Rating : PG-13, Rating may Change

Spoilers : Everything up to and including "Chosen".

Disclaimer : My shrink says I should be over the fact that I don't own BtVS by next century… I say she's an optimist. 

Summary : The First is gone… or is it?  

Feedback : Constructive criticism is always appreciated!  This is for your enjoyment.

Only the Beginning

By:

Jaded Starlight

Prologue

She surveyed the immense crater where her home once stood as a small smile formed on her lips.  All her life, she had only wanted to be a normal girl, live what she perceived to be a normal life… but now, she wasn't so sure.  Being the "Chosen One" had been a burden; carried with it immense sacrifices and loss but it had also brought her unbelievable experiences and amazing friendships.  Slayers were awakening all over the world and she was no longer the one but one of many.  It was the end of an era, the threshold of a new beginning.  It had come at a price, one that she had not been ready to pay.  Innocent girls who had been slayers for only minutes would never be able to take pride in the awesome feat they died to achieve.  They had lost Anya.  Andrew said that she went down fighting, saving his life.  She could see the pain in Xander's face, even as he joked and tried to boost moral.  He wasn't the only one who had lost someone they loved in the fight.  She had lost Spike.  She had been prepared to loose him when they fought Glory, and he had been prepared to die.  Why had she thought that his outlook had changed since then?  Somehow, she expected him to follow her out or to be standing behind her with that infamous grin saying, "Miss me, pet?"  Curiosity got the better of her and she took a quick glance over her shoulder.

Nothing.

He was down there, in dust among the rubble of what had once been a town.  He, along with Anya, and the rest of the innocents who deserved to stand at the edge of the crater and witness the breathtaking scene of what they had achieved.  It was both disturbing and beautiful.  Disturbing in that Sunnydale had turned to a crater of death.  Beautiful in that it marked a new beginning. 

Suddenly, everyone was blinded by a rich light that engulfing the entire area of the crater.  The survivors staggered backward and shielded their eyes as the shimmering gold rays stretched toward the heavens and grew brighter with each passing second until they had turned a brilliant white.  Finally, light vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. 

"What in the hell was that?" Faith asked.

"Is anyone hurt?" Giles asked.

"Hey, I guess being half blind is kind of useful." Xander commented.

Willow emitted forced laughter.  "You don't think it was the First, do you?"

"Guys… something's moving down there…" Dawn said, as she drew closer to the crater's edge.

Everyone gathered around the teenager and strained to understand what she had seen.  Sure enough, something below them was moving.  Pieces of rubble were being tossed aside, as if something were trying to unearth itself.

"We closed the hellmouth…  didn't we?" Willow asked.

"Maybe something got out." Faith said, readying herself to fight.

Finally, something emerged from beneath the demolished town.

"Spike?!"