Chapter Twenty
"Buffy? Buffy, wake up."
Buffy struggled to open her eyes. She was still lying across Willow, like she had been when she'd died, but now Willow was looking back up at her. "Willow, you're all right?"
"I'm not sure." Willow glanced around. "Where are we?"
You are in my domain, young mage.
Buffy scrambled to her feet at the sound of that voice, pulling Willow up with her. Turning, she got her first glimpse at Sineya, for all intents and purposes, the 'mother' of the Slayers. The creature before them had the look of those mythical Chinese dragons in body. It was long and sinuous and had huge wings, but instead of claws, there were slender arms with elegant fingers and black, lethally sharp looking nails. It had long legs, standing at nearly seven feet tall, and a wicked looking tail. Like the dragons, body was covered in shimmering scales, looking like intricate body armor, and small, delicate looking spines covered her shoulders and the sides of her throat. Sineya's face had an obvious feminine cast to it. Her hair looked almost like solid mounds of her flesh shaped like thick cornrows down the back of her head. Her eyes were an odd amber-green that Buffy recognized from her own mirror in the last few days of enduring Willow's torment. Something old and powerful shifted and moved in her gaze. Buffy knew, from all the research that no one had known she'd done of the Old Ones when she was curious of the Slayer's origins, that no mortal should be able to look into the eyes of one of the Nine without going hopelessly insane.
This is where I have rested for uncounted millennia and more, as I awaited for the One with the strength of Mind, Body and Will to house my full power as was foretold.
"How can we look at you?" Buffy demanded. "Even I know that we shouldn't be able to a.) look you in the eye, or b.) look at your true form, without going completely nuts."
Very good. Sineya smiled, which allowed them to see the large sets of fangs at the top and bottom of her teeth. They reminded Willow of a large cat. I have shielded your minds so that you could look on Me without fear. After your minds have become acclimated to the power, your inner presence will be as devastating as My Own. You will have to take care to keep that part shielded at all times. The young mage, however, has no need of such protection. The primal magicks flow strongly within her, both light and dark, and it gives her the strength of mind and will to withstand the onslaught. It was glorious to see so many of My 'children' walk this world at one time. It is a shame that the Lanteans reverted the Line back to its original state, but such is the way of things.
"Lanteans?" Willow asked.
You refer to them as The Powers That Be. We knew them as the first of your kind that walked on this world. They are the ones that originally brought us here. They breached the barrier between our dimensions, and the Elders swept in and laid claim to this fledgling world with their servants before they could get it closed again. When they could not defeat us, they abandoned this planet, but sowed the seeds of new life as they fled. When the seeds sprouted and remade your kind, they waited until you flourished in great numbers before returning to teach them how to defeat and drive us back to our own dimension. By that time, Delcathas had already begun to make his move to overthrow the Nine and claim our power for himself.
"There's one thing I don't understand." Buffy interrupted the history lesson for more current events. "I thought we were supposed to be immortal or invulnerable or something. How is it that we're dead?"
You are not dead. Sineya said simply. Your bodies have merely shut down to repair the considerable damage that you have suffered. It was the only way to bring you here, to this place.
"Why are we here?" Buffy asked.
So that I may pass on the power. Sineya answered, then tilted her head in a manner that conveyed a mild curiosity. Although, only the Chosen should have been brought here. It seems that your bond is too strong to be separated even by this.
"Is that bad?" Willow asked nervously.
No, young mage, it merely means that instead of the Chosen wielding the power alone, you will both share this burden.
"How can you just decide to give us your power?" Buffy demanded to know. "I don't want it if it's going to make us all 'bow down or die' bitchy like."
The question alone proves that you are worthy. To you, Chosen, I unlock the full potential of the essence within you. Already, you had begun to access more of the power, but now it will integrate into all that you are. You will undergo changes in body and mind, to prepare you for what is to come. Buffy was speechless, and Sineya turned to Willow. For you, young mage, I bequeath my power. You have touched, and been touched by, the purity of the primal magicks at their darkest and their lightest. Despite your self-doubt, you are worthy to wield such power. The Chosen will be your conscience and your anchor as you will be her solace and her security.
