stopped working. Once Willow regained her senses she charged forward straight at Xander. She did not know whether it was to hug him, or to attack him. If it was the right thing to do, or foolish. The only reason Willow survived was maybe cause Xander was to surprised at the sudden attack to react.
Willow collided with Xander and they both tumbled further down the stairs into a floor below the actual battle. "Right, if I knew you would jump me the moment you saw me, I would have prepared a bed." Xander said mockingly.
Willow was seeming with rage and confusion. She knew that it was not Xander lying on the floor next to her, that Xander was dead. That the thing talking was the demon that had killed him. But on the other hand it was Xander, the missing eye, the black hair, the usually kind looking face contorted by the vampire ridges.
Willow got up quickly and pulled out a stake and advanced on Xander.
"Going to kill me Will? Your best friend since kindergarten? Your high-school crush?" Xander asked in his mocking voice. At each of Xander's words Willow's resolve to kill him lessened.
"What happened?" Willow asked in a shaky voice. At this Xander stood up and there was anger in his remaining eye.
"After you left me to rot in the hell mouth, a vampire came, he liberated me." Xander said in a menacing voice. "And now you will join me, so we can be together again." Xander said while charging towards Willow.
Willow rolled out of the way just in time. At that moment the battle above was coming down the stairs. Sam and Kate where being backed down the stairs, and Kennedy came hurtling down some other stairs with a group of vampires following her. The group of vampires where followed by another group of slayers.
Xander stopped just in time before he had charged straight into the wall and turned towards Willow again. Willow knew now what to do. They would capture Xander and then return his soul. Willow would never be able to live with herself if Xander died today.
At that moment the portable on Kennedy's belt gave a beep, Kennedy picked it up. Buffy's voice was heard from the other side. "Kennedy, can your hear me?" Buffy's voice asked.
"Loud and clear." Kennedy answered.
"Can you..." Buffy's voice came again, but was interrupted. Several things happened at once.
Before Willow could do anything an emotionless low voice said "Die bastard." And Xander turned to dust before Willow's eyes. Dawn appeared behind the dust cloud that was Xander, holding a stake in her hand like she had just dusted a vampire. And a soft thud was heard from the portable in Kennedy's hand.
An anger like Willow had never felt before was raging inside her. All the anger was directed at the woman who stood there with grim satisfaction on her face and a stake in her hand, All Willow wanted was to rip this woman apart. Before Willow could do anything she felt a pain in her head, and she fell herself fall down. The last thing Willow heard before she lost consciousness was Buffy's voice coming from the portable saying "Turn the King to dust.".
When Willow came to the first thing she noticed was that she was lying on a couch. She thought that perhaps it had all been a bad dream, that the battle had not happened yet, that Xander was not a vampire at all.
But when Willow opened her eyes such hopes where gone. Melaka was sitting on the sofa next to Sam, both where bruised and where talking in low voices. Kate and Buffy where near the dinner table having some sort of discussion. Dawn was sitting at the table, the only person looking like there had been a victory.
Willow sat up slowly, and the moment that everyone realized that she was awake, all eyes fell on Willow and everyone was silent.
"What is going on?" Willow asked.
"We where afraid you had turned evil." Sam said looking at Willow warily.
"Evil?" Willow asked confused.
"You don't remember?" Sam asked looking worried.
"I remember fighting Xander, I remember him turning to dust, I remember Dawn standing there, and I remember a lot of anger going trough me." Willow answered And Buffy's voice saying to turn the king to dust. Willow thought.
"That was when I knocked you out. You're hair had turned black and it looked like you where going to murder Dawn on the spot." Sam said as an explanation. "I'm sorry for that." Sam continued. The apology sounded sincere.
"What was Dawn doing at the battle?" Willow asked, she remembered that Buffy had told her no.
"Kate thought it was a good idea to turn Dawn invisible and bring her along for the battle." Buffy answered, she did not sound happy about this.
"She is old enough to make her own decisions!" Kate said annoyed. It seemed that the argument she had with Buffy was about this. "And if it wasn't for her we would be fighting still." Kate continued.
"We could have saved Xander." Willow said looking at Kate and Buffy who where both shaking their heads. "We could have ensouled him." Willow continued.
