Minako
I jumped, but realized pretty fast that the man, or hologram, wasn't actually seeing me, he just happened to be focusing his eyes right to look like it. He didn't react, just continued.
"I don't know if there'll be a future for anyone to hear this, but I have to try. The others– they're insane. No. No, that's not right, it's giving them too much credit. They've given up, and they expect the rest of us to give up too. Some of them honestly think we're all better off dead, but most of them, I think, just can't stomach knowing that when they die, the world will go on without them.
"I can't– I can't let that happen. My wife, my daughter– I left them behind to come to this project. I swore that when I was done, I'd make time for both of them, be the husband and father I hadn't been, always chasing research and dreams. And now– I can't come back to them. That… that isn't going to happen. But I can make sure that they have tomorrow, even if I don't."
He took a shuddering breath, then stood up straight. "The experiment– no, it's a ritual now, they have a goal in mind and they're going to make it happen. The ritual is forcing captured Shadows together, closer and closer, until they reach critical mass and summon Death to call humanity back into the endless dark we crawled out of. There's no stopping that now.
"But I know a secret. That critical mass is volatile, and can explode out just as easily as it was drawn in. Feed it light and determination and hope, and it will break, like biting down on a metal bar in a pastry. Alone, I won't be enough to disperse it, but it should break up into thirteen parts. Thirteen great shadows, bound to the moon. They'll be dangerous, but as long as they're separate, Death's siren call is stilled."
The hologram flickered then, the sound becoming a quick gobbling noise, like a corrupted video tape. Then it stabilized, showing the man looking even more tired, but just as determined.
"Yukari, my daughter. I'm so sorry that I can't come back to you. But know that I am and will always be so proud of you. From a father who gave you so much less than he should, and always asked you to just wait a little longer, I have one last request. Please live, boldly and brightly and defiantly. Don't be afraid of the night, but make the most of your time in the sunlight. And be happy, please. That's what any father wants for his little girl, in the end– live, and be happy. I'd die a thousand times to ensure that. And always remember how much I love you."
With that, the hologram winked out, leaving me in the empty white room alone. I couldn't seem to make myself move, though. His words kept ringing through my head– Live, and be happy. I'd die a thousand times to ensure that.
I don't remember the accident. The doctors said I probably never would, except maybe in bits and pieces in my nightmares. For me, one moment we were driving across the Moonlight Bridge from Port Tatsumi Island back to Koto City, and the next, I was in the hospital, with the doctor telling me my parents were gone.
I hadn't cried. It hurt, some nights it hurt so badly, I felt like there was something in my chest trying to claw its way out. But I didn't, I couldn't cry. I remember hearing my aunt tell my uncle, one night after I'd gone to bed, that it would have been better for me if I hadn't survived. That I was always going to be broken, that it would have been kinder if I had gone wherever my parents went, instead of being left behind.
And I guess I'd believed her. I was half-gone anyway, why hadn't I gone all the way? Surely my parents should have stayed, not me. There must have been some mistake.
But hearing this man say those words, so calm and sure of himself, I wasn't sure if I believed that anymore. I know my parents loved me, that wasn't something I'd ever doubted. And if this man was so sure that he wanted his daughter to live, even if he didn't, especially if he didn't… That clawing feeling in my chest settled down a little.
… um. The computer records had said I had a piece of Death sealed inside me. And this man, whoever he was, had shattered death into pieces. What if… what if that clawing feeling wasn't as metaphorical as I thought? If the Dark Emperor wanted to end the world, the way the researchers had, then he probably wanted to put Death back together, as part of himself.
"Fuck that," I muttered, then blushed a little even though there was nobody there to hear me use a bad word. I'd already promised myself I was going to get back to Buffy, that I wouldn't let her down after she'd tried so hard to save me. No way was I going to let some cut-rate final bad guy use me to cause the actual end of the world. Besides, I didn't actually want to die, thanks. I had stuff I still wanted to do.
Okay. Venus had said I needed to go down, so far that I was going up, whatever that meant. I hadn't gone that far down yet, so I needed to find a stairway, or a fire escape, or a giant reactor shaft like on the Death Star. Anything that could get me down farther, preferably without running into more bad guys. The question was, how?
