From: "Ryan Kinkor" kinkorknight@earthlink.net
Subject: FIC: Harsh Legacy: Brand New Day (Part 3)
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2002 3:32 PM
CONTINUED FROM PART TWO
Part Three: Wandering Time
Willow prepped a few candles in Giles' living room. Thankfully, she
didn't need any fancy symbols or candles in Dawn's room itself. She just
needed them to be in close proximity to her. Otherwise, they would probably
disturb Dawn and prevent her from getting any sleep. She had to wait a bit
anyway, since it took a few hours after someone fell asleep to reach the
REM stage, the dreaming stage. So she had a little time to kill.
Giles was still awake, resting in an easy chair and reading up on some
demon lore. Not exactly the best bedtime reading, but it was keeping him
from turning on the TV, which might have disturbed the mood. Willow felt it
helped to have everything mellow before she did a spell like this. It helped
her get in synch with the mind she was going to walk in.
Still, she was a little bored, so she started perusing Giles' book
collection, hoping for some light reading. But Giles didn't have much in
that department. One book did catch her attention. Its title
mentioned resurrections. She didn't bother to pick it up, as she had already
read up as much as she could on the subject, but it did make her recoil
empty-handed back to her spot on the couch.
Many times over the last four months Willow had thought about it. She
knew all the stories, knew all the dangers, knew that it was the worst idea
to try. But there were a few times when all that would have been needed was
Giles' or Tara's endorsement and she would have done it. What was the point
in being powerful if you couldn't heal or couldn't bring back the ones you
love?
It was Tara who had kept her straight and narrow through it all. Tara
told her about how much she had wanted to bring her dead mother back when
she had passed on, but she knew that it would have been selfish to do so.
The dead go on, they go Beyond, and it was designed as a one-way trip. It
was the nature of life and death, and tampering with it made things far
worse. You only had to look at vampires to see the proof.
Trying to force out the familiar feelings of loss, Willow closed her
eyes and meditated, trying to think only on Dawn. Buffy was beyond her help,
but Dawn wasn't. And she was going to make Dawn better, no matter what.
********
"Here, demons, demons, demons. Spikey wants to play!"
The moon was out in full force tonight, and it had given Spike full-moon
fever. He was walking around the outskirts of the Sunnydale cemetery, hoping
that he could rile up some monstrosity to brawl with. It was getting close
to midnight, and usually something would pop out to feed or have some nasty
fun. And some nasty fun was what Spike was after, in the end. Patrolling was
a nice game, but his heart, unbeating as it were, wasn't in it tonight. Too
many thoughts swirling in his head now. He had to vent on some poor
demonic bastard, since he couldn't take it out on anyone else. "Come on out,
boys. There's some nice Spike-on-the-slab for your enjoyment."
"Do you really think your taunts will draw something to you, Spike?"
came a voice from behind him.
Spike turned around and smiled. "Well, it drew you, didn't it, Avis?"
Avis' face was already in vamp mode. He was about the same size and
build as Spike, though he had long reddish hair tied up in a pony tail
behind him. He had a stake in his left hand. "I thought you might be around
still. I'd think after the Slayer's death, you'd be hightailing it out of
Sunnydale. But you've never been smart."
"Smart enough to keep the Slayer at bay this long." said Spike, puffing
up his ego.
Avis snarled. "Oh yes, your patented Turn-Your-Back-On-Your-Brethren
tactic. How avant-garde."
Now a bit annoyed, Spike snarled back, "Yeah, well, you've been gone the
whole time. What, too chicken to party with the Slayer? Don't be giving me
any lectures about originality."
"Ok, enough of this. I owe you for your betrayal. And I've come back
with my own party." Wearing an arrogant smile, Avis snapped his fingers. But
his smile quickly began to fade when he realized his finger-snapping had
produced nothing. He snapped them again, but still nothing happened.
Spike, amused, chided, "Looks like you forgot the most important part of
the party; the minions."
Avis, now completely unamused, looked around frantically. He had planned
this whole thing. The other vamps would jump out from behind the trees and
the tombstones at his cue. What the hell?!
He turned back to Spike, enraged. "Fine. I'll take you down myself. I've
been training and I'm pretty sure (Snak!)..." Suddenly, Avis' head went one
way while his body went the opposite direction. Both turned to dust in the
blink of an eye.
A little shocked at first, Spike recovered quickly enough to register
the figure that had been standing behind Avis, and who had apparently
removed Avis' head as well. He seemed human, but Spike couldn't make out a
sword or anything that he could have used to behead Avis. "You didn't have
to do that, " Spike said to the figure. "I would've taken him out at my
leisure. I needed a good fight."
The figure regarded him for a second. Then in a flat tone he said, "You
should be more careful. There were four other vampires hidden out here. I
took care of them. Personally, I would have thought that anyone who lived in
a place as knee-deep in the dead as this town would avoid..." He stopped
talking, then started sniffing the air. He made a confused face, then his
eyes widened in recognition. He then closed them and began shaking his head.
