Glory's Tower, Sunnydale USA – year 2001
She stared at the opening portal. This could not be! Not another time, she could not go through this one more time. Buffy frantically turned back to Dawn, seeing that she too was looking at the portal opening. That was the only thing different from the other time. Dawn knew about the portal, she knew of the only way to close portal. She guessed she should be thankful for that at least.
"I'm sorry" Dawn said, tears evident in her eyes.
Buffy swallowed.
"It doesn't matter" she replied.
She knew what Dawn was intending to do. In that, she was very much like Angel. Angel… She could not do this again; there was no way she would put the ones she loved through such thing again. But what could she do? Buffy instinctually grabbed Dawn as she tried to run by.
"What are you doing?" she exclaimed, desperately trying to figure out a way to prevent history from repeating.
Dawn gave her a patient look.
"I have to jump," she softly said. "The energy."
Buffy gave her a panicked look.
"It'll kill you"
"I know" she replied, a weird, mature
tone in her voice, making Buffy stare at her. "Buffy, I know about the ritual.
I have to stop it."
"No." Buffy said, denying the whole thing.
She had to figure something out, soon. Then the tower started to shake, making both of them loose their stand.
"I have to" Dawn pleaded. "Look at what's happening."
Lightning crackled once again, and as she looked up, a dragon flew out of the portal, almost flying into the tower. Turning back to Dawn, Buffy knew that her sister could see the panic on her face.
"Buffy, you have to let me go" Dawn explained, in that weird tone again. "Blood starts it, and until the blood stops flowing, it'll never stop. You know you have to let me. It has to have the blood."
It felt as if her heart stopped. The blood.
Earlier, the Shop
"Cause it's always got to be blood" Spike wearily said.
Earlier, the Hospital
Buffy pressed her bleeding wound to
Dawn's bloody hand.
"It's Summers' blood," Buffy gently explained. "It's just like mine."
Earlier, the Shop"She's me," Buffy impatiently explained. "The monks made her out of me."
Earlier, the Desert
"Death is your gift," the first Slayer simply said.
"Death..." Buffy whispered, remembering.
Present, the Tower
Buffy could still here the voices ringing in her head. And as if the flashbacks had opened some hidden door in her mind, she knew what to do. She had been the Key before, she knew what it meant. She also knew what it meant she could do. Once again, Briseis was back.
Turning slowly towards the portal, she looked at it. Serenity… Buffy turned back to her sister, calm now when she knew what to do. Dawn stared at her, understanding what Buffy just realized.
"Buffy ... no!" Dawn protested.
"Dawnie, I have to" Buffy simply said.
"No!" her sister cried.
"Listen to me" Buffy pleaded. "Please, there's not a lot of time, listen."
She quietly said what she needed to her sister, at peace with herself. Dawn started to cry, and in response, the light behind her crackled. Taking an unvoiced goodbye, she stroked her sister's cheeks and kissed one of them, tasting the tears she spilled. Then she turned and started to run towards the edge, leaving Dawn behind – leaving the life she'd lived up until now behind. She took the step over the edge, swan diving towards the ground, into the portal. There she stopped, hanging in the air, assaulted by a pain so strong it made her weep. Yet, all she could think of were the words she had just told Dawn, of the realizations she had had, standing there at the Apocalypse.
"Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Tell Giles ... tell Giles I figured it out. And, and I'm okay. Tell Haruka that I remember, that I know what to do. And give my love to my friends, to Angelus. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world ... is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me. "
Haruka teary eyed looked at Buffy's broken body below the tower. She had failed again. Briseis was dead. And just as the last time, it was likely she had doomed the Earth by doing so…
"Haruka?"
She felt a small hand tugging on her ripped and bloody shirt. Turning around silently, she gave Dawn a questioning look. The young girl was crying softly, her face pale and drawn.
"Buffy…" the girl started, just to draw a shaky breathe. "Buffy said to tell you she remembered. That she knew what to do."
Hope blazed in Haruka's chest and she gripped Dawn's shoulders harshly.
"Are you sure?" she tensely said. "Is…is that her exact words?"
Dawn hiccupped, then nodded uncertainly. Haruka slid to the ground taking her head in her hands.
"Oh Selene," she breathed. "Then it's not too late…"
Throne hall of Atlantis, Earth – Imperial year?