I looked back down at the console, and saw that it was now flashing with white text. "Input password," huh? How the heck was I supposed to know what the password was?
Okay, deep breath, Minako, think about it logically. The console was linked to this guy's hologram, so it was probably a word that was important to him. Something he'd remember– oh. Duh.
Quickly, I used the touchscreen to type in "Yukari," glad that the interface was in kana. Not like I had any idea how his daughter had written her name. But the console beeped affirmatively and a door slid open in the wall of the room, between two of the screens. Taking a deep breath, I headed through.
This corridor was still brightly lit, but more steel and less white plastic or black glass. It felt like backstage in a theater, or one of those hallways the staff used to get around amusement parks. Something behind the scenes, more real than the mask on the rest of the world. At the end of it, there was a steel door labeled "Stairs," and I opened it to find a flight of concrete stairs headed down.
I lost count of how many floors I descended, as the thrumming of some generator or engine went from almost inaudible to noticeable to bone-rumblingly present. I was almost certainly coming to the end of my trip; hopefully I was ready for what happened next.
Except that I totally wasn't, because when I reached the next landing, I had a choice– the stairs continued farther down, but set in the wall was a pair of double-doors, glowing blue and inscribed with a white circular symbol, involving crescent moons and butterflies. The whole thing looked… pretty, like the full moon in a summer sky, not like the eerie green and foggy one outside.
So, did I try my luck in there, or did I keep walking down the stairs? Moving over to the doors, I laid one hand on one of the half-butterfly-shaped pieces that formed the usual push plates on double doors. It was warm, and thrummed gently under my hand, in a rhythm that I realized echoed the beat of my heart.
Well, that seemed like a sign to me. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open and stepped into what looked like an old-fashioned elevator, the kind with the cage around it? Outside, I could see the walls of the shaft moving, indicating we were going down. I could hear a voice singing with piano music in the background, but I had no idea where it was coming from. The floor was carpeted in blue velvet, and in the middle of the elevator– which was really, really huge, by the way– was a table whose cloth was the same.
At the table, there was an old man with a fringe of white hair, bulging eyes, and a really, really long nose. He was wearing a black suit and white gloves, and I could see he was laying out cards on the table in front of him, though he looked up as I entered. Beside him stood a blond man around Buffy's age, wearing what looked kind of like a bellhop uniform in the same blue as the carpet and the tablecloth. Both of them were staring at me with expressions of surprise.
"Um. I'm… sorry to bother you?" I said, shuffling my feet.
The old man recovered first, and smiled. It was kind of a freaky expression, but somehow, I didn't feel scared.
"That's quite all right, dear visitor," he told me. His voice was way lower and more pleasant than I would have expected given the way he looked. "I must admit, your arrival here was unexpected, but hardly unwelcome. Theo, please bring our visitor a chair and some refreshments, will you?"
The young man bowed and produced a chair out of… somewhere. It looked surprisingly plush, and when I sat in it, it was just as comfortable as I'd imagined. Then Theo, which I guess was his name, set down a mug of hot chocolate and a plate of iced cakes in front of me.
"Thank you," I said to both of them, taking a sip of the cocoa. The old man gave me a beaming smile.
"It was my pleasure. My name is Igor, and I welcome you, young visitor, to the Velvet Room."
Buffy
Like the last time I'd been here, everything was lit by this dim, sourceless light, vaguely reddish. It was enough to see where I was going, but not much beyond the backs of the rows of buildings lining the alley. The sky above me was completely black, no sign of moon or stars. If it weren't for the vaguest whisper of wind, I'd wonder if I was inside a giant cave or something.
Okay, so, now I had to find the King of Ruin. From what I'd seen, every one of these level-worlds was the same floor plan, just with a different coat of paint on it. Which meant that the Royal Palace, whatever it was called, was probably in the same place as Nyx's garden. So that gave me a rough idea of where to head. The problem was finding a way back there through the maze of backstreets that I was currently in. The direct route wasn't exactly an option.
I kept my sword out as I moved along. This was supposedly the home of the Wrathful, the King of Ruin's army. Somehow, I didn't think that kind of person was going to be much for live-and-let-live with strangers, you know? So I was totally in patrol mode, all senses peeled for trouble. Which, can you even keep your ears peeled? Does that work?
