Title - Dawn, The Key: Guardians of The Key Part 5
Author - Shane A. Hopkins (thesorcererbard@I-am-the-key.com)
Rating - PG
Disclaimer - What I don't own. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. The Ghost Roads, The Gatekeeper and The Gatehouse come from the Buffy, The Vampire Slayer novels The Gatekeeper Trilogy Books 1, 2 and 3 by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder (Great set of books get em if you can) What I do own. Everything not owned by the above mentioned people / companies is owned by me but you may use any of it as long as you give me credit. There is one exception to this and that is Quinton Everett III, he is mine and you can't use him whatsoever.
Authors Note - To be introduced to Quinton Everett III please read one of my previous stories "Love's Energy"
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Guardians of The Key - Part 5
"Huh?" Buffy said as she turned around to see a film crew standing there in the doorway to the dining room.
"Sarah you are supposed to wait at the top of the stairs until I give the signal to Shane here, and Shane you were supposed to keep Sarah up there, and Michelle what are you doing here you're not in this scene." said the man standing to the right of the cameraman.
"Where am I?" Buffy asked.
"Sarah are you alright?" the man asked.
"Tempus Antarcticus." said Quinn from behind Buffy and everything froze.
"Buffy I think we may have crossed into a reality where magic and the Slayer don't exist as anything but an idea, and it seems someone in this reality has cast your alter egos in what looks like a TV series or a movie." he said.
"How did this happen?" Dawn asked.
"I don't know, but perhaps we should go before someone clicks that we are not our counterparts." Quinn said leading the way up the stairs.
"Shouldn't we find out who we are and if Jason is here?" Buffy asked.
"He has enough sense to stay close to where he entered this reality so I don't think he's here." Quinn answered as they reached Buffy's room. He opened the portal and they climbed through into the Ghost Roads.
"We're back to normal." Dawn commented.
"Yes, that is one weird reality." Quinn said.
"Hey what's this?" Buffy said pulling a wallet out of her pocket. she opened it and pulled out a drivers licence and a photo. "This must be my alter egos wallet."
"Why?" asked Quinn
"Because the name on this licence is Sarah Michelle Gellar and the person in this photo looks like what I did in 2001, I have no idea who the person with her is though." Buffy said handing the licence and photo to Quinn.
"I know who this is he exists in our reality, his name is Freddie Prinze Jr, he's an actor." Quinn said before handing them back to Buffy.
"Quinn, I have located Jason." came The Gatekeeper's voice.
"Where?" Quinn asked.
"He's in the Ghost Roads and heading towards you now." The Gatekeeper replied.
"How did he get into the Ghost Roads?" Dawn asked.
"The Gatekeeper's counterpart helped me." came Jason's voice as he came into sight.
Dawn ran up to him and gave him a huge hug.
"I have a counterpart? well will wonders never end. " came The Gatekeeper's voice, "I was led to understand that I and the Gatehouse were the only ones in existence."
"Well we should get back to the Council building." Buffy said moving closer to Quinn.
"I agree." he replied.
So the four of them set off on the trek back through the Ghost Roads. Buffy and Quinn walking just outside hearing range of Dawn and Jason.
"You know that he shouldn't have been able to just walk out of the Ghost Roads and happen to run into The Gatekeeper, don't you?" Buffy said to her husband who had his arm around her shoulder.
"I know, and that's worrying me." Quinn replied, "Gatekeeper, are you there?"
"Yes and I heard what you said, and I agree with you." The Gatekeeper's voice said, "I have looked through all the journals of the past Gatekeeper's and I am now sure that there is only one of me."
"What should we do?" Buffy asked the Gatekeeper and Quinn.
"Could he have been hypnotised?" The Gatekeeper asked.
"No, as far as I know he has always resisted all attempts to hypnotise him." Buffy answered.
"Um, I have a bad feeling." Quinn said in a hushed voice. "What if he was switched while the Knights were holding him hostage?"
"Switched with what?" The Gatekeeper's voice asked.
"A memorphic Demon perhaps?" Quinn said.
"If so then Dawn's in danger." Buffy said as she started to turn to go and get her sister.
Quinn stopped her, "No wait, I have an idea."
"Jason, don't ever leave me like that again." Dawn said hugging her husband to her.
"Hon I promise I will never leave you ever." he told her as he leaned in towards her and kissed her passionately.
Dawn returned the kiss.
"Jason!" Quinn's voice interrupted their romantic interlude.
"What?" Jason called back.
"Come here!" he yelled back.
"Ok." he ran to where Quinn was standing.
Dawn began to follow him when Buffy stopped her, "Stay here."