"Ah friggen! I just saved a vampire from a vampire. I'm slipping up now.
Guess I should be calling it a night before I do something stupid."
Then the man opened his eyes again, staring daggers into Spike, and
said, "Well, I can at least remedy this situation." And he started advancing
on Spike. It became obvious to Spike that this figure now meant to do the
same thing to his head as he had just done to Avis' head. He started
backpedaling, but he ended up tripping over a small memorial tomb and
falling on his back.
"Wait a minute!" Spike cried frantically. "I'm a friendly vampire. I
can't hurt anyone." He held up his arms in surrender. The guy smelled human,
though the smell was a little off, so Spike knew he couldn't defend himself
without the chip in his head kicking in. He had to talk his way out of this
one.
The figure stopped advancing for a second and said, "A friendly vampire?
Who was your sire, Casper?" He then reached down, grabbed Spike by the neck,
and yanked him back on his feet. "You have ten seconds to explain."
"Chip in my head," Spike said hurriedly. "Some government guys a while
back put a microchip in my brain. If I try to hurt a human, I get a
migraine. I'll show you." And Spike made a quick jab to the man's chest. It
made the figure recoil, but it sent jagged shards of pain into Spike's head.
After a couple of seconds the pain wore off and Spike could see straight
again. The figure was a little pissed off, probably from the jab, but he
also looked a little confused.
"So, you're claiming to be unable to attack humans. Hmmm." The figure
put his hand to his chin, rubbing it unconsciously in thought. Then he
stopped rubbing and said, "Nice acting job, but it's a bit too farfetched
for my tastes. Sorry."
"Wait!" Spike protested as the figure started advancing again. "I have
buds that can back me up. Uh, Willow, Xander, uh, Giles, they can vouch for
me. Really!"
At the mention of Giles' name, the figure stopped advancing again.
"You're saying you know Giles? Rupert Giles? The Watcher?"
"Well, yeah. Best pals, we are. He'll tell ya I'm harmless. To humans, I
mean." Spike had to hope that this mystery man was on good terms with Giles,
or else he'd be joining Avis in the Great Dustbowl very shortly.
The figure shook his head again, then looked sternly into Spike's eyes.
"It's late, vampire. I'm in no mood for goose-chasing. But I suppose I can
kill two birds right now. Take me to Rupert Giles. I need to speak to him.
If he confirms your story, I'll let you stay undead for a time."
"Um, sure. I'll lead on." Spike started heading into the cemetery, then
halted when he realized that the figure wasn't following. "The fastest way
is through the cemetery proper. I'm not going to pull anything."
The figure scrutinized Spike for a few more seconds, then began walking
after him. "No tricks, vampire," he warned.
"You know, it's polite to ask for names," said Spike, trying to regain
some of his composure. "I'm Spike. Heard of me?"
Valmont shook his head. "Valmont. Heard of me?" the figure responded.
Spike shook his head. Valmont replied, "I suggest that you don't
bother to enlighten me about your reputation. You want me to spare
you, remember?" And Spike didn't pursue the subject any further.
They walked in silence, passing old dank tombs and marble monuments.
Spike had some worries that they might get jumped by some ambushing demon or
vampire. What worried him wasn't the potential attacker, but that this
mystery man would use it as an excuse to off him. But the cemetery was
quieter than usual. They passed through it unmolested.
It was at the other end, near a small grove of willow trees, that Spike
altered course and stopped at a particular tombstone. Every time he passed
by
it, he couldn't help but stop. He felt a small measure of peace standing on
that hallowed ground, knowing that the earth had been undisturbed, knowing
that she was still where she was. He had taken out a Nork demon that had
tried to dig her up several weeks ago. He hadn't bothered to tell anyone
else about the incident. Valmont came up from behind Spike and stood by him.
At first, Spike thought Valmont was about to cuss him out for the holdup.
Then Valmont walked up to the tombstone and knelt down, reading the
inscription in the weak moonlight.
The tombstone had several bouquets of flowers lying around it, some old
and some new. Candles were also present, most of them burned out but still
colorful next to the drab gray stone. A talisman that Willow and Tara had
crafted by hand was draped across the back of the memorial. Willow had said
that it would keep any hostile spirits from taking possession of Buffy's
body. It did nothing against regular demons, but Spike had taken it upon
himself to fix that oversight.
Valmont finished reading, then went back to Spike and looked at him with
a puzzled expression. "The Slayer," he said. "I don't understand you,
vampi.... Spike. She was designed to destroy you. Yet I get the impression
that you're... mourning her."
"Let's get going, all right?" Spike turned away from the grave and
started heading towards Giles' home. Valmont, still puzzled, followed after
him.
********
The door to Dawn's room stood ajar for a moment, then closed again as
Willow snuck in. It was technically Giles' guest room, but they had moved
most of Dawn's things into it when Giles had taken Dawn under his
guardianship. There was a digital alarm clock in the room, casting a low
neon glow, so Willow had enough light to work without having to stumble
around. Willow slowly and quietly went to a chair in the corner of the room
and sat down. She got as comfortable as she could, since she'd be spending
several hours in the chair while the spell played out.
