Chapter One
"Remarkable!" The old troll circled Faith as he studied every inch of her. "The resemblance is incredible, Bogs. I would have sworn on my mother's grave it was her…'cept those eyes…" His dark, swampy green eyes searched Faith's dark brown ones.
She shifted uncomfortably, but never moved her defiant gaze away. She watched him with a cold glare, as if trying to set him on fire by staring at him hard enough.
He cleared his throat nervously, obviously put off by the look on her face. "The other one didn't have any color in them, if I remember correctly," the old troll replied, stroking the long white beard on his sagging face. He looked like an old bullfrog and Faith was expecting a long, sticky tongue to dart out at any minute to smack her. Instead he sniffed the air around her. "And a soul, too. Mmm, lovely." He playfully tapped her shoulder somewhat hesitantly.
"So what are you saying," Faith replied impatiently. She knew he was scared of her. Question is why? "There's someone out there that looks like me?"
"Not only looks, dear child, but smells and sounds like you," Bogs answered kindly. "Only, you have the stench of a soul, but most won't realize it." He narrowed his eyes at her. "You aren't evil like her, too." He whiffed the air again. "But it's there, inside you, waiting to be let out, like a silent killer." He turned to the other troll. "Right Lim?" The old troll merely nodded.
Faith frowned. That's exactly me. Maybe we're the same person and he just doesn't know it…
"The creature we speak of is, Faith," Bogs whispered, as if saying it aloud was very illegal.
Faith's brows furrowed. "That's my name." She glared at the both of them. "How did you know my name?"
"Easy, lass," Limzell, the old troll sorcerer reassured her. "None of us know what is going on here or how you ended up in our realm. There is a lot of chaos since he died." He studied her again with his small beady green eyes. "It's clear a pure thing like you doesn't belong in this wretched world."
"Pure," Faith scoffed. "Anything but…"
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you," Bogs asked suspiciously.
Faith stared hard at him. "Know anything about what?"
"Dionysus? The God of Justice? He died and you, I mean she, just happened to pass out at the same time." He raised a dark green eyebrow. "Then you wake up and try to escape your execution."
Faith shook her head. "God of Justice? I thought he was the wine-god? He tried to pull some nasty evil back in Sunny D so I offed him…and, well, myself, too, in the process."
"Dionysus? The wine-god?" Bogs laughed amusingly.
"Wait a minute," Lim snapped. "You killed Dionysus in your realm?" Faith nodded. "How?"
Faith shrugged offhandedly. "Shish-kabobed him with his own damn sword…I kinda got stuck in the middle."
"Well…" Lim looked off as if contemplating something. "That explains it."
"Explains what?" Both Faith and Bogs asked at the same time.
Lim gestured to Faith. "What she's doing here. When she killed him in her realm, she killed him in ours, therefore, when the bodies were being phased out of both existences, she somehow managed to switch essences with the Faith here."
Faith frowned. If that were the case she wouldn't even have time to make her big farewell speech like she did. There was obviously something else, but it was clear that none of them knew at the present moment.
"We need to get you back to your own realm," Lim said tiredly.
Bogs' eyes widened. "What? Are you out of your mind? This is a chance of a lifetime." He gestured to Faith. "Look at her! We could definitely use her to our advantage."
Faith's blood grew cold at those words. She's always being used and she was slowly getting tired of it.
Limzell snorted and hobbled his way to his bookcases. "No one would ever believe her if they took a second glance. She doesn't have that fire…edge…killer instinct…"
Faith smirked at that. Boy, you sure as hell don't know me.
"She does. I've seen it," Bogs interjected. "It's there and she has it."
Faith raised an eyebrow at that. There's my boy. She shook her head sadly. I'll never get away from who I really am, huh?
"Come now, Lim, you old toad," Bogs pleaded. "You know what we've got." He stopped to think. "You're a sorcerer for the gods' sake. You can make her look like that bitch. Please, for the sake of trolldom."
After a while of thought, the old troll finally gave in. "Oh, all right, Bogs." He chuckled heavily. "You drive a hard bargain, but I'll do it."
Faith, who had been sitting silently watching the conversation, frowned and shot up from her seat. "Wait a fucking minute!" Both trolls had pure terror sweep across their green faces, and she knew that they no longer thought she was as innocent as she seemed. "Do I get a fucking say in this? I just get thrown here and you think I'll automatically do whatever the fuck you want?"