"What is it Quinn?" Jason asked as he came up next to Quinn.
"Nothing really, just this!" he said as he thrust his fist into Jason's chest.
Jason just stared as the blood flowed out of the hole.
"NO!" screamed Dawn as she broke free of her sisters grasp and ran to her husband.
Jason was still standing despite the fact that most of his chest was missing.
"You fool, you have no idea what you're messing with." he said, his voice was no longer human, in fact it could barely be called a voice.
"Actually I think we know exactly what we are dealing with." The Gatekeeper said appearing next to Quinn.
Jason's skin fell away to reveal his real form. It was dripping with green mucus and you could see shadows through the body.
"Eww." Dawn said in disgust, "I can't believe that I kissed that."
"Where did the Knights dig you up?" Quinn asked.
"Hell." rasped the shape. It could no longer be called humanoid.
"Where's my husband?" Dawn demanded of the shape.
"They swapped us, he's in Hell." the shape rasped joyously.
"NOOO!" Dawn screamed collapsing on the ground.
Quinn and The Gatekeeper glanced at each other then burst into action The Gatekeeper and Quinn ran then dived at Buffy knocking her off her feet as Dawn stood up and raised a few feet off the ground. Lightning crackled around her body and the shape actually managed to look frightened, no mean feat for something with no facial features.
"YOU WILL TELL ME WHERE HE IS!" Dawn's voice was quiet but it echoed so much that the other humans had to cover their ears for fear of bursting the eardrums.
"I.I cannot." The thing stammered.
"WHY NOT!" Dawn was growing tired of getting the run around.
"B.because I d.do not know." The shape seemed to be having trouble holding it's form.
"THAT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Dawn floated towards the creature and placed her hands on either side of it's head. Energy crackled between her palms and the creature, it screamed a horrible death rattle before Dawn's power disintegrated it completely.
Dawn hovered there just staring into the distance not knowing what to do until a voice sounded at her side.
"Dawn?" it was Buffy.
"They have him, they have him somewhere and it's all because of me." she said as she slowly floated to the ground.
As she touched the ground she collapsed and Buffy collapsed by her side and took the sobbing Dawn in her arms.
"What did she do?" asked The Gatekeeper.
"She used a hell of a lot of her Key power and shattered the bonds of the creatures molecules, I've never seen that, and I've only read about it happening once in recorded history." Quinn answered in a hushed voice.
To be continued.
Author - Shane A. Hopkins (thesorcererbard@I-am-the-key.com)
Rating - PG
Disclaimer - What I don't own. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. The Ghost Roads, The Gatekeeper and The Gatehouse come from the Buffy, The Vampire Slayer novels The Gatekeeper Trilogy Books 1, 2 and 3 by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder (Great set of books get em if you can) What I do own. Everything not owned by the above mentioned people / companies is owned by me but you may use any of it as long as you give me credit. There is one exception to this and that is Quinton Everett III, he is mine and you can't use him whatsoever.
Authors Note - To be introduced to Quinton Everett III please read one of my previous stories "Love's Energy"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
Guardians of The Key - Part 5
"Huh?" Buffy said as she turned around to see a film crew standing there in the doorway to the dining room.
"Sarah you are supposed to wait at the top of the stairs until I give the signal to Shane here, and Shane you were supposed to keep Sarah up there, and Michelle what are you doing here you're not in this scene." said the man standing to the right of the cameraman.
"Where am I?" Buffy asked.
"Sarah are you alright?" the man asked.
"Tempus Antarcticus." said Quinn from behind Buffy and everything froze.
"Buffy I think we may have crossed into a reality where magic and the Slayer don't exist as anything but an idea, and it seems someone in this reality has cast your alter egos in what looks like a TV series or a movie." he said.
"How did this happen?" Dawn asked.
"I don't know, but perhaps we should go before someone clicks that we are not our counterparts." Quinn said leading the way up the stairs.
"Shouldn't we find out who we are and if Jason is here?" Buffy asked.
"He has enough sense to stay close to where he entered this reality so I don't think he's here." Quinn answered as they reached Buffy's room. He opened the portal and they climbed through into the Ghost Roads.
"We're back to normal." Dawn commented.
"Yes, that is one weird reality." Quinn said.
"Hey what's this?" Buffy said pulling a wallet out of her pocket. she opened it and pulled out a drivers licence and a photo. "This must be my alter egos wallet."
"Why?" asked Quinn
"Because the name on this licence is Sarah Michelle Gellar and the person in this photo looks like what I did in 2001, I have no idea who the person with her is though." Buffy said handing the licence and photo to Quinn.
"I know who this is he exists in our reality, his name is Freddie Prinze Jr, he's an actor." Quinn said before handing them back to Buffy.
