Promises to Keep - Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I can only claim to own Jacki, and sometimes she doesn't let me do that. I'm just a historian to her. Oh well. It works out eitherway. She does stuff that I can write about, I make sure everyone knows it. It's a fair enough trade. I don't own Buffy and company, so please don't sue me! I mean seriously would you sue Homer? Cuz he really didn't own any of the greek gods...and what about St Matthew, St Mark, St Luke and St. John? They didn't own Jesus or the Apostles...Ok, I'm babbling. I'll stop now, and write my story...
"Sunnydale ought to be easy pickings," the leader said to his minions. "With that pesky Buffy girl dead and the next Slayer back in England, there would be nothing standing in way as we take over the Hellmouth and bring forth the END!" The crowd around him cheered, loudly.
"How do you know that the Hellmouth doesn't have other protectors?" A small voice said from the back. The crowd turned to see a young woman leaning casually against the doorway, idly filing her nails.
"What is this impudence in my ranks?" The huge demonlord roared angrily, staring at this slip of a girl. "You are not the new Slayer, so you are no threat."
She laughed. It was a joyful, happy kind of laugh. The kind you hear from children during cartoons. A thick burbling sound that came from her chest and flowed out her mouth. It went on for a while.
"YOU WILL NOT MOCK, BEIAL!" one of the lesser minions roared launching himself at the girl. Her laughter abruptly dropped, as if the soundtrack ended. There was no noise, except the sucking sound that was made as the girl's hand slammed into demon's chest. She grinned at him for a second before ripping out his heart. He tried to gasp, but his body soon failed him and he fell in a heap at her feet.
Sorana lifted the heart to her mouth and bit down, like one would on a ripe tomato. She sucked deeply, and the heart shriveled and turned to dust. She licked stray drops of blood from her lips.
"The Protector has returned to this dimension." She announced, "She is with the friends of the Slayer, a very powerful group of adepts that you would do well not to underestimate. They killed the Beast, stopped her from opening the Doorway. They stopped Wolfram and Heart. They can annihilate you."
"Who are you?" Beial asked, darkly, "What do you want?"
"For now I do not wish for my enemies to know I'm in town, so for now, I will give you no name. I wish to make an offer. My services and aid in taking over the Hellmouth." She answered, "A place on your council. I promise you that the Hellmouth will be yours and the End shall be. And in return I ask merely a trifle: The chance to kill the Protector with my barehands."
Beial was not a stupid demon. He knew a good deal when he saw one.
Xander was very happy that Anya suggested that they wait until Buffy was back before getting married.
"She needs to be there." Anya said, "She'll be my maid-of-honor." The ex-demon smiled happily at the thought of the Slayer's return. She had full faith in Jacki's plan working. "Jacki is very clever, and powerful. If she thinks she can, she knows she can, and she will." Anya said simply. It was amazing the way Anya believed in Jacki, almost as if the new girl was god or something.
"Maybe she is." Xander thought aloud. After all, he went back to his internal voice, for all intents and purposes, she's immortal. She has great power, and eerie knowledge. That sounds an aweful lot like a god to him.
"Depends on your definition of god." A voice to his left startled him. He looked and saw Jacki. She had that calm understanding look on her face, "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. You were just thinking so loud, I could help but pick it up."
"Oh." Xander said stupidly. "What do you mean by definition?"
"Well according to a lot of mythologies, I would definitely classify as a god. In those same mythologies, Spike, Angel, Anya, Willow, Buffy and Dawn would be gods, or at least demi-gods. In other mythologies, I would be a form of angel, probably of the Powers or Dominions choir, maybe Seraphim or Archangel."
"What do you consider yourself?" Xander asked, as the two began walking though the cemetary. They had worked it out so that everyday there was a different group on patrol. Jacki had split up the teams fairly well. Putting together unusual groups that worked together to balance weaknesses with strengths.