When she entered the throne hall, a new era began. There was no doubt about that when you saw how the prince reacted. It was no doubt of that if you could feel the cold, evil aura the woman was surrounded by. And you couldn't miss it. You felt it in the core of your soul.
She was a tall woman, lean and with a warrior's appearance. Her fiery red hair fell to her waist in long, wild locks to frame her beautiful face with deep, green eyes and soft, full lips twisted into an evil grin. A female amazon with a staff in her hand. Even if she had no need for it.
"Beryl"
That was the only word uttered by the queen. In addition, it said everything. What more could a word say? The woman just smiled and bowed sarcastically in front of the old woman.
"Yes" she smirked. "Beryl. I've come to claim what's mine."
In a sudden rage the queen rose.
"You cannot have him!" she exclaimed. "He is mine! You cannot take my son away from me! I will not let you turn him into some twisted man who enjoys killing and torturing as much as you do!"
Beryl just raised her eyebrows.
"I can't?" she asked. "Look at him, sweet Gaia! He's already mine. Body and soul."
It was true. The prince was staring at the red beauty, smitten by her every move. A glazed look had taken over his normally alert eyes and he was already walking towards her from across the room. The queen looked frantically at him and stepped in front of him in a desperate try to stop him.
"No Endymion!" she exclaimed. "Do not do this, please, I beg you! She is dangerous; she will bring only death! Can you not see what is so obvious in my eyes? My son..."
But before she could get any longer, he backhanded his mother across her face, sending her brutally into one of the stone walls. A sickening crunch was heard as something broke inside of her, and the prince spun around quickly to look at her. But instead of helping her, he just smiled cruelly and dusted off his hands on his mantle.
Then a loud scream echoed through the room.
"No!" a woman's voice screamed. "Mother!"
A petite blonde-haired woman came running at an amazing speed, her hair flying behind her, her deep red dress hindering her every move. Reaching the broken body she fell to her knees and gathered it into her arms, tears spilling down her face.
"No, mother!" she cried. "Do not die! Please do not die!"
The woman opened her eyes and looked tiredly at her daughter and then at the monster standing a few feet away.
"I disown you," she whispered with her last breath. "I dis..."
Then she was gone. The body fell limp in the blonde's arms as she hugged the body tightly to her, crying out her sorrow. However, as the former prince took a menacing step towards her, she looked up, a weary look at her face.
"Kill her"
The order came from Beryl, who had watched everything happen with a pleased smile on her face. Now she smiled again and looked sweetly at the prince.
"Kill her for me..." she said.
With that, the prince smiled and started to go towards the woman, drawing his sword. At the same time, the woman seemed to snap. Her face twisted into a mask of anger, she grabbed the bodice of her dress, ripping it open to reveal the white top and slit underskirts she wore underneath. Stepping out of it, she grabbed a sword hanging on the wall and gripped it skillfully, not letting her brother go with her eyes.
"I do not want to harm you," she warned him. "But I will if I have to..."
The prince laughed at that.
"You? Hurt me?" he taunted. "You do not even know how to grip a sword. Do you think you can defeat me, who has trained with the sword since I was old enough to hold it without cutting myself!"
"Yes I do" the woman replied icily. "You have been gone a lot, dear brother. You do not know me as well as you once did. I have grown up. I'm not the weak princess you once knew."
The prince shrugged.
"Whatever" he said. "I will still succeed in killing you."
Then he attacked. His sister moved away gracefully and parried with a quick blow towards his head, which he blocked. She followed it up with a kick, hitting him in the stomach and sending him into the wall. He growled at her and attacked like a wild beast, going right at her, without caring for finesse, relying on his strength rather than his skill. She parried the wild attack easily, matching every blow with one of her own. Her eyes cold, she forced him backwards, back to the wall, with a series of precise, skilled movements, and it didn't take long before she had her sword at his throat.
"You see, big brother," she said. "You do not know everything about me. Not at all. I could kill you now, you know. Maybe I should. However, I will not do that. I am not one of those persons who can kill a member of their own family in cold blood."
She lowered her sword and stepped backwards, giving him some space to get away.
"I suggest you leave," she said icily. "You're not welcome here. And take that red headed bitch with you."
She gestured towards the flabbergasted Beryl with her head.
"If you show your face on Earth again..."
The blonde didn't have to end that sentence. Beryl growled at her, but
sheathed her sword and ordered the prince over to her. Then she disappeared.