Dawn was asleep, wrapped up in her bed comforter. She seemed peaceful,
almost death-like. Willow threw the comparison out of her head. Thinking
such things wouldn't help her state of mind right now. Willow relaxed and
started to recite her spell incantation under her breath, as low as she
dared. Spells required a vocal component usually, but the rules on how loud
the vocal part had to be were ambiguous. Willow was hoping that she had said
the words as loudly as needed, and wasn't disappointed as the world started
to fade out. She felt like she was floating along some dark river, being
pulled by an unseen presence away from her body and into...
(Wham!) She was in the Sunnydale cemetery. The sun was blazing above
her, though she felt no heat. And despite the fact that she had come from a
dark room, she had no problem with her eyes readjusting to the light. She
looked around, taking in the whole of the cemetery. But beyond the
cemetery was nothing. Just a swirling gray fog that seemed to cut the
cemetery off from the rest of the world.
Willow had no body. She looked for it, but for all purposes she was
invisible. *Good,* Willow thought, *that much is going according to plan*.
She walked with her mind, passing over and around stone and grass. She
noticed that none of the gravesites or tombstones had any names or writing.
They were just nondescript obstacles, an imperfect memory. So it wasn't hard
for Willow to find the focus of the dream.
Dawn was there, standing next to an open grave. She was dressed in her
mourning clothes, the ones she wore on the day of Buffy's funeral. At the
head of the grave was the all-too-familiar tombstone with the name Buffy
Anne Summers on it. It was next to another tombstone, and this one had Joyce
Summers on it. That grave was closed up. No one else was around but Dawn.
Willow flew closer to Dawn, but she didn't notice her. So far, so good.
Then she decided to look down into the open grave. There, instead of a body
or a dirt floor, there was the pulsating portal. It was the same one that
Buffy had jumped into. It churned and flowed, expanded and contracted. No
reality-warping lightning was spewing forth, which Willow took as a good
sign. At least until she saw a figure emerging from the fog, walking toward
the open grave. She was wearing her white sweater and leather pants, the
same clothes she had worn on the day she died.
Buffy.
Dawn saw her. She moved between Buffy and the grave. Buffy stopped as
she reached Dawn, but didn't look at her. Her gaze was on the open grave, a
look of longing in her eyes. Dawn's face wore a measure of weariness and
hope. Willow could only guess how many times Dawn had experienced this
dream, and she had the horrible feeling she knew how it ended already.
"Buffy, don't!" said Dawn, sounding like her voice would crack at any
moment. "You can live. It was my turn, not yours. I wasn't meant to be."
"You were meant to be. Or else you wouldn't be here," Buffy responded,
her voice far off and distant. "I have a duty. Everything comes together
here. It all makes sense now."
"How? How can it make sense?"
"Mom showed me the way. She was the first. And the First showed me why."
"Then tell me why, Buffy. I need to know."
"Because you are the Key. And the Key is the way home. The Key is the
way to peace."
Dawn didn't respond. She seemed to know what was coming, and that words
would only delay it.
Buffy began to slowly move around Dawn. Dawn didn't attempt to get in
her way again. "Mom showed me the way," Buffy said. "She knew what was down
there. Now I know, and I'm okay with it." She approached the edge of the
grave and stared down. "I die to live."
Dawn turned her head away, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.
Buffy closed her eyes and jumped into the grave. As her body hits the
portal, the grave closed up, dirt forming over the opening and burying both
the portal and Buffy. The ground now looked like it had never been
disturbed. Dawn was quietly weeping, her head bowed. Everything started to
fade into mist.
(Flash!) Suddenly, the entire landscape changed. Dawn was standing next
to an old and sickly-looking willow tree. The ground went from lush,
well-kept grass to cracked and broken desert. The sky was a dark red hue,
filled with clouds of dark and thick content. Dawn appeared to be as
startled at the change of scenery as Willow was. She looked around in shock,
surprise drying her tears. Then she gazed straight at Willow and said,
"Willow, I don't like it here. It's so... empty."
Shock made Willow step backward, almost tripping over a low dune and
falling down. Then Willow saw her lower torso. She had a body! She was
dressed in her evening clothes, the ones she had on her body before
starting the spell. The spell wasn't behaving itself for some reason. Dawn
was now looking at her questioningly, and Willow felt like she had to say
something.
"Well, it's all very... dry. I mean, deserts don't have a lot in them,
generally." Willow cringed a little. It wasn't exactly the usual
"dreamesque" thing to say. She had to try to play along if she didn't want
Dawn to wake up. Willow had a strong feeling that they were finally getting
to the heart of Dawn's pain.
There was a cliff to Dawn's right, and she started to walk toward it.
Willow followed a few feet behind her. Dawn then started to speak in the
same distant tone Buffy had used. "I've been here before. It's always empty.