Regardless, I was alert for trouble, which was about the only reason I felt the wave of air pressure coming at me from behind. Dropping into a crouch, I saw a pair of taloned birdy feet whistle through the air where my shoulders had been. Before I could think better of it, I stood up, grabbed those feet by the ankles, and snapped the entire flyer like a bedsheet before slamming them down to measure their length in the asphalt in front of me.
For a second, everything was silent, and I took a second to catch my breath and see what I'd managed to catch. It was vaguely humanoid, about my height, with an external skeleton wrapped around a body of pale blue flesh. The arms were a pair of pale blue feathered wings, there was a long flexible tail made of bone, and the head was a beaked, horned skull, like some type of killer bird. All in all, weird even by my standards.
The beak, which I noticed had dug a bit of a crater in the asphalt, moved slightly, and then I heard a slightly screechy voice say "...ouch."
Hmm, interesting. Nothing looked broken or dented, and my new friend was obviously with it enough to talk… lightbulb moment. I moved around to squat in front of his face, where he could see me without moving his head that much.
"Hi," I said, smiling at him. "I'm Buffy. And I have a business proposition for you."
Fifteen minutes later, we were on approach to a castle made of some type of red sandstone, covered with beacon fires. My seat back was in its upright position, my tray table was stowed, and while the captain was not exactly in the mood to thank me for flying Birdguy Airlines, he seemed content to make an actual landing and let me go my way in peace.
"Where– ungh– do you want me to let you down?" my ride asked, circling over the building. I had my arms wrapped around his neck and was basically getting an aerial piggy-back ride, which meant I had a very good view of the potential landing sites.
"First courtyard," I told him. "Gently." That would get me past the upraised drawbridge without being too rude about my intrusion.
I got an ugly cawing laugh in reply. "I'm not dumb enough to drop you– you'd probably bounce. Hold on, we're coming in for a landing."
Given the extra weight and awkwardness of our balance, the landing was pretty smooth. I let Gurr (that was his name) go, brushing myself off as I landed on the flagstones of the courtyard.
"Here," I said, pulling the bag of Nyx's spice cakes out of one jacket pocket. "For your help."
He stared at me for a moment, then took the bag (with a hand he didn't actually have, what the hell) and gave me a fairly civil nod. "Thank you. Good luck to you, and may you find what you're searching for." Then in a hail of feathers, he was airborne again, and I turned toward the main door of the castle.
Which was guarded by a big guy with bright red skin, three horns on his head, and dentition only an orthodontist with a mortgage could love. Add in the iron baseball bat studded with spikes he was carrying, and I was pretty sure we had an oni.
According to Giles's books, the best translation of that was "ogre," even if most English stuff just lumped them in with akuma and youkai as "demons." Then again, most English stuff labeled everything that didn't have a "certified human" stamp under "demon," it was not a good classification system. Oni were generally big, mean, and dumb, extremely violent and liked to engage in rather anti-social pastimes. Sort of the outlaw bikers of classical Japan.
Well, given the number of times I've gotten into Willy's, I can get into here. Let's at least try the nice way, shall we? Sheathing my sword, I straightened my hair and clothes and headed over to give Mr. Sunburn Victim my best smile.
"Hi! I have business with your boss, would you let me through please?" See, I even said please. My mother would be very happy with my manners.
He snorted. "Piss off," he rumbled, in a voice that was deep enough that I could feel it in my fillings. I had to hand it to him, for an oni that was downright well-behaved. Fortunately, I had been instructed in the ways of punk club entry by Spike, and I knew the appropriate response to this challenge phrase.
Iron club or not, three hundred pounds of muscle and bone or not, if you've got human body proportions, you're vulnerable to certain types of leverage. Judo training plus Slayer strength means I am quite capable of taking a grip on your collar, spinning, and doing a back-throw that puts you through the nice thick iron-bound door keeping me out of the castle keep proper. Red Rover there was just lucky I decided to skip the Glasgow Kiss.
Stepping over the wreckage and groaning doorman, I made my way down a short hall, lit by burning sconces. This light was warmer than the lights I'd seen back in Nyx's realm, but it wasn't comforting. This was fire with all its danger, tamed only for the moment, greedy to spread and devour and turn things to ash. Made sense, for a place based around wrath.