She suddenly felt the metal collar around her neck tighten around her, as if trying to choke her, and it began to get warm and she knew that in time it would be sizzling hot. She groaned as her hands flew up to her neck, trying to claw the thing off of her. She gasped and her gaze found Lim's. He was gazing at her harshly and then the collar relaxed around her neck and began to cool.
"Mind your temper," he said coolly yet threateningly. "You forget who you look like. You have many enemies."
"Big surprise there," she grumbled.
"But you are not her," Lim continued as if she hadn't spoken at all. "We can not force you to do anything."
Faith glared hatefully at both of them. She gingerly tugged at the metal collar, but it wouldn't budge. "So what, am I free?" Faith looked questioningly at both trolls.
~ "So I'm free?"
"I don't know about that, but the door is open." ~
Lim shrugged. "Sure, but where are you going to go? The world out there fears and despises you. You will be dead before you can take two steps."
"But if you help us, we will find a way to bring you back to your own realm," Bogs replied.
"It will be hard, but not impossible, human child," Limzell replied.
"But that's after you help us," Bogs finished. He stretched out his hand towards her. "Have we got a deal?"
Faith stared down at the offered hand. Why do I feel like I'm in some whacked out Disney movie? She considered her options and found she had none. "Deal."
She grasped his offered hand firmly and just before she let go, she gave a little squeeze to make sure her strength was known. He pulled his hand away, startled.
"What are you?" Bogs eyes rounded. "Not an ordinary human, but not like her either…"
Faith grinned. "I'm a Slayer." Both froze at the words and Faith frowned at their reactions. "What?"
Bogs' eyes narrowed. "That's what they call them." His voice was low and filled with venom. "Her and that other one."
"Other one," Faith questioned.
"That light-haired bitch of hers," Bogs spat disgustedly.
Buffy? Faith frowned. "Who's 'they'?"
Bogs raised an eyebrow. "That group of hers. That is what they called the two of them. They called them Slayers."
Lim finally gathered his composure. "Of course there was to be something supernatural about her if she shares essences with the other one." He rubbed his hands eagerly. "Okay then. Let's get started."
The old troll ushered Faith into another room before she can question them further. It was a smaller one connected with the one she was already in. She was guessing it was about the same size as one of Cordelia's old closets before she became poor. Nothing much was in this room and she began to think it very well served as a closet, except there was a small stage-like platform in the back of the room, lined with wall-to-wall mirrors.
"What are we going to do in there," Bogs scoffed. "Look at ourselves?"
"Silence, old friend." Lim motioned to Faith. "Come, child, on the platform."
Faith hesitated, then slowly entered the room and stood on the platform. She peered at herself in the mirror almost resentfully. She always hated looking at herself in the mirror, always hated what she found there. The eyes of a cold-blooded killer. The haunted look. Only now there was something different in her eyes. A spark of hope.
Now that's definitely different, Faith thought bewildered.
She moved her gaze away to regard the rest of her appearance. She looked drawn and skinny, yet still well toned from working out in prison. Her skin was pale and mottled with dirt, grime, and fading cuts and bruises, which she couldn't remember where she had gotten them. They must have beaten her some more while she was chained to the wall. Her dark brown tresses were greasy and matted down to her head and fell in long waves across her shoulders and down her back. She looked at the sackcloth she was wearing. That, too, was covered in all kinds of filth. She had the sudden urge to take a bath and never come out until every last inch of her skin was scrubbed to perfection.
Limzell stepped up beside her. He chanted something in a foreign tongue. The mirror then grew foggy, like it does when you take a hot shower and the steam fogs the mirror. Only the steam was coming from the inside. Then it flashed a brilliant white light that Faith had to cover her eyes for a brief. She then looked back at the mirror. It turned bitch black, like a black gateway to darkness. However, her reflection was still there, only it was different.
Her reflection was wearing a two-piece dress of some kind made out of a shiny silky material and all black. The top had long sleeves that flared at the ends and the hem tapered off to reveal her midriff. There was a long slit down the middle, looking like it was about to split the top in two and bare her chest, yet clung to her flesh like a second skin. The bottom half of the outfit was a long black skirt with one long slit on the left side all the way up to her hip, baring long slender legs.