You can walk around for centuries and never find anything. It's too big. But
it's not somewhere, it's nowhere." Dawn stopped at the edge of the cliff and
looked into the distance.
*This is a little creepy,* Willow thought. She was starting to wonder if
Dawn was going to do a repeat performance of what Buffy had done only
moments before; casting herself off into the void or something along those
lines. But when Willow reached the cliff and looked around, she gasped. The
ground beyond the cliff was gone. Instead of red-tinged clouds, the sky was
made of pulsing energy. It, too, was red, but it was subdued, almost dark.
Now the sky extended down below the ground level, as if they had found the
edge of the world and were looking off into the Great Beyond. The cliff face
was the cutoff point between the desert world and the void.
"You never try to find this place," Dawn said, still talking as if
someone had taken control of her mouth. "But you find it all the same. It's
in-between. You walk it to the other places. You visit, but never stay."
Dawn turned to face Willow. Her eyes were glazed over. "You never stay long,
unless you were made to stay here."
With those last words, Dawn's eyes regained their focus. She snapped out
of whatever trance or fugue she had been experiencing. She looked out at the
void in awe, as if she hadn't been standing next to the cliff the whole
time.
"Dawn, are you with me now?" Willow asked. Dawn didn't respond. She was
looking intently on something in the void. Willow turned to see what Dawn
had spied in the distance. It was bluish in color, resembling an orb that
pulsed and throbbed much like the Key portal. It was coming toward them, and
Willow was starting to wonder if it wasn't a good idea to wake Dawn up and
end the dream.
But Dawn started to get excited. She looked back at Willow and said,
"Don't you see her, Willow?" Dawn reached out past the cliff side, but
instead of open air, there was some invisible wall running perpendicular to
the cliff. Dawn then put both her hands on the invisible wall and started
pushing against it, first softly and then harder. Willow was reminded of the
times she'd seen vampires try to enter buildings that they hadn't been
invited into.
Dawn started hitting and scratching at the barrier, tears beading in her
eyes again. Willow moved to restrain Dawn, hoping that the action would
cause her to wake up. But before she could, the orb showed up right in front
of them. It was roughly Willow's height and size, emitting a warm light as
it throbbed. *It's alive,* Willow thought. As she watched, it tried to move
through the barrier Dawn was scrambling to breach, but it bounced back at
the touch of the barrier. Then it tried again, and again.
Dawn was now leaning against the barrier quietly, having realized the
futility of her actions. The orb tried a dozen times to move through the
wall, but each attempt was met with failure. Finally, the orb simply hovered
in front of the two of them. Dawn was now sobbing, gazing longingly at the
orb. Willow stared at it for what seemed like eternity. She knew this was
important, but the final piece hadn't presented itself....
She saw it. In the middle of the orb, she saw it. A face. A face that
she would now anywhere. It was saying something, but no sound was coming
forth. Its attention was focused on Dawn, who only nodded and sobbed. Then
it turned to Willow. The face wore sorrow, loneliness. It nearly broke
Willow's heart again. And she could only make out one lip-synched word. The
face was speaking Willow's name.
They woke up.
Dawn came awake, crying. Willow snapped out of her spell, but it took
her a few seconds to reorient herself after the sudden return back to her
own mind. Dawn stopped crying long enough to look around and see Willow
sitting in the corner. At first, Dawn's face wore confusion, but the
confusion soon melted away, as if Dawn had understood what had happened.
Willow wasn't even sure she herself understood what had happened.
"You saw her, right?" Dawn asked. "You were there. She's so close to us,
Willow." Dawn became quiet again.
Willow, left a bit dumbfounded, did the only thing she could think of.
She got up, went over to Dawn, and embraced her. Willow felt herself crying
as well, her tears adding to Dawn's. Yes, she had seen her. She had almost
touched her. And besides the old feelings of loss renewed, Willow felt that
something was definitely wrong with the whole experience.
********
Giles was finishing off his book when he heard what sounded like sobbing
coming from Dawn's bedroom. Such sounds had become a nightly occurrence, but
tonight it also meant that Willow's spell was over. He got up and headed
toward her bedroom door, but stopped when a knock came from his front door.
Knocks on the door in the middle of the night were almost never good news,
and in Sunnydale they were often lethal. Giles detoured to the front door,
picking up a cross off his kitchen counter as he went. It never hurt to be
prepared.
He looked through the spy glass and relaxed somewhat when he recognized
his visitor, though his annoyance level went up a bit at the same time. He
opened the door and found Spike on his doorstep, looking a little glum.
"Hey, Giles, what's up?" Spike said.
"Spike, I certainly hope you have..." began Giles. He then saw that
Spike wasn't alone. A man in his mid-twenties was holding Spike by the
back of his coat. He didn't have any visible weapons on him, but he seemed
to have Spike intimidated regardless.
"Sorry for the late hour," said Valmont. "But I wanted to know if this
was your vampire."