Spike and Tara were one team. Spike's vampiric strength and abilities meshed surprisingly well with Tara's natural magick. Jacki had shown the witch new methods of witchcraft more suited for her nature and bloodlines, making Tara as effective, in many way more so, than Willow. Turns out Tara had some kind of latent beastmaster abilities, that worked to send Spike into a beserker rage that mad him nasty.
Willow teamed up with Cordelia. Willow's powerful fay/demonic powers matched up nicely with the great hand to hand that Cordy developed. Also Cordy's ability to see future dangers, kept them from getting caught off guard. It was becoming more developed with Jacki's help. Now Cordy was able to trigger the visions at will, without those headaches. She also had been making a point of studying different kinds of demons so she could identify them on-sight.
Angel was teamed up with Anya. The ex-demon had become quite good at bashing things in the head, leaving them open to Angel's staking, maiming and killing. They both had a great deal of knowledge between them, all of which proved useful when figuring out the most effective way to kill demons.
Dawn wasn't on a team. Yet. She was still in training. Jacki thought that Dawn should learn to control her energy before putting her in the field. She was also being taught some martial arts from Angel and street-fighting from Spike. Both vampires were very impressed at how quickly she picked it up. Jacki smiled one of her cryptic smiles. Willow and Tara were also teaching her a bit of magicks in which she was making some progress. Within a month the girl would be ready for the field.
Xander was a little shocked when Jacki teamed herself up with him. He supposed it made sense. He was, afterall, the one with the least amount of power, physical or magickal. She, from what he seen, was the most powerful. It made sense that she would protect him.
"I'm not protecting you." She said quietly, "You are no where near as weak as you think. Sure you have the least powers of the group, but that doesn't mean jack. Look at who you're comparing yourself too!"
"I'm still projecting huh?" he asked sheepishly.
"You'll learn to control it." She said soothingly, "Besides you're not the only one who projects. Spike while learning to control his diarrea of the mouth hasn't quite stopped the brain. Angel constantly grumbles whenever I talk."
"What's his malfunction?"
"I sent him away. Put him where he could show up in time to save Buffy. He's convinced that with him added to the mix, she would have been saved." Jacki said, "And she probably could have. Angel and Spike together could have held off Doc, while Buffy pummled Glory. But what happened, needed to happen. For her sake, for the sake of the Slayer line and the sake of the world."
"You don't have an easy job do you?"
"No." she said. She paused a second. "I'm stalling a bit though. To answer your question: What do I think I am? I'm a girl. A girl with powers and destiny and awareness beyond all others. But at heart and soul and spirit, I'm a girl."
Xander was silent for a second. Then he spoke. "What do I have to offer to this team?"
"what do you mean?"
"Well you got Spike and Angel, both Vampires turned to the side of light. Willow and Tara, powerful witches. Cordelia and Anya, experts in demonology. Dawn a powerful key in the form of the Slayer's daughter/sister, and you, a girl who is omniscient and powerful. What do I bring to the table?"
"Your courage. Your emotional strength. Many other things that you need to figure out for yourself. I can't tell you, I can only prepare you for the moment of revelation." She said. "I didn't team up with you to protect you. Eventually, I'm going solo. You'll be teamed up with Dawn."
"What?" Xander yelled, "Jacki, I can't..."
"Yes you can. You're her 'big brother', the most capable of protecting her until Buffy comes back. And like I said, you also have gifts. You just need to find them yourself." She stopped and looked suddenly alert. "Danger" she murmured.
They came out of nowhere. Oozing demons of odd shapes. They had a powerful odor that caused Xander to gag. Both we immediately in battle.
"Xander, staking them won't work." Jacki told him. She gestured and a sword appeared in her hand. "Catch!" she threw the blade at him. "Dismember them."
Xander nodded, fighting the bile that came to his mouth. He swung the sword, which seemed to take a life of it's own in his hands. Within seconds he was stepping over the bodies of not one but two demons and facing down the third. It was a little easier to defeat the last one. It happened without fanfare.
Jacki had made short work of her opponents also. She had called upon her mystic blade of Innana, the Warrior Deity, and violently slashed through the demons like they were made of butter. They looked in shock as the realized that she had sliced their arms off before they could even raise them.