The 'Faith' in the mirror looked healthy and voluptuous; with her hair carefully combed and falling in long wavy tresses down her back and her skin looking milky white and impossibly smooth. Her eyes were not the normal color of chocolate brown. They were pure white and seemed like they were glowing like two little moons and every so often a small bolts of lightening would softly crackle from them.
Faith frowned as she realized the reflection didn't have any haunted look or any remorse or pain or guilt that she carried. In fact, she looked scornfully happy. There was a sinister smirk on her blood red lips; the only color on this seemingly statuesque reflection. She looked so cold and wicked. Faith let out an involuntary shiver as she realized she's smirked like that before and that she used to wear that cold mask of indifference. She briefly wondered if she could ever be that cold again and she immediately saddened when she found her answer was yes.
"So…that's me huh." It wasn't a question.
"No, that is not you. That is Faith…er…the other one," Bogs corrected.
Faith reached out as if to touch her, but Limzell waved his hand over the mirror as if to swipe it clean. The image rippled like a pebble being dropped into a pond and disappeared, leaving her to touch her own haggard reflection.
"Hmm, this will help you." Limzell gestured to the mirror and again it rippled.
Faith watched as a city appeared in the mirror. It looked as though she were watching a TV screen. However, the city was something Faith was not used to. The buildings were made up of sun-dried blocks of stone or mud and couldn't be less than two stories high. There were some buildings fashioned out of wood, but the highest building was made out of marble and looked to be a temple of some kind. There were people in ragged clothing milling about, trading food in the wooden marketplaces on the cobbled streets, and ushering their children home. It looked like an ancient city, like in Egypt or something. In fact, this whole place seemed like a third world country or something she would have seen in one of those old school classics like "Spartacus".
Faith raised an eyebrow and turned to the old sorcerer. "You wouldn't happen to know if there's a chick named Xena around here would you? Has this wicked cool round killing thingy and a blonde sidekick?" Off their confused looks she shook her head. "Nevermind." Damn, well there goes my theory.
"The city of Atlantis," Lim explained.
"Before she came," Bogs finished grimly.
"Atlantis," Faith repeated, staring at the city in front of her. "But I thought they all drowned or whatever. This city is in the middle of a damn desert!" Her frown deepened.
"And after she destroyed it," Lim continued, ignoring Faith.
The image in the mirror showed the 'other' Faith on a sand dune, overlooking the city. A wicked smile formed on her beautiful face as she raised a slender white hand. A flame appeared in the palm of her hand and at the same time a huge pillar of fire erupted under the wondrous city. It was only moments before the flame died down and disappeared in her hand and with it the flames in the city. Where the city once was, was nothing but a smoldering black crater.
"Holy shit," Faith muttered. No wonder they're so fucking scared of me. "I…I don't have that kind of power…and Atlantis… that was a long time ago…I didn't even exist then." She gave a pleading look at Bogs, obviously pained because someone who looked like her did this and she felt guilty for it. "Who…what is she? A witch?"
"No," Bogs said gravely. "She is worse…she's evil incarnate."
Limzell shook his head amused, which Faith thought was very inappropriate. "Don't listen to that nonsense. We don't know exactly who or what she is. We just know she's here now…well she was…now I suppose she's in your realm."
"Oh god! B and the others…they have to deal with her now," Faith exclaimed, horrified. Then something else occurred to her and she began to panic. "They…they might think it's me! They'll hate me even worse…" Her eyes widened. "Oh god, what if she's already killed them?"
Bogs placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I am sure your bee and the others will be fine. The bitch might be too disoriented to do anything."
Faith stared at the mirror, watching the thing that looked like her as she disappeared. God I hope so.
* * *
Buffy sat numbly against the marble wall, her mind racing as it always does while she was away doing only God knows what.
If God even exists, Buffy thought bitterly.
If He did, then maybe He would have done something by now. Even the Powers That Be would have intervened if they could do something about it. She knew they wouldn't. They had a 'no interference' rule written somewhere.
She closed her eyes and let a tear slip down her cheek. It had only been a week. Only been a week since, Faith somehow woken up from the dead and caused more havoc into their already complicated lives. She knew it was Faith, just not the same Faith, a different person Faith. She knew because she still felt that bond between them, but it wasn't a Slayer bond, it was something else and it scared her because she didn't know what it was and a big part of her did not want to find out. This Faith had power no one had even thought to dream of. She was crueler and more sadistic than anything or anyone Buffy had ever met or faced and Buffy would have believed she was pure evil if it wasn't for the fact that for some reason this Faith was in love with her and had some sort of close relationship to the others. Nothing evil could love. It sickened her to be grateful for that love. That love was probably the only thing keeping Faith from destroying her, her friends, and possibly the entire world.