CONTINUED IN PART FOUR
Subject: FIC: Harsh Legacy: Brand New Day (Part 3)
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2002 3:32 PM
CONTINUED FROM PART TWO
Part Three: Wandering Time
Willow prepped a few candles in Giles' living room. Thankfully, she
didn't need any fancy symbols or candles in Dawn's room itself. She just
needed them to be in close proximity to her. Otherwise, they would probably
disturb Dawn and prevent her from getting any sleep. She had to wait a bit
anyway, since it took a few hours after someone fell asleep to reach the
REM stage, the dreaming stage. So she had a little time to kill.
Giles was still awake, resting in an easy chair and reading up on some
demon lore. Not exactly the best bedtime reading, but it was keeping him
from turning on the TV, which might have disturbed the mood. Willow felt it
helped to have everything mellow before she did a spell like this. It helped
her get in synch with the mind she was going to walk in.
Still, she was a little bored, so she started perusing Giles' book
collection, hoping for some light reading. But Giles didn't have much in
that department. One book did catch her attention. Its title
mentioned resurrections. She didn't bother to pick it up, as she had already
read up as much as she could on the subject, but it did make her recoil
empty-handed back to her spot on the couch.
Many times over the last four months Willow had thought about it. She
knew all the stories, knew all the dangers, knew that it was the worst idea
to try. But there were a few times when all that would have been needed was
Giles' or Tara's endorsement and she would have done it. What was the point
in being powerful if you couldn't heal or couldn't bring back the ones you
love?
It was Tara who had kept her straight and narrow through it all. Tara
told her about how much she had wanted to bring her dead mother back when
she had passed on, but she knew that it would have been selfish to do so.
The dead go on, they go Beyond, and it was designed as a one-way trip. It
was the nature of life and death, and tampering with it made things far
worse. You only had to look at vampires to see the proof.
Trying to force out the familiar feelings of loss, Willow closed her
eyes and meditated, trying to think only on Dawn. Buffy was beyond her help,
but Dawn wasn't. And she was going to make Dawn better, no matter what.
********
"Here, demons, demons, demons. Spikey wants to play!"
The moon was out in full force tonight, and it had given Spike full-moon
fever. He was walking around the outskirts of the Sunnydale cemetery, hoping
that he could rile up some monstrosity to brawl with. It was getting close
to midnight, and usually something would pop out to feed or have some nasty
fun. And some nasty fun was what Spike was after, in the end. Patrolling was
a nice game, but his heart, unbeating as it were, wasn't in it tonight. Too
many thoughts swirling in his head now. He had to vent on some poor
demonic bastard, since he couldn't take it out on anyone else. "Come on out,
boys. There's some nice Spike-on-the-slab for your enjoyment."
"Do you really think your taunts will draw something to you, Spike?"
came a voice from behind him.
Spike turned around and smiled. "Well, it drew you, didn't it, Avis?"
Avis' face was already in vamp mode. He was about the same size and
build as Spike, though he had long reddish hair tied up in a pony tail
behind him. He had a stake in his left hand. "I thought you might be around
still. I'd think after the Slayer's death, you'd be hightailing it out of
Sunnydale. But you've never been smart."
"Smart enough to keep the Slayer at bay this long." said Spike, puffing
up his ego.
Avis snarled. "Oh yes, your patented Turn-Your-Back-On-Your-Brethren
tactic. How avant-garde."
Now a bit annoyed, Spike snarled back, "Yeah, well, you've been gone the
whole time. What, too chicken to party with the Slayer? Don't be giving me
any lectures about originality."
"Ok, enough of this. I owe you for your betrayal. And I've come back
with my own party." Wearing an arrogant smile, Avis snapped his fingers. But
his smile quickly began to fade when he realized his finger-snapping had
produced nothing. He snapped them again, but still nothing happened.
Spike, amused, chided, "Looks like you forgot the most important part of
the party; the minions."
Avis, now completely unamused, looked around frantically. He had planned
this whole thing. The other vamps would jump out from behind the trees and
the tombstones at his cue. What the hell?!
He turned back to Spike, enraged. "Fine. I'll take you down myself. I've
been training and I'm pretty sure (Snak!)..." Suddenly, Avis' head went one
way while his body went the opposite direction. Both turned to dust in the
blink of an eye.
A little shocked at first, Spike recovered quickly enough to register
the figure that had been standing behind Avis, and who had apparently
removed Avis' head as well. He seemed human, but Spike couldn't make out a
sword or anything that he could have used to behead Avis. "You didn't have
to do that, " Spike said to the figure. "I would've taken him out at my
leisure. I needed a good fight."
The figure regarded him for a second. Then in a flat tone he said, "You
should be more careful. There were four other vampires hidden out here. I
took care of them. Personally, I would have thought that anyone who lived in
a place as knee-deep in the dead as this town would avoid..." He stopped
talking, then started sniffing the air. He made a confused face, then his
eyes widened in recognition. He then closed them and began shaking his head.