The door at the end of the hall was carved with Western dragons, and I took a moment to settle myself before pushing it open and stepping into the great hall. There was a reasonably good crowd inside, seated at several tables and obviously feasting on something. Most of the beings inside looked human– the souls of the wrathful, maybe, in their own sort of Valhalla. But at the high table…
A black-cloaked skeleton with a large sword leaning carefully against the table, and a mug of something that was apparently going somewhere as he took a big swig. A monkey-man in Eastern robes, a golden circlet on his head. A skull-faced dude with a hat that looked like a giant mushroom. A… horned gargoyle dude wearing a karate gi, whose arms were both missing at the shoulder. And a winged goat-person with what I was pretty sure were a nice pair of boobs mostly hidden under the goat's beard.
Seated in the center, on the big fancy chair, was a– well, he looked human, but the Slay-dar was very firm that he most definitely was not. He was blond and tan, dressed in a white business suit with a black shirt and white tie. Hard to tell how tall he was, sitting down, but his shoulders were broad and his features were classically handsome, with a strong jaw and prominent cheekbones. In fact, he looked a little familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.
The entire place had fallen silent as I entered, and as I got near the high table, Blondie rose to his feet. Tall, then, but not ridiculously so, maybe about six foot even? He didn't make any aggressive moves, just watched as I moved to stand in front of him on the other side of the table. This close, I could see his eyes were a bright amber, which only made the familiar feeling stronger. Where had I seen this guy before?
"Welcome, stranger, to the Court of Wrath," he greeted me. His voice was pleasant, a low tenor. "What brings you to my door?"
"I'm Buffy," I said, not giving any more than that. "Would you be the King of Ruin?"
He smiled, flashing perfect white teeth in my direction. "I am indeed, but since we're exchanging names…
"Feel free to address me as Ghidora."
… Son of a bitch.
Minako
"The Velvet Room? What is that, exactly?" I asked. It sounded like the name of a host or hostess club, but Theo wasn't exactly dressed the part for that.
Igor spread white-gloved hands as if grasping for words from the air. "It is a place within the Sea of Souls, between reality and dream, between mind and matter. It is a place of refuge and training for our guests." He squinted a little as he looked at me.
"Of which you are not one, technically, simply a visitor, but no less welcome for that."
"What exactly is a guest, then, if it's more than just visiting?"
"Our guests are those who have entered into a contract, as part of their journey to find what Fate has in store for them. There are many services we provide to our guests, but for visitors, we may only provide rest and sustenance… and perhaps a little guidance."
That sounded interesting. "Guidance?"
Picking up the cards before him, Igor shuffled them quickly and then began to lay them out on the table before him, in a shape I quickly realized was a butterfly. One in the center, six for the left wing, six for the right. Setting the deck aside, Igor reached out and flipped the center card over. On it was the silhouette of a human being in a long dress, a cat following her as she seemed to skip along. There was a zero at the bottom, and both of Igor's eyebrows went up when he saw it.
"Well, well, how unexpected. It seems my master is meddling again– this will be fascinating. But I'm off-track. This is your card. Oboko, or in English, The Ingenue. A young maiden at the start of her journey, with many paths opening before her."
Then he began to turn over the left wing. "These cards represent the past. The three of swords; heartbreak, loneliness, loss, and sorrow. The nine of wands reversed; refusal to compromise or give in, even in the face of death. The six of swords reversed; slow healing, trouble, accidents traveling over water. Eight of cups; abandonment, or perhaps leaving a bad situation to search for the truth. It seems you have endured much hardship, for one your age."
Two more cards, forming the bottom of the wing. "The Moon, illusion and dream, the subconscious. And the Sun Reversed, depression, pessimism and defeatism. These are influences passing away, as you come to your crossroads."
On to the right wing. "These are the cards representing the future– which is not set in stone, I might point out. There's a delightful film that my assistants introduced me to that states 'There is no fate but the fate we make.' For those who find themselves dancing with great forces, it is a very important thing to remember."
I nodded, though I was only so sure I knew what he was talking about. He smiled at me kindly and moved on.