"Quinn, I have located Jason." came The Gatekeeper's voice.
"Where?" Quinn asked.
"He's in the Ghost Roads and heading towards you now." The Gatekeeper replied.
"How did he get into the Ghost Roads?" Dawn asked.
"The Gatekeeper's counterpart helped me." came Jason's voice as he came into sight.
Dawn ran up to him and gave him a huge hug.
"I have a counterpart? well will wonders never end. " came The Gatekeeper's voice, "I was led to understand that I and the Gatehouse were the only ones in existence."
"Well we should get back to the Council building." Buffy said moving closer to Quinn.
"I agree." he replied.
So the four of them set off on the trek back through the Ghost Roads. Buffy and Quinn walking just outside hearing range of Dawn and Jason.
"You know that he shouldn't have been able to just walk out of the Ghost Roads and happen to run into The Gatekeeper, don't you?" Buffy said to her husband who had his arm around her shoulder.
"I know, and that's worrying me." Quinn replied, "Gatekeeper, are you there?"
"Yes and I heard what you said, and I agree with you." The Gatekeeper's voice said, "I have looked through all the journals of the past Gatekeeper's and I am now sure that there is only one of me."
"What should we do?" Buffy asked the Gatekeeper and Quinn.
"Could he have been hypnotised?" The Gatekeeper asked.
"No, as far as I know he has always resisted all attempts to hypnotise him." Buffy answered.
"Um, I have a bad feeling." Quinn said in a hushed voice. "What if he was switched while the Knights were holding him hostage?"
"Switched with what?" The Gatekeeper's voice asked.
"A memorphic Demon perhaps?" Quinn said.
"If so then Dawn's in danger." Buffy said as she started to turn to go and get her sister.
Quinn stopped her, "No wait, I have an idea."
"Jason, don't ever leave me like that again." Dawn said hugging her husband to her.
"Hon I promise I will never leave you ever." he told her as he leaned in towards her and kissed her passionately.
Dawn returned the kiss.
"Jason!" Quinn's voice interrupted their romantic interlude.
"What?" Jason called back.
"Come here!" he yelled back.
"Ok." he ran to where Quinn was standing.
Dawn began to follow him when Buffy stopped her, "Stay here."
"What is it Quinn?" Jason asked as he came up next to Quinn.
"Nothing really, just this!" he said as he thrust his fist into Jason's chest.
Jason just stared as the blood flowed out of the hole.
"NO!" screamed Dawn as she broke free of her sisters grasp and ran to her husband.
Jason was still standing despite the fact that most of his chest was missing.
"You fool, you have no idea what you're messing with." he said, his voice was no longer human, in fact it could barely be called a voice.
"Actually I think we know exactly what we are dealing with." The Gatekeeper said appearing next to Quinn.
Jason's skin fell away to reveal his real form. It was dripping with green mucus and you could see shadows through the body.
"Eww." Dawn said in disgust, "I can't believe that I kissed that."
"Where did the Knights dig you up?" Quinn asked.
"Hell." rasped the shape. It could no longer be called humanoid.
"Where's my husband?" Dawn demanded of the shape.
"They swapped us, he's in Hell." the shape rasped joyously.
"NOOO!" Dawn screamed collapsing on the ground.
Quinn and The Gatekeeper glanced at each other then burst into action The Gatekeeper and Quinn ran then dived at Buffy knocking her off her feet as Dawn stood up and raised a few feet off the ground. Lightning crackled around her body and the shape actually managed to look frightened, no mean feat for something with no facial features.
"YOU WILL TELL ME WHERE HE IS!" Dawn's voice was quiet but it echoed so much that the other humans had to cover their ears for fear of bursting the eardrums.
"I.I cannot." The thing stammered.
"WHY NOT!" Dawn was growing tired of getting the run around.
"B.because I d.do not know." The shape seemed to be having trouble holding it's form.
"THAT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" Dawn floated towards the creature and placed her hands on either side of it's head. Energy crackled between her palms and the creature, it screamed a horrible death rattle before Dawn's power disintegrated it completely.
Dawn hovered there just staring into the distance not knowing what to do until a voice sounded at her side.
"Dawn?" it was Buffy.
"They have him, they have him somewhere and it's all because of me." she said as she slowly floated to the ground.
As she touched the ground she collapsed and Buffy collapsed by her side and took the sobbing Dawn in her arms.
"What did she do?" asked The Gatekeeper.
"She used a hell of a lot of her Key power and shattered the bonds of the creatures molecules, I've never seen that, and I've only read about it happening once in recorded history." Quinn answered in a hushed voice.
To be continued.