"Ah friggen! I just saved a vampire from a vampire. I'm slipping up now.
Guess I should be calling it a night before I do something stupid."
Then the man opened his eyes again, staring daggers into Spike, and
said, "Well, I can at least remedy this situation." And he started advancing
on Spike. It became obvious to Spike that this figure now meant to do the
same thing to his head as he had just done to Avis' head. He started
backpedaling, but he ended up tripping over a small memorial tomb and
falling on his back.
"Wait a minute!" Spike cried frantically. "I'm a friendly vampire. I
can't hurt anyone." He held up his arms in surrender. The guy smelled human,
though the smell was a little off, so Spike knew he couldn't defend himself
without the chip in his head kicking in. He had to talk his way out of this
one.
The figure stopped advancing for a second and said, "A friendly vampire?
Who was your sire, Casper?" He then reached down, grabbed Spike by the neck,
and yanked him back on his feet. "You have ten seconds to explain."
"Chip in my head," Spike said hurriedly. "Some government guys a while
back put a microchip in my brain. If I try to hurt a human, I get a
migraine. I'll show you." And Spike made a quick jab to the man's chest. It
made the figure recoil, but it sent jagged shards of pain into Spike's head.
After a couple of seconds the pain wore off and Spike could see straight
again. The figure was a little pissed off, probably from the jab, but he
also looked a little confused.
"So, you're claiming to be unable to attack humans. Hmmm." The figure
put his hand to his chin, rubbing it unconsciously in thought. Then he
stopped rubbing and said, "Nice acting job, but it's a bit too farfetched
for my tastes. Sorry."
"Wait!" Spike protested as the figure started advancing again. "I have
buds that can back me up. Uh, Willow, Xander, uh, Giles, they can vouch for
me. Really!"
At the mention of Giles' name, the figure stopped advancing again.
"You're saying you know Giles? Rupert Giles? The Watcher?"
"Well, yeah. Best pals, we are. He'll tell ya I'm harmless. To humans, I
mean." Spike had to hope that this mystery man was on good terms with Giles,
or else he'd be joining Avis in the Great Dustbowl very shortly.
The figure shook his head again, then looked sternly into Spike's eyes.
"It's late, vampire. I'm in no mood for goose-chasing. But I suppose I can
kill two birds right now. Take me to Rupert Giles. I need to speak to him.
If he confirms your story, I'll let you stay undead for a time."
"Um, sure. I'll lead on." Spike started heading into the cemetery, then
halted when he realized that the figure wasn't following. "The fastest way
is through the cemetery proper. I'm not going to pull anything."
The figure scrutinized Spike for a few more seconds, then began walking
after him. "No tricks, vampire," he warned.
"You know, it's polite to ask for names," said Spike, trying to regain
some of his composure. "I'm Spike. Heard of me?"
Valmont shook his head. "Valmont. Heard of me?" the figure responded.
Spike shook his head. Valmont replied, "I suggest that you don't
bother to enlighten me about your reputation. You want me to spare
you, remember?" And Spike didn't pursue the subject any further.
They walked in silence, passing old dank tombs and marble monuments.
Spike had some worries that they might get jumped by some ambushing demon or
vampire. What worried him wasn't the potential attacker, but that this
mystery man would use it as an excuse to off him. But the cemetery was
quieter than usual. They passed through it unmolested.
It was at the other end, near a small grove of willow trees, that Spike
altered course and stopped at a particular tombstone. Every time he passed
by
it, he couldn't help but stop. He felt a small measure of peace standing on
that hallowed ground, knowing that the earth had been undisturbed, knowing
that she was still where she was. He had taken out a Nork demon that had
tried to dig her up several weeks ago. He hadn't bothered to tell anyone
else about the incident. Valmont came up from behind Spike and stood by him.
At first, Spike thought Valmont was about to cuss him out for the holdup.
Then Valmont walked up to the tombstone and knelt down, reading the
inscription in the weak moonlight.
The tombstone had several bouquets of flowers lying around it, some old
and some new. Candles were also present, most of them burned out but still
colorful next to the drab gray stone. A talisman that Willow and Tara had
crafted by hand was draped across the back of the memorial. Willow had said
that it would keep any hostile spirits from taking possession of Buffy's
body. It did nothing against regular demons, but Spike had taken it upon
himself to fix that oversight.
Valmont finished reading, then went back to Spike and looked at him with
a puzzled expression. "The Slayer," he said. "I don't understand you,
vampi.... Spike. She was designed to destroy you. Yet I get the impression
that you're... mourning her."
"Let's get going, all right?" Spike turned away from the grave and
started heading towards Giles' home. Valmont, still puzzled, followed after
him.
********
The door to Dawn's room stood ajar for a moment, then closed again as
Willow snuck in. It was technically Giles' guest room, but they had moved
most of Dawn's things into it when Giles had taken Dawn under his
guardianship. There was a digital alarm clock in the room, casting a low
neon glow, so Willow had enough light to work without having to stumble
around. Willow slowly and quietly went to a chair in the corner of the room
and sat down. She got as comfortable as she could, since she'd be spending
several hours in the chair while the spell played out.