Without another word, Sineya pulled herself more 'upright', her eyes glowing even brighter. As Buffy watched Sineya's Power begin to stir and, without looking away, tilted her head closer to her friend, "Hey Will?"
"Yeah, Buffy?"
"We're screwed, aren't we?"
Willow paused as she quickly considered what was about to happen to them, the sheer Power that was building in response to Sineya's Will. "Yes, I really think we are."
- - - BtVS - - SG: 1 - - -
Sam led her eclectic little strike force further into the facility. After two more ambushes, Faith had announced that all the demons were dead, and now the Scoobies trailed behind the trained military men, knowing full well that they couldn't go up against soldiers with rifles no matter how much they wanted to rush ahead and find their friends and family. Faith was especially twitchy. She could feel that something was 'off', but couldn't tell exactly what. It was similar to what she had felt when Buffy had died, but there was no hollow sensation in her chest, so she knew that wasn't the case. Damn it, she was ready to tear the walls down and crawl down an air shaft or some shit like that.
They had reached another elevator when Faith collapsed to her knees with a gasp. Her eyes flashed from brown to amber-green for an endless moment, before returning to normal once again.
"Faith?" Dawn knelt next to her. "Are you okay?"
"We have to get to them." Faith panted, her eyes wild. "Right now!!"
- - - BtVS - - SG: 1 - - -
The soldier that had fulfilled his orders and shot down the two young women that looked uncomfortably like they were around the same age as his youngest sister wondered, for the first time in a long time, just what hell he would go to when he died. He wondered if the fact that he was merely obeying orders would get him anywhere on his judgement day when God demanded to know why he'd killed two innocent girls that had made no threats to the government that their mandate said they were protecting. He stared down at the dead women wrapped around each other. He could still hear the blonde's pleas, over and over in his head. He had been having doubts for a while. He knew that some of the technology that they were 'acquiring' for the protection of the world had been essential to the living conditions of the people that they had stolen them from. It had been clearly stated in the SGC reports that explained why whatever SG team had gone there had come back without such a useful piece of equipment. It didn't help when he'd overheard the higher-ups talk about how all those people were humans that had been kidnapped from right here on Earth. It was while he was in the middle of his self-evaluation that all hell began to break loose.
"Sir, something is happening." A tech announced into the small isolation room. He had been electronically wiping the hard-drives when he had noticed the monitor. "The sensor readings are going off the charts!"
"We can see that." The doctor snapped out loud, his eyes glued to the amazing scene before him.
Buffy and Willow's bodies were rising from the ground, radiating an odd autumn-golden glow. They jumped, startled, at the clatter of bullets dropping back to the ground as they were expelled from the bodies and the wounds began to rapidly heal right before their eyes. The blonde's eyes opened first, and the pure, unadulterated rage froze most of them in their place. Her lips curled into a snarl that turned into a wild cry of fury as whatever power holding her suddenly released, and she dropped lightly to her feet.
When the two girls began to glow and float, and the blonde opened her eyes, he knew that his time had come. When she dropped to the ground, he lowered the muzzle of his rifle towards the floor and simply stared, waiting for his death. Then, she moved. His eyes lost track of her, but the havoc left in her wake clearly showed her progress. She tore through his fellow soldiers as if they were made of paper. Their short-lived screams rang in his ears, but another motion turned his attention. The redhead was lowering herself gently to the ground. She walked silently to him, but all he could focus on were the spots where his bullets had killed her.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, heartfelt, when she was standing right in front of him.
She cocked her head to the side as she stared at him. He felt something moving through him, weighing the truth behind his apology. Finally, she nodded. "You are." Then, she turned away from him. With a ragged sob, he fell to his knees as if his legs had been cut from beneath him. He had been forgiven. He prayed that God would be as merciful as she had been.
Buffy was not unaware of the soldier behind her, but she could feel that he was no threat. She felt when Willow passed judgment and left him alive. Oh well, she had bigger fish to fry. Before the debris from the two other soldier's impact with the wall had hit the floor, Buffy was standing before the doctors that had mercilessly tortured her mate for days. Just as she was about to grab the closest one by the throat, a pale hand closed around her wrist, arresting the motion. Swallowing audibly, the men shifted their attention to the redhead that was suddenly standing next to her. The room visibly rippled with the raw power the two were generating simply by existing.