She turned to the last one with blazing eyes. Xander gasped softly, when he saw that her eyes were like Spike and Angel's when they vamped out. With a beastial roar she lept forward bringing the hilt of her dagger into the demon's chin. With a savage movement, she slammed the dagger's blade into his chest andslashed outward from there. There was a frenzy of motion and spraying blood that made it nearly impossible for Xander to see. Then the demon fell to the ground and Jacki was breathing normally.
As her game-face faded, there seemed to be a strong look of sadness to her. "chaos-folk" she told him. "They were once a beautiful race, much like fae or pixies, but they were taken and perverted by Evil." She murmured in a glutteral language, and light flowed from the bodies to her hands. It pulsed softly, in a soft iridescent flash. "May you find tranquility, my brothers." She threw up her hand and the light fluttered away like a butterfly.
She looked at Xander again, "Let's head back." She said, "It's almost morning." She began to walk away, and Xander realized he was still holding her sword.
"Jacki, your sword." He thrust it out to her. She looked at him with a ghost of a smile.
"It's your sword, Xander. It came here for you."
"So it seems the Slayer's mortal male is another kind of chosen one." Beial murmured.
"I told you not to underestimate them." Sorana said, "We'll need to study them for a while, find weaknessed. It's most unfortunate the Protector lost her hesitance to kill chaos-folk. They used to be her people. But her killing them indicates she can no longer change them back. Her power has faded."
Beial studied his new ally. She was very attractive by all standards, rich red hair and porcelin white skin. Her lips had a coral tone to them, her eyes were dark amethyst. She wore red leather that clung to her curves loosely, with a corset bustier that accented her hourglass figure.
She caught him staring and smiled. Te Demon lord was not unattractive. He had long dark hair that hung straight around his face. His skin was a pale ghostly white, accented by the tight black leather he wore. He would be worthy. She quietly reached over and touched his arm, before wordlessly getting up and heading to his chambers. He followed after only a second's pause.
Disclaimer: I can only claim to own Jacki, and sometimes she doesn't let me do that. I'm just a historian to her. Oh well. It works out eitherway. She does stuff that I can write about, I make sure everyone knows it. It's a fair enough trade. I don't own Buffy and company, so please don't sue me! I mean seriously would you sue Homer? Cuz he really didn't own any of the greek gods...and what about St Matthew, St Mark, St Luke and St. John? They didn't own Jesus or the Apostles...Ok, I'm babbling. I'll stop now, and write my story...
"Sunnydale ought to be easy pickings," the leader said to his minions. "With that pesky Buffy girl dead and the next Slayer back in England, there would be nothing standing in way as we take over the Hellmouth and bring forth the END!" The crowd around him cheered, loudly.
"How do you know that the Hellmouth doesn't have other protectors?" A small voice said from the back. The crowd turned to see a young woman leaning casually against the doorway, idly filing her nails.
"What is this impudence in my ranks?" The huge demonlord roared angrily, staring at this slip of a girl. "You are not the new Slayer, so you are no threat."
She laughed. It was a joyful, happy kind of laugh. The kind you hear from children during cartoons. A thick burbling sound that came from her chest and flowed out her mouth. It went on for a while.
"YOU WILL NOT MOCK, BEIAL!" one of the lesser minions roared launching himself at the girl. Her laughter abruptly dropped, as if the soundtrack ended. There was no noise, except the sucking sound that was made as the girl's hand slammed into demon's chest. She grinned at him for a second before ripping out his heart. He tried to gasp, but his body soon failed him and he fell in a heap at her feet.
Sorana lifted the heart to her mouth and bit down, like one would on a ripe tomato. She sucked deeply, and the heart shriveled and turned to dust. She licked stray drops of blood from her lips.
"The Protector has returned to this dimension." She announced, "She is with the friends of the Slayer, a very powerful group of adepts that you would do well not to underestimate. They killed the Beast, stopped her from opening the Doorway. They stopped Wolfram and Heart. They can annihilate you."