"The ten of swords– betrayal, farewells, the unhappy ending. And the ten of cups– happiness, fulfillment, and happily ever after. Hmm, it would seem you have a choice ahead of you– or perhaps one may somehow follow the other? Then we have The Lovers, signifying partnerships and soul-bonds of many kinds. And last is– Death."
He must have noticed the face I made at that, because he laughed a little. "It has been rather a theme for you tonight, hasn't it? Don't be discouraged, though. In the cards, Death presages change, not destruction. The change may be for good or ill, but it is a change, not an ending. Too few realize that."
The last two cards weren't much more encouraging-looking, though. "Influences coming to be. The Tower, chaos, destruction and sudden revelations. And the Hanged Man Reversed, apathy, stagnation, and discontent. It would seem that your journey will be one beset by darkness and despair, but…"
One gloved finger tapped the ten of cups. "I believe, if you are steadfast and true, if you follow your heart and do not avert your gaze from the truth, you may find your way. As a book once said, 'We must go through bitter waters before we reach the sweet.'"
Okay, that sounded… not great, but doable, I guess. "Thank you," I told him. "I guess I'll understand more when I get there?"
"It's the way of prophecy not to be understood until the last moment," he agreed. "Or perhaps not until after. It has to be vague, or it can't be true, you see. Free will, humanity's great gift, sees to that."
Okay, that I sort of got. "Like you've got a better chance of being right if you just bet on odds or evens when playing dice, rather than a particular number." Kaa-san's samurai movies were educational, okay?
"An unexpected simile, but yes, very true. Now, there is one last thing that the Velvet Room can provide you, dear visitor. Someone waits to see you, through that door. I believe you will find the meeting very much to your advantage." Igor gestured to a door in the wall that hadn't been there before. It looked like the door to an ordinary house, painted blue. Theo stood beside it, waiting.
Taking a last bite of cake and draining my cocoa mug, I stood up and bowed to Igor, then made my way over to the door. Beside it, Theo gave me a gentle smile, and this close, I realized that his eyes were golden– the color of buttercups.
"May luck go with you, young visitor, and may we someday meet again."
"You too," I managed. Then I twisted the silver handle on the door, pushed it open, and stepped through.
The room on the other side was dark, pitch black once I let the door close behind me. It wasn't scary, though– it felt warm and welcoming, like drifting in my bed at night. I couldn't hear the singing anymore, either, only a low, quiet sound that I realized was my own heartbeat.
Then a little ball of light zipped in from… somewhere, and I found myself face to face with Venus– unarmed this time. She gave me another one of those gorgeous smiles.
"We're not going to fight this time, right?" I asked, only a little nervous.
"Not unless you want to."
"Nope, I'm good." Then we both broke down into giggles.
She recovered first, smiling at me. "Have you guessed my name yet, sister?"
Had I? I had to think that through. I was pretty sure I knew who she was, I'd been given enough clues so far. She'd said Sailor Saturn would be appropriate, and I knew darn well that Saturn was the Senshi of Death. (Which wasn't right, Takeuchi-sensei had gotten Saturn and Pluto mixed up, but whatever.) And as for why she had my face, well, according to the computer files, Shadows were kind of liquid, and liquid takes the shape of its container.
But did I know her name? Was the one I was thinking of the right one? That was a different question. The hologram man had said he'd split Death into thirteen shards, and they probably had different names. And she wasn't the same as when she'd been sealed, or she wouldn't be wearing my face.
Or… wait. Maybe that wasn't the right answer. I'd read a lot of fantasy books, and sometimes in those books, you could control something if you knew its name, but if you named something, then you could control it.
"I… what do you want?" I asked, voice faltering.
She blinked, and cocked her head to one side. "What do I want? … Do I want? Huh, it seems I do, now. I want to protect you. I want to protect what you love. I want to see the sun rise and know that it will set again; I want to see it set and know that the rise is coming. I want to be a sleep that the soul wakes from, refreshed. I want to end pain and suffering, end evil and harm. If I am a sword, I want to be one raised in the cause of justice."
"Okay, then." I took a deep breath. "Then yes, I know your name." I extended my hand, and she took it, smiling for one second before dissolving into a fog of lights that swarmed around and into me.
I am thou; thou art I, echoed inside my head. I am become thy Persona, the mask with which one faces life's hardships. Call my name, sister, and summon me forth!
