Destiny's Doom

Episode 8 (Part II)

Erie, Pennsylvania:

            Cindy's eyes fluttered open. She looked around and realized she was lying on the floor. Her head was pounding. The front door was wide open and the cold, winter air was blowing into the house. She slowly stood up and closed the door.

            That's when she remembered what happened. The wizard of destiny came and attacked her and Jake. He yelled at her and then pushed her away. She assumed that she had passed out.

            'Please let Jake be safe,' she thought to herself.

            She searched the whole house looking for him, but found nothing. She found no clue as to where he might be. Then it hit her. The wizard probably banished him to another dimension. She tried to focus her powers to search through dimensions, but couldn't. She realized that the wizard probably zapped her powers.

The Council Library:

            "Have you found anything yet?" Buffy called from behind a big stack of books.

            "No!" both Willow and Giles called back from behind their stacks of books.

            The three of them had been in the library for about two hours. They were searching for a way to save Jake from the wizard of destiny. Buffy didn't know about Willow, but she was bored out of her mind. None of the books she had searched through said anything about how to kill the wizard.

            "I've found it!" Giles exclaimed from the big stack of books in front of him.

            "That's great!" Willow shouted.

            Both her and Buffy stood up and walked over to where Giles was seated. Giles had a book called "Wizards" opened to about halfway.

            "It says here that in order to free Jake, we have to destroy the demon," Giles told them.

            "Yea," Buffy said, "We already guessed that!"

            Giles continued, "It also says that in order to summon the wizard, we must perform a task that messes with someone's destiny."

            "And how are we going to do that?" Willow questioned.

            "I'm not exactly sure," Giles answered.

            "There has to be another way!" Buffy exclaimed.

            Giles went back to reading. He read a few lines and then lifted his head up.

            "Ah ha!" he shouted, "I've found it!"

            "What's it say?" Willow asked.

            "To reverse his banishings, you must destroy his magical necklace," Giles read, "In order to summon him, perform this spell."

            "Don't read!" Buffy said, "Just do the spell!"

            "Alright, calm down!" Giles told her.

            "Buffy, he's right," Willow said, "We have to plan this or he could come after us."

            "Precisely," Giles acknowledged.

            "Alright, I'm calm," Buffy told them.

            "Let's not get anyone else involved in this," Giles said, "We don't need to endanger anyone else."

            "Which means if something happens to us, we're screwed," Buffy said.

            "No," Giles said, "Not all of us. Willow isn't affected by this wizard. Her powers are too great."

            "I understand," Buffy said, "So she can save us, if something should happen to us."       

            "Alright, enough with this stuff," Willow shouted, "Let's go over this spell!"

            "First, we need to gather these materials," Giles said, "Then we have to read the spell and he should appear."

            "Let me see, Giles," Willow said.

            Giles handed her the book and she began reading the spell.

            "Wait a minute, it says you must summon him in the same area where he came after the person," she said aloud.

            "Oh great," Buffy said, "How are we going to figure out where Jake was, when the wizard sent him to another dimension?"

            "Well," Giles began, "There's only one person that would most likely, if not definitely know where Jake lived."

            "And that person is Cindy," Buffy said.

            "That means that we will have to fly cross-country to Pennsylvania to complete this