She thought back to what happened that first day. Faith had woken up and gave her a tender kiss and again Buffy felt guilty, as she knew some part of her enjoyed it. Faith had mistaken them for some other people. Buffy had been her lover and from the way Faith acted towards Cordelia, Angel, and the rest of the Scoobs, they must have been close friends or minions. Faith then realized she wasn't in Kansas anymore by their severe change of personality. Generally, the niceness gave it all away. It didn't stop Faith from doing damage.
She didn't hurt them, of course. Buffy knew this Faith didn't have the heart to and that proved that the real Faith wouldn't have either. She was just sorry it had come to this to make the rest of her friends realize this. It had only taken a mere whim and a flick of the wrist to open the Hellmouth. Unspeakable evil was let lose all because this Faith relished chaos and suffering. The gang then knew, without a doubt, that this Faith could do just about everything. The question is why didn't she?
Because she likes to watch, Buffy answered dimly.
The biggest question is who is she? She was Faith, of course, but from where? What dimension? What other reality? What is she? What had she become? How did she possess these powers? How did she get here? So many questions, which Buffy knew would go unanswered. Even Willow and Giles, who were now somewhere in this cold, marble temple that Faith constructed with her mind didn't know. Plus, it was kind of hard to plan demises and plot schemes when Faith randomly read thoughts with that evil, knowing grin of hers and her unnatural, emotionless white eyes boring into them.
She heard soft footsteps and she immediately sprang to her feet as fear automatically ran a chill down her spine. She straightened out the satin shirt this Faith loved to see her in and wiped the moisture from her eyes. As the figure stepped into the light of the room, the blonde Slayer let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"Buffy," Cordelia whispered softly and gratefully.
Buffy let a grateful smile grace her face and quickly embraced the brunette seer. "Oh, Cordy, thank god, I thought…I thought she came back…"
Cordelia gently pulled the blonde away from her and studied her. "No…she won't be back for awhile…" She sighed. "I hope." She took a deep calming breath and gazed at the Slayer. "Come up with anything yet?"
Buffy shook her head sadly, fighting back the new wave of tears that sprang to her eyes. "No…she's too strong…How about Wills? Giles? Are they…"
"They're fine, they're still shaken, but they're fine," Cordelia answered softly. She knew the blonde Slayer was on the brink of losing all hope. She couldn't blame her. She had been through so much. They all had. It was a wonder they all weren't drooling, raving lunatics in a padded cell somewhere. "Dawn's asleep…finally. Tara's watching her."
Buffy nodded mutely, a faraway look in her eyes. "I miss Faith." Her voice was tired and drawn.
Cordelia flinched at that, giving Buffy a wide-eyed disbelieving stare. "Are you serious?!"
Buffy looked at her before giving a forced laugh. "Our Faith." She looked away at the overly, large and decorated room that Faith made for her and the bed they sometimes shared.
Cordelia nodded, resting a hand on Buffy's. "Me too."
Buffy stiffened and Cordelia immediately became concerned. "Buffy, are you all right?"
Buffy shook her head mutely, her head tilted to one side as if listening to something far away, and her brows furrowed as if in deep concentration. Her eyes sudden grew wide and she moved away from Cordelia quickly.
"She's coming," Buffy said hoarsely, her throat suddenly dry.
Cordelia froze at those words and watched as Buffy's gaze fell on a darkened corner of the room. The seer followed Buffy's gaze and felt a sweeping chill of terror go through her. They both watched the shadows that darkened the corner and inhaled sharply when a black panther leapt out of the dark depths. They stood stock still as it slowly slinked towards them, as if sneaking up on its prey. Its flashing white eyes fell on Buffy's hazel-green ones and when the panther got within three feet from her, it morphed into the slender form of the dark Slayer.
Faith's intense white eyes bore deep into Buffy's like they usually did, as if trying to read her soul. Her face cold and emotionless as always and her body still. If it weren't for the soft glowing of her eyes, the crimson color of her lips, and the lustrous locks of dark hair that swayed gently behind her, she would have looked like a perfectly chiseled statue made of the finest and smoothest marble.