Another deep breath, and I closed my eyes and reached.
"SLAYER!"
In a burst of light and blue fire, she stood before me again, dressed in a copy of the outfit Buffy-neesan was wearing, expression in a confident smirk. She saluted me with her naginata, then faded out again.
And the entire world wobbled under me. Faintly, I heard the door behind me crack open and Theo cautiously calling my name, right before everything spun away into darkness.
Buffy
The sparkle in those amber eyes told me he knew exactly who I was, which, story of my life. Undercover work has never been my thing, sadly. But he didn't seem like he was going to call me on it, so I kept going.
"Ghidora, then." No title or terms of respect; he hadn't asked for them. "I've come to ask your assistance in reaching the Kingdom of Steel. Erebus has kidnapped a person under my protection, and I intend to get her back. Nyx told me you'd be able to help me gain entry to Erebus's territory." I hoped that sounded appropriately formal. I was so not the diplomatic type.
Those amber eyes narrowed as the smile fell from his face. This close, and knowing who he was, I could see the resemblance to Drake– and to Nick, honestly. Not exact, just the sort of family resemblance you'd see in cousins or something. Didn't think Nick would be too thrilled to hear about that, though.
"A person under your protection? What reason could that upstart puddle have for that?"
"From what I'm told, she has a shard of Death inside her. Erebus wants to extract it so that it, he, whatever, can end the world." Nyx had told me not to lie, after all.
That got a very draconic snarl from Ghidora, who then spun on his heel to address the figures seated on his right.
"Red Rider– go prepare the mounts. Seiten Taisei, Chernobog– get this place cleared out and mobilize Fifth and Tenth Squadrons.. I want everyone ready to go inside twenty minutes."
The cloaked skeleton bowed and quickly slipped out one of the back doors of the hall, while the monkey and the mushroom-guy moved to herd everybody at the lower tables out the front doors. Then Ghidora turned to the two on his left.
"Baphomet, I want intelligence. Find out where Erebus's army lines are thinnest, we're going to try and punch through at speed. Take-Minakata… give him a hand."
The goat-person rolled their eyes, and the armless dude gave Ghidora a dirty look, but both of them bowed and rushed out as well, leaving Ghidora and me standing in an empty hall.
I raised an eyebrow. "We?"
He turned that brilliant smile on me again. "Call it my price, Slayer, for getting you to Erebus's domain. I'm coming with you, and between the two of us, we will make certain that jumped-up Pushmi-Pullyu doesn't get what it desires."
"That's a pretty low price."
"Don't look so shocked. I'm a god who responds to his people's needs."
I rolled my eyes at that. "God? Don't you mean Devil?"
"Whichever you like," he shrugged. "But really, a world destroyed is one I can't rule, after all."
Yeah, I remembered a comment from Spike, when he was trying to convince us he wanted to help with the Soulstorm. "Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs." I could see that being a motivation for Ghidora, but…
"I seem to recall you being big on ruining everything you can't have?"
He waved dismissively. "Yes, but it's like kicking over a sandcastle on the beach. The sand remains, another castle can be built eventually. Erebus wants to wash the entire thing out to sea permanently."
"Point. Still kind of surprised you're being so helpful, considering the last time we met."
"Eh. Drake was a loyal priest and it was a true blow to lose him, but that sort of thing is the nature of battle, as all my followers know. I hold no grudge against a true warrior doing her job."
Somehow, I suspected there was an entire business of weasel words in that statement, but I let it go. "Speaking of, is he here?"
The smile returned, wider and whiter than before. "Why no, he isn't. Though I couldn't tell you why not."
Uh-huh. Not like I didn't notice he said "couldn't tell" not "don't know." Fine, it was one less problem for now, and whatever the reason was could be a problem for Future Buffy. The poor bitca.
Ghidora made a little motion with one arm and I let him lead me out of the hall, down a couple of side corridors, and out into a small side courtyard. The cloaked skeleton was standing there next to a red horse– not the color they call roan, this was a deep bloody red. Explained the name Ghidora'd called him by, then.
Red Rider's other hand held the reins of a horse that shone golden in the torchlight of the courtyard. Something seemed slightly off about its proportions, not to mention how calmly it was standing, despite all the bustle around it. No sign of mushroom-hat or the monkey dude, though.