"Who are you?" Beial asked, darkly, "What do you want?"
"For now I do not wish for my enemies to know I'm in town, so for now, I will give you no name. I wish to make an offer. My services and aid in taking over the Hellmouth." She answered, "A place on your council. I promise you that the Hellmouth will be yours and the End shall be. And in return I ask merely a trifle: The chance to kill the Protector with my barehands."
Beial was not a stupid demon. He knew a good deal when he saw one.
Xander was very happy that Anya suggested that they wait until Buffy was back before getting married.
"She needs to be there." Anya said, "She'll be my maid-of-honor." The ex-demon smiled happily at the thought of the Slayer's return. She had full faith in Jacki's plan working. "Jacki is very clever, and powerful. If she thinks she can, she knows she can, and she will." Anya said simply. It was amazing the way Anya believed in Jacki, almost as if the new girl was god or something.
"Maybe she is." Xander thought aloud. After all, he went back to his internal voice, for all intents and purposes, she's immortal. She has great power, and eerie knowledge. That sounds an aweful lot like a god to him.
"Depends on your definition of god." A voice to his left startled him. He looked and saw Jacki. She had that calm understanding look on her face, "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. You were just thinking so loud, I could help but pick it up."
"Oh." Xander said stupidly. "What do you mean by definition?"
"Well according to a lot of mythologies, I would definitely classify as a god. In those same mythologies, Spike, Angel, Anya, Willow, Buffy and Dawn would be gods, or at least demi-gods. In other mythologies, I would be a form of angel, probably of the Powers or Dominions choir, maybe Seraphim or Archangel."
"What do you consider yourself?" Xander asked, as the two began walking though the cemetary. They had worked it out so that everyday there was a different group on patrol. Jacki had split up the teams fairly well. Putting together unusual groups that worked together to balance weaknesses with strengths.
Spike and Tara were one team. Spike's vampiric strength and abilities meshed surprisingly well with Tara's natural magick. Jacki had shown the witch new methods of witchcraft more suited for her nature and bloodlines, making Tara as effective, in many way more so, than Willow. Turns out Tara had some kind of latent beastmaster abilities, that worked to send Spike into a beserker rage that mad him nasty.
Willow teamed up with Cordelia. Willow's powerful fay/demonic powers matched up nicely with the great hand to hand that Cordy developed. Also Cordy's ability to see future dangers, kept them from getting caught off guard. It was becoming more developed with Jacki's help. Now Cordy was able to trigger the visions at will, without those headaches. She also had been making a point of studying different kinds of demons so she could identify them on-sight.
Angel was teamed up with Anya. The ex-demon had become quite good at bashing things in the head, leaving them open to Angel's staking, maiming and killing. They both had a great deal of knowledge between them, all of which proved useful when figuring out the most effective way to kill demons.
Dawn wasn't on a team. Yet. She was still in training. Jacki thought that Dawn should learn to control her energy before putting her in the field. She was also being taught some martial arts from Angel and street-fighting from Spike. Both vampires were very impressed at how quickly she picked it up. Jacki smiled one of her cryptic smiles. Willow and Tara were also teaching her a bit of magicks in which she was making some progress. Within a month the girl would be ready for the field.
Xander was a little shocked when Jacki teamed herself up with him. He supposed it made sense. He was, afterall, the one with the least amount of power, physical or magickal. She, from what he seen, was the most powerful. It made sense that she would protect him.
"I'm not protecting you." She said quietly, "You are no where near as weak as you think. Sure you have the least powers of the group, but that doesn't mean jack. Look at who you're comparing yourself too!"
"I'm still projecting huh?" he asked sheepishly.
"You'll learn to control it." She said soothingly, "Besides you're not the only one who projects. Spike while learning to control his diarrea of the mouth hasn't quite stopped the brain. Angel constantly grumbles whenever I talk."
"What's his malfunction?"