Dawn was asleep, wrapped up in her bed comforter. She seemed peaceful,
almost death-like. Willow threw the comparison out of her head. Thinking
such things wouldn't help her state of mind right now. Willow relaxed and
started to recite her spell incantation under her breath, as low as she
dared. Spells required a vocal component usually, but the rules on how loud
the vocal part had to be were ambiguous. Willow was hoping that she had said
the words as loudly as needed, and wasn't disappointed as the world started
to fade out. She felt like she was floating along some dark river, being
pulled by an unseen presence away from her body and into...
(Wham!) She was in the Sunnydale cemetery. The sun was blazing above
her, though she felt no heat. And despite the fact that she had come from a
dark room, she had no problem with her eyes readjusting to the light. She
looked around, taking in the whole of the cemetery. But beyond the
cemetery was nothing. Just a swirling gray fog that seemed to cut the
cemetery off from the rest of the world.
Willow had no body. She looked for it, but for all purposes she was
invisible. *Good,* Willow thought, *that much is going according to plan*.
She walked with her mind, passing over and around stone and grass. She
noticed that none of the gravesites or tombstones had any names or writing.
They were just nondescript obstacles, an imperfect memory. So it wasn't hard
for Willow to find the focus of the dream.
Dawn was there, standing next to an open grave. She was dressed in her
mourning clothes, the ones she wore on the day of Buffy's funeral. At the
head of the grave was the all-too-familiar tombstone with the name Buffy
Anne Summers on it. It was next to another tombstone, and this one had Joyce
Summers on it. That grave was closed up. No one else was around but Dawn.
Willow flew closer to Dawn, but she didn't notice her. So far, so good.
Then she decided to look down into the open grave. There, instead of a body
or a dirt floor, there was the pulsating portal. It was the same one that
Buffy had jumped into. It churned and flowed, expanded and contracted. No
reality-warping lightning was spewing forth, which Willow took as a good
sign. At least until she saw a figure emerging from the fog, walking toward
the open grave. She was wearing her white sweater and leather pants, the
same clothes she had worn on the day she died.
Buffy.
Dawn saw her. She moved between Buffy and the grave. Buffy stopped as
she reached Dawn, but didn't look at her. Her gaze was on the open grave, a
look of longing in her eyes. Dawn's face wore a measure of weariness and
hope. Willow could only guess how many times Dawn had experienced this
dream, and she had the horrible feeling she knew how it ended already.
"Buffy, don't!" said Dawn, sounding like her voice would crack at any
moment. "You can live. It was my turn, not yours. I wasn't meant to be."
"You were meant to be. Or else you wouldn't be here," Buffy responded,
her voice far off and distant. "I have a duty. Everything comes together
here. It all makes sense now."
"How? How can it make sense?"
"Mom showed me the way. She was the first. And the First showed me why."
"Then tell me why, Buffy. I need to know."
"Because you are the Key. And the Key is the way home. The Key is the
way to peace."
Dawn didn't respond. She seemed to know what was coming, and that words
would only delay it.
Buffy began to slowly move around Dawn. Dawn didn't attempt to get in
her way again. "Mom showed me the way," Buffy said. "She knew what was down
there. Now I know, and I'm okay with it." She approached the edge of the
grave and stared down. "I die to live."
Dawn turned her head away, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.
Buffy closed her eyes and jumped into the grave. As her body hits the
portal, the grave closed up, dirt forming over the opening and burying both
the portal and Buffy. The ground now looked like it had never been
disturbed. Dawn was quietly weeping, her head bowed. Everything started to
fade into mist.
(Flash!) Suddenly, the entire landscape changed. Dawn was standing next
to an old and sickly-looking willow tree. The ground went from lush,
well-kept grass to cracked and broken desert. The sky was a dark red hue,
filled with clouds of dark and thick content. Dawn appeared to be as
startled at the change of scenery as Willow was. She looked around in shock,
surprise drying her tears. Then she gazed straight at Willow and said,
"Willow, I don't like it here. It's so... empty."
Shock made Willow step backward, almost tripping over a low dune and
falling down. Then Willow saw her lower torso. She had a body! She was
dressed in her evening clothes, the ones she had on her body before
starting the spell. The spell wasn't behaving itself for some reason. Dawn
was now looking at her questioningly, and Willow felt like she had to say
something.
"Well, it's all very... dry. I mean, deserts don't have a lot in them,
generally." Willow cringed a little. It wasn't exactly the usual
"dreamesque" thing to say. She had to try to play along if she didn't want
Dawn to wake up. Willow had a strong feeling that they were finally getting
to the heart of Dawn's pain.
There was a cliff to Dawn's right, and she started to walk toward it.
Willow followed a few feet behind her. Dawn then started to speak in the
same distant tone Buffy had used. "I've been here before. It's always empty.