"Ah, Red Rider. Have you prepared a mount for our ally here?" Ghidora asked, taking the reins of the golden horse in one hand.
The skeleton snorted, which was quite a feat for a guy who didn't apparently have any lungs. "I believe one will be provided shortly." His voice was low and rumbly, like distant thunder.
The sound of hoofbeats came from above us, and I looked up to see a white horse coming through the sky towards us. Another cloaked skeleton sat on its back, carrying a bow and with a crown sitting on its head. Very tacky, too. I was beginning to get a nasty feeling I knew where this was going.
The white horse touched down in front of us, and the rider gave us a polite nod, though I noticed Ghidora looked sort of irritated as he returned it.
"Well met, my brother, Lord of Ruin, and daughter of Nyx," he greeted us. "I am come at my Queen's behest to assist upon your quest."
"Her Majesty Nyx is too kind," Ghidora drawled. He definitely wasn't thrilled. "Will your third brother be joining us?"
I was impressed– the crowned skull managed to give Ghidora an impressively dirty look despite not having any actual mobile facial features. I so wanted to know how that was pulled off.
"Our brother serves Lord Erebus, and thus cannot defy his will. However, I do not believe Black Rider has ever been one for a losing fight, when he can avoid it."
Ghidora acknowledged that with a nod, though he was still looking seriously annoyed, like Giles when he runs out of the good tea and has to resort to Lipton. I was just getting ready to ask whether I was supposed to be riding double with somebody when I felt something nuzzle my hair. Spinning away, I found myself face to muzzle with a horse whose coat was an odd whitish-green. It nosed at me, obviously looking for treats like any other horse, and I couldn't help but pet that nose.
"Ah," Red Rider said dryly. "It would appear your guest's mount has arrived, my lord."
Ooof. Rider on a white horse, with a crown and a bow, that was Conquest. Red horse, big sword, that'd be War. Black Rider probably had a pair of scales for Famine, and here I was with the pale horse which… y'know, the symbolism around here was getting applied with a sledgehammer. But at the moment, I had bigger problems than the fact that my life was less subtle than a Freshman English paper.
"I… uh, I don't know how to ride a horse," I confessed. It wasn't one of those things that your typical city vampire slayer learned, okay? I'd been riding ponies once or twice as a kid, but I'd been so busy with cheerleading and ice skating, I hadn't had much chance for horsewomanship.
Ghidora smirked, and I saw White Rider jerk and quickly dismount. Raising one hand, Ghidora snapped his fingers, and all four horses were suddenly motorcycles, painted in the appropriate colors.
"Will that be better for you, Slayer?" Ghidora asked, with an innocent air that nobody was buying for a second. But yeah, actually, it would be. For one thing, the motorcycle was a lot easier for me to mount, even with my somewhat lacking stature.
Swinging up onto the seat, I revved the engine rather than answer, and he nodded, then looked at the other two. The skeletons quickly mounted their own bikes, though I thought I heard White Rider whisper an apology to his. Ahead of us, the courtyard gates opened to show a city street disappearing into the endless dark.
"We ride for the Black Gate!" Ghidora called, revving his own engine. A roar came up from behind us, and Ghidora gave me a nod, then shot forward, the three of us following quickly in his wake.
As a kid, I kind of slept through church a lot, on those occasions when my parents even made me go. But when your job involves knowing the plural of apocalypse, you get familiar with Revelations. And I looked, and beheld a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.
Head bowed low over my handlebars, I smirked a little to myself. Because suddenly, I was remembering a line from "Tombstone," that movie with Kurt Russel?
"You tell 'em I'm coming, and Hell's coming with me, y'hear? Hell's coming with me!"
And I wasn't leaving until I got Minako back.
A/N -
Igor's quotes are from "Terminator 2" and "Dracula," respectively.
The collective noun for weasels is a pack, colony, or gang. "Business" is actually for ferrets, but… Buffy.
Gurr - wiki/Gurr
Red Rider - wiki/Red_Rider
White Rider - wiki/White_Rider
Seiten Taisei - wiki/Seiten_Taisei
Chernobog - wiki/Chernobog
Taka-Minakata - wiki/Take-Minakata
Baphomet - wiki/Baphomet