"I sent him away. Put him where he could show up in time to save Buffy. He's convinced that with him added to the mix, she would have been saved." Jacki said, "And she probably could have. Angel and Spike together could have held off Doc, while Buffy pummled Glory. But what happened, needed to happen. For her sake, for the sake of the Slayer line and the sake of the world."
"You don't have an easy job do you?"
"No." she said. She paused a second. "I'm stalling a bit though. To answer your question: What do I think I am? I'm a girl. A girl with powers and destiny and awareness beyond all others. But at heart and soul and spirit, I'm a girl."
Xander was silent for a second. Then he spoke. "What do I have to offer to this team?"
"what do you mean?"
"Well you got Spike and Angel, both Vampires turned to the side of light. Willow and Tara, powerful witches. Cordelia and Anya, experts in demonology. Dawn a powerful key in the form of the Slayer's daughter/sister, and you, a girl who is omniscient and powerful. What do I bring to the table?"
"Your courage. Your emotional strength. Many other things that you need to figure out for yourself. I can't tell you, I can only prepare you for the moment of revelation." She said. "I didn't team up with you to protect you. Eventually, I'm going solo. You'll be teamed up with Dawn."
"What?" Xander yelled, "Jacki, I can't..."
"Yes you can. You're her 'big brother', the most capable of protecting her until Buffy comes back. And like I said, you also have gifts. You just need to find them yourself." She stopped and looked suddenly alert. "Danger" she murmured.
They came out of nowhere. Oozing demons of odd shapes. They had a powerful odor that caused Xander to gag. Both we immediately in battle.
"Xander, staking them won't work." Jacki told him. She gestured and a sword appeared in her hand. "Catch!" she threw the blade at him. "Dismember them."
Xander nodded, fighting the bile that came to his mouth. He swung the sword, which seemed to take a life of it's own in his hands. Within seconds he was stepping over the bodies of not one but two demons and facing down the third. It was a little easier to defeat the last one. It happened without fanfare.
Jacki had made short work of her opponents also. She had called upon her mystic blade of Innana, the Warrior Deity, and violently slashed through the demons like they were made of butter. They looked in shock as the realized that she had sliced their arms off before they could even raise them.
She turned to the last one with blazing eyes. Xander gasped softly, when he saw that her eyes were like Spike and Angel's when they vamped out. With a beastial roar she lept forward bringing the hilt of her dagger into the demon's chin. With a savage movement, she slammed the dagger's blade into his chest andslashed outward from there. There was a frenzy of motion and spraying blood that made it nearly impossible for Xander to see. Then the demon fell to the ground and Jacki was breathing normally.
As her game-face faded, there seemed to be a strong look of sadness to her. "chaos-folk" she told him. "They were once a beautiful race, much like fae or pixies, but they were taken and perverted by Evil." She murmured in a glutteral language, and light flowed from the bodies to her hands. It pulsed softly, in a soft iridescent flash. "May you find tranquility, my brothers." She threw up her hand and the light fluttered away like a butterfly.
She looked at Xander again, "Let's head back." She said, "It's almost morning." She began to walk away, and Xander realized he was still holding her sword.
"Jacki, your sword." He thrust it out to her. She looked at him with a ghost of a smile.
"It's your sword, Xander. It came here for you."
"So it seems the Slayer's mortal male is another kind of chosen one." Beial murmured.
"I told you not to underestimate them." Sorana said, "We'll need to study them for a while, find weaknessed. It's most unfortunate the Protector lost her hesitance to kill chaos-folk. They used to be her people. But her killing them indicates she can no longer change them back. Her power has faded."
Beial studied his new ally. She was very attractive by all standards, rich red hair and porcelin white skin. Her lips had a coral tone to them, her eyes were dark amethyst. She wore red leather that clung to her curves loosely, with a corset bustier that accented her hourglass figure.
She caught him staring and smiled. Te Demon lord was not unattractive. He had long dark hair that hung straight around his face. His skin was a pale ghostly white, accented by the tight black leather he wore. He would be worthy. She quietly reached over and touched his arm, before wordlessly getting up and heading to his chambers. He followed after only a second's pause.