You can walk around for centuries and never find anything. It's too big. But
it's not somewhere, it's nowhere." Dawn stopped at the edge of the cliff and
looked into the distance.
*This is a little creepy,* Willow thought. She was starting to wonder if
Dawn was going to do a repeat performance of what Buffy had done only
moments before; casting herself off into the void or something along those
lines. But when Willow reached the cliff and looked around, she gasped. The
ground beyond the cliff was gone. Instead of red-tinged clouds, the sky was
made of pulsing energy. It, too, was red, but it was subdued, almost dark.
Now the sky extended down below the ground level, as if they had found the
edge of the world and were looking off into the Great Beyond. The cliff face
was the cutoff point between the desert world and the void.
"You never try to find this place," Dawn said, still talking as if
someone had taken control of her mouth. "But you find it all the same. It's
in-between. You walk it to the other places. You visit, but never stay."
Dawn turned to face Willow. Her eyes were glazed over. "You never stay long,
unless you were made to stay here."
With those last words, Dawn's eyes regained their focus. She snapped out
of whatever trance or fugue she had been experiencing. She looked out at the
void in awe, as if she hadn't been standing next to the cliff the whole
time.
"Dawn, are you with me now?" Willow asked. Dawn didn't respond. She was
looking intently on something in the void. Willow turned to see what Dawn
had spied in the distance. It was bluish in color, resembling an orb that
pulsed and throbbed much like the Key portal. It was coming toward them, and
Willow was starting to wonder if it wasn't a good idea to wake Dawn up and
end the dream.
But Dawn started to get excited. She looked back at Willow and said,
"Don't you see her, Willow?" Dawn reached out past the cliff side, but
instead of open air, there was some invisible wall running perpendicular to
the cliff. Dawn then put both her hands on the invisible wall and started
pushing against it, first softly and then harder. Willow was reminded of the
times she'd seen vampires try to enter buildings that they hadn't been
invited into.
Dawn started hitting and scratching at the barrier, tears beading in her
eyes again. Willow moved to restrain Dawn, hoping that the action would
cause her to wake up. But before she could, the orb showed up right in front
of them. It was roughly Willow's height and size, emitting a warm light as
it throbbed. *It's alive,* Willow thought. As she watched, it tried to move
through the barrier Dawn was scrambling to breach, but it bounced back at
the touch of the barrier. Then it tried again, and again.
Dawn was now leaning against the barrier quietly, having realized the
futility of her actions. The orb tried a dozen times to move through the
wall, but each attempt was met with failure. Finally, the orb simply hovered
in front of the two of them. Dawn was now sobbing, gazing longingly at the
orb. Willow stared at it for what seemed like eternity. She knew this was
important, but the final piece hadn't presented itself....
She saw it. In the middle of the orb, she saw it. A face. A face that
she would now anywhere. It was saying something, but no sound was coming
forth. Its attention was focused on Dawn, who only nodded and sobbed. Then
it turned to Willow. The face wore sorrow, loneliness. It nearly broke
Willow's heart again. And she could only make out one lip-synched word. The
face was speaking Willow's name.
They woke up.
Dawn came awake, crying. Willow snapped out of her spell, but it took
her a few seconds to reorient herself after the sudden return back to her
own mind. Dawn stopped crying long enough to look around and see Willow
sitting in the corner. At first, Dawn's face wore confusion, but the
confusion soon melted away, as if Dawn had understood what had happened.
Willow wasn't even sure she herself understood what had happened.
"You saw her, right?" Dawn asked. "You were there. She's so close to us,
Willow." Dawn became quiet again.
Willow, left a bit dumbfounded, did the only thing she could think of.
She got up, went over to Dawn, and embraced her. Willow felt herself crying
as well, her tears adding to Dawn's. Yes, she had seen her. She had almost
touched her. And besides the old feelings of loss renewed, Willow felt that
something was definitely wrong with the whole experience.
********
Giles was finishing off his book when he heard what sounded like sobbing
coming from Dawn's bedroom. Such sounds had become a nightly occurrence, but
tonight it also meant that Willow's spell was over. He got up and headed
toward her bedroom door, but stopped when a knock came from his front door.
Knocks on the door in the middle of the night were almost never good news,
and in Sunnydale they were often lethal. Giles detoured to the front door,
picking up a cross off his kitchen counter as he went. It never hurt to be
prepared.
He looked through the spy glass and relaxed somewhat when he recognized
his visitor, though his annoyance level went up a bit at the same time. He
opened the door and found Spike on his doorstep, looking a little glum.
"Hey, Giles, what's up?" Spike said.
"Spike, I certainly hope you have..." began Giles. He then saw that
Spike wasn't alone. A man in his mid-twenties was holding Spike by the
back of his coat. He didn't have any visible weapons on him, but he seemed
to have Spike intimidated regardless.
"Sorry for the late hour," said Valmont. "But I wanted to know if this
was your vampire."
CONTINUED IN PART FOUR