"Mine." She said softly, her eyes colored the same autumn-gold that had surrounded them before.
The Red Witch stood before her tormentors, her body and mind healed and pain-free for the first time in what felt like an eternity. She felt their fear roll over her in a sweet wave, and it fed the darkness within her that strained to lash out and obliterate these monsters from existence. She restrained the impulse with difficulty. She'd had the power before, but that power paled in comparison to the amount she now wielded. Death was too good for men like these. They deserved to suffer as their victims suffered, deserved to feel what she had felt.
"You wanted access to my power?" Her voice remained soft, but the depthless menace now present in that terrible voice sent a wave of terror down their spines. "Congratulations, you're going to get your wish."
- - - BtVS - - SG: 1 - - -
"Oh, Goddess." Bridget exclaimed, wide-eyed as she took in the carnage of the room. She and her entourage, including Anya, were standing in the viewing room above the isolation room, looking down through the shattered window. Blood painted the wall in a grisly mural. Two men were propped into the indents that their bodies had made in the rock. Three men in white coats were balled into fetal positions, clutching their heads and screaming like the damned. Alanna swallowed hard, trying desperately not to lose her breakfast, and thankful that she hadn't eaten lunch. Bridget wondered wildly what could have warranted such savage actions.
Off to the side, was the lone survivor. He knelt there, sobbing, not even stirring when shards of glass from the window shattered on the floor.
Anya looked on impassively. She knew the torments that Willow had suffered, so she couldn't dredge up any sympathy for these men who were worse than demons. Impatient, she pulled Bridget away from the window and down a hall. "Let's go, before they kill everyone. They won't recognize friend from enemy in the state that they are in."
- - - BtVS - - SG: 1 - - -
Buffy and Willow moved through the corridors with a single-minded purpose. Buffy moved ahead, attacking her prey with blurring speed, brushing off both machine gun fire and Zat strikes with contempt when they managed to hit her at all. A shield protected Willow, destroying the bullets. They left bodies in their wake, some bloody messes while others looked untouched.
Soon, those before them realized that their weapons were useless and began to run, screaming for mercy as they were caught.
- - - BtVS - - SG: 1 - - -
Sam knew something was wrong when men began to run down the corridors, throwing down their weapons, and practically begging to be taken into custody.
"Aghh."
She looked behind her to see the two witches on their knees, clutching at their heads. Faith looked completely freaked out, nearly putting grooves in the walls with her fingers as she inched backward.
"Faith?"
"We gotta get outta here." Her voice shook with fear.
"What about Buffy and Willow?" Xander snapped at her.
"They're running from Buffy and Willow." She threw back.
The enormity of what they were saying, the use of their names, was staggering, but Samantha and the others put that to the side when a familiar face suddenly rushed around the corner.
"Lower your weapons!" Anya ordered frantically. "All of them. They're not exactly sane at the moment."
Without waiting to see if they obeyed, she pushed the Coven members towards the others, then turned, raised her hands and began to chant.
"That's Ancient Egyptian." Daniel exclaimed, his eyes wide. "That dialect hasn't been spoken in centuries."
They all watched as a shield materialized from the ground to the ceiling. When she was done, Anya leaned against the nearest wall, panting in exhaustion. Not really one for magic, she'd never realized how much a powerful casting could take out of a person, even when they weren't using their personal energy to do more than channel the power being used.
Sam was about to demand an explanation, when the explanation became unnecessary as one last soldier who had stopped just inside the room the corridor was leading to after seeing the shield was suddenly yanked back into the room. The rescue party heard the soldier give a high squealing scream that cut off amidst the wet, sickening sound of tearing meat. As everyone froze in shock the soldier's upper torso, including the one arm still attached, flew down the corridor towards them for a third of the distance before hitting the ground and sliding to a stop about 15 feet away from the shield.
First Buffy, then Willow appeared at the other end of the corridor. Buffy carelessly dropped the arm she'd just ripped from the soldier, which hit the ground with a wet sound, splattering the two young women with blood. Not that a little more blood mattered given how much blood and other gore already streaked their forms in chaotic patterns.