"No we couldn't Will, It would have been torture for him. I couldn't put Xander trough that." Buffy said in the form of an explanation.
"And Dawn killed him?" Melaka asked, the first time she had spoken since Willow woke up. "I don't know who this 'Xander' is, but he must have been important to you guys." Melaka continued.
"He was our Willlow's and my best friend, and Dawn's boyfriend." Buffy answered.
"He was not." an emotionless low voice said, that Willow recognized from the battle. It took a while before Willow realized that the voice came from the machine that Dawn was holding. "He was not your friend or my boyfriend, he was a murdering bastard who deserved what he got." the machine continued.
"Don't speak about Xander like that!" Willow said again feeling anger coming. Dawn got up looking angry. She ran up the stairs and everyone heard a door slam. Willow sat down slowly, trying to control herself.
"What was that all about?" Sam asked after a couple of minutes of surprised silence.
"Denial, first stage of grief." Kate answered slowly.
"She is a brave girl." Melaka said. Everyone nodded in agreement to this statement. "She did what I should have done to Harth. I had him cornered, I was ready to give him the poke, but I remembered the good times we used to have, the man he used to be, and couldn't do it." Melaka continued, clearly holding back tears. "So Harth got away." Melaka concluded sadly.
"Don't worry, we will find him, and then we will kill him." Buffy said in a reassuring tone.
"No, if someone has to kill him, it will be me. I just have to be strong about it!" Melaka said defiantly.
"Let's cross that bridge when we get to it, we have other worries now. We have a dark version of Willow in the slayer base prisons, what are we going to do with her?" Kate asked.
"You captured my future self?" Willow asked, it might be that she was able to give some answers about the future.
"I will question her tomorrow, meanwhile we all should get some rest." Buffy said.
"I'll talk to Dawn, I owe her an apology." Willow said, she got up and went to Dawn's room.
When Willow arrived in Dawn's room she found Dawn sitting on her bed looking at an old photo album.
"Dawn, can I come in?" Willow asked uncertainly. To Willow's relief Dawn nodded. "I think I owe you an apology." Willow began when she walked further into the room. Dawn looked up and Willow saw that she was confused.
"I should have realized how much Xander had meant for you." Willow said sitting down on the bed beside Dawn. Dawn nodded and looked back at the photo album.
Willow saw that Dawn was looking at old photo's of Xander. A photo taken in their sophomore year of sunnydale high on which Xander was chasing Dawn in the high-school library, a photo taken in their junior year of high-school Xander lifting Dawn while at the pier, a photo where Xander stood outside a destroyed sunnydale high with the yearbook, with Dawn next to him. And a lot of other photo's with Xander and Dawn.
Dawn picked up her talking machine and pressed a button on it. "Has this happened?" asked the emotionless tone of the machine. Willow did not know how to answer that. The truth was that half of what was shown on the photo's never actually happened, cause Dawn did not exist then. Willow found it a strange time to return to Dawn's old identity problems. Willow had thought that Dawn was already over that.
"I know that I did not exist back then." the machine said while Dawn pointed at the photo's taken during high-school. "But I don't remember that man." the machine continued while Dawn pointed at Xander.
Willow was stumped at what was happening. Dawn did not remember Xander? "I remember that that man had one eye, I remember how he abused me, I remember that he hurt me, I remember that he slit my throat, I remember staking him." the machine said. Still Willow did not say anything while the machine seemed to go on a monologue on it's own. Was the machine telling Willow Dawn's thoughts?
"What kind of machine is that Dawn?" Willow asked. Great, Dawn confesses her worries about Xander, and I ask about a stupid machine. Willow thought angrily to herself.
"Kate fixed it for me, it can now sound my thoughts." the machine answered. At this Willow felt even more stupid, why hadn't she thought of that?
"Dawn, I'm sorry, I did not know, I did not think..." Willow began, but Dawn shook her head.
"Xander must have meant a lot to you." the machine said while Dawn pointed to some photo's with Xander and Willow. "I just wish I remembered it." the machine continued.
Willow could not hold it back anymore and hugged Dawn tightly and started to cry. Cry out the frustrations of the past week.