Buffy watched as a corner of Faith's lips twitched upwards slightly, breaking the statuesque façade, and her cold hard gaze softened slightly. It was just for a moment and if Buffy blinked she would have missed it, but she caught it before Faith's gaze turned back into her usual emotionless mask. And Buffy realized that their Faith used to wear it too. Only there was no pain, sadness, or guilt in her eyes.
Faith took a step forward, like a walking statue, and Buffy held in a shiver as she felt the familiar thrumming of their bond grow stronger as she got closer. She knew if she focused she could tune it out like an unwanted sound, but for some reason she didn't want to. The blonde Slayer felt a slight pang of guilt as she knew it gave her some form of comfort, like she felt safe and she somehow knew everything was all right.
Just like on that first day, Faith came within inches of Buffy, resting her forehead lightly against the blonde's. Buffy couldn't move away, she was too riveted by the calmness she felt from being so close to her. She knew it was wrong to feel this while her friends and the rest of the world were suffering, but she needed comfort like a drug and Faith was the only dealer. Faith's eyes closed, momentarily cutting Buffy off of the soft glow of her eyes. A soft resigned sigh escaped her full red lips before they tried to make its way to Buffy's.
However, before their lips met, Buffy turned her head slightly and the kiss landed softly on Buffy's cheek. And just like that she was gone, standing three feet away again and Buffy instantly missed the peace that went away with her and felt the cold dread and hopelessness wash over her again. Faith just stood there watching her, as if she hadn't moved at all, and Buffy quickly wondered if she had imagined the whole thing. She felt a small tingle on her cheek where Faith's lips touched and knew she hadn't been dreaming.
You will never love me like she did will you? Faith's voice penetrated her mind in that strange yet dignified accent.
Buffy shook her head sadly, yet defiantly, and she watched as angry tendrils of lightening bolts crackled around Faith's eyes. "You know I can't."
"Can not?" Faith spoke aloud, raising a dark eyebrow. "Or will not?"
Buffy remained silent and a knowing smirk appeared on Faith's face. The blonde Slayer cursed inwardly, wondering if she had read any lingering thoughts, before looking away.
Faith nodded dismissively and strode towards Cordelia, who looked blankly at the stone floor. She looked as if she wanted to turn tail and run screaming at the top of her lungs, but knew she couldn't. Faith came as nearly as close as she did with Buffy and placed a smooth white hand on her shoulder. Cordelia immediately looked up at her as if the touch alone sent a shock through her. Maybe it did, Buffy would never know. Buffy watched as they just stared at each other, Cordelia with a somewhat frightened look in her eyes while Faith's always remained the same: cold, calculating, piercing. She knew they were having a mental conversation. She knew what it was about because it was always the same. Faith would always ask Cordelia about her visions and Cordelia would answer.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Faith moved away from her. She appeared again, inches away from Buffy and moved a white hand to tilt Buffy's chin up to look her straight in the eyes.
"You will," Faith replied so softly that it was unnerving.
She quickly moved her head forwards and this time Buffy didn't move away as Faith's lips met hers in the softest of kisses before pulling away. Buffy watched as a foreign emotion made it's way to Faith's usually detached expression. It was sadness and Buffy held back her shock in seeing it because as soon as she saw it, it was gone again. With a last look at the both of them with her piercing eyes, Faith was gone.
Buffy and Cordelia both let out a sigh of relief before Buffy began thinking about the changes in Faith's expressions moments ago. It wasn't the first time something like that happened. There were some moments when she would talk with them or look at them and it would be like the old Faith. It was sometimes in her eyes when the cold, whiteness of them would seem to soften and melt away. It was in the casual grin or smirk that somehow looked less sinister than her usual ones. It was in the way she touched them with the slightest bit of fondness or joking around.
"Buffy, are you okay," Cordelia asked.
Buffy snapped out of her thoughts, a small smile reassuring smile on her face. "Yeah, I'll be okay." She took a deep breath, concentrating on the air around her to make sure Faith was really gone. She exhaled in relief. "So what did you tell her this time?"
Cordelia shrugged. "Same as always."
"Blood and death?" Buffy hooked her arm around Cordelia's and started leading them away.
Cordelia smiled inanely. "Yup."