CHAPTER FOURTEEN: MAROON
They spent the rest of the evening and the better part of the dark hours of the morning preparing to leave. Buffy had wrapped her few possessions back into the white dress that had acted as a backpack for the last few centuries while Connor gathered what weapons he could carry, strapping his latest weapon to his arm.
He grabbed his string of trophies from the demons he had killed, throwing it over his head and under one arm like a sash. Buffy grimaced when she saw him sling it over his head, hating that he always took parts of the dead demons as a prize.
"You are so gross," she said, a smile on her face.
He grinned back and kissed her deeply. "Yeah, but you love me for it."
"I'd almost forgotten," she teased, getting lost in the feel of his lips and hands.
The sun was coming over the horizon, and they had agreed to perform the ritual as soon as they could read the writing on the paper properly. They were sitting outside their hut, facing each other, both of them cross-legged with serious expressions on their faces.
Buffy's heart was pounding in her chest, nervous that the spell wouldn't take of that something would go wrong and she'd be stuck in Quortoth for the rest of eternity. Or even worse, Stephen would be stuck and she would be home free. Whistler had made it clear that there was no way in or out of Quortoth except for the Circle of Three and the Key at the right time of Alignment.
Stephen squeezed Buffy's hands encouragingly.
"It'll be fine. We're going to do this, and we're gonna get out of here. We're gonna kick Angelus' ass and you're gonna get to see you're sister again," he assured her.
She nodded, still nervous. He just squeezed her hands harder and kissed her gently.
"You know I love you, right?" he asked.
She smiled and nodded, barely managing to keep her tears at bay.
"I love you too," she whispered.
"No matter what happens Buffy. We're gonna be together. Always."
She looked at him curiously, wondering what had brought this on.
"You're not worried are you? About going there? I mean…it's not gonna be easy, not by a long shot. It's gonna take a lot of time, probably a lot of paperwork. The two of us…we don't' really exist there and…it could take a lot of work. And…I mean, what if they've forgotten about me? What f they don't wanna know me? What if my sister hates me? What if-"
Stephen crushed his mouth to Buffy's effectively shutting her up. She relaxed against him, thankful that she wouldn't be in this alone. She couldn't imagine the things that Stephen would be feeling about going to L.A. He had no memories of being in that reality, and it would be completely overwhelming for him. It would be terrifying for them both, and they were somehow thankful that at least they would have each other.
"They haven't forgotten you love," he whispered, their foreheads touching gently, their noses rubbing together affectionately. "You've been here for four hundred years and you can still remember them. They'll love you as much as you love them."
She smiled, knowing that his words made sense, but she still felt the panic inside of her. She inhaled deeply and let out a large sigh.
"Okay…I'm ready. And no matter what happens…I love you."
------------------------
The ritual was half finished by the time the first demon attacked. Stephen stood, taking a defensive position immediately. Buffy continued, not wanting to break the ritual in case it couldn't be tried again. She made eye-contact with Stephen who just nodded and continued on in the fight.
Buffy took Stephen's dagger and made a small slit in her palm, sprinkling some of her blood on the ground in front of her. Mid-battle, she threw the dagger to Stephen who caught it, slit his hand and managed to throw the dagger back to her so that his blood on the dagger would spill onto the ground. He continued his attack on the demon, finally defeating it and letting it slump away.
He rejoined Buffy, kneeling in front of her, listening to her recite the incantation in a language that neither of them understood. Buffy held out her hand and took his, the two cuts on their palms mingling together. The second their palms hit each others, the air shifted.
The portal was beginning to open directly under them and they scrambled to stand up, out of the portals way until it had opened completely.
Of course, the problem with portals is that there are other demons wanting to leave. Especially when the dimension was one such as Quortoth, ruled by death, destruction and despair. Buffy and Stephen looked around them, dismayed to see at least ten demons standing around them, all of the demons paired off with each other.
Buffy just tilted her head towards the portal, suggesting that they just jump into it before the demons could begin their attack, but two of the pairs saw the movement and lunged towards them.
With a sense of panic, they began the battle, the demons surprisingly easy to kill. Within minutes, the pack of ten had been reduced to three. The main problem however, occurred when the third-wheel made a break for the portal and managed to evade both Buffy and Stephen. It jumped into the swirling white mass and disappeared.
Buffy and Stephen exchanged panicked looks just as Stephen had defeated another of the demons. With only one left and the other on the other side of the portal, Stephen made an executive decision that could have cost him his life.
"Go! Before it gets too far!"
Buffy hesitated, but grabbed her white back-pack and leaped into the portal, silently praying to the Powers That Be that they would give her a break and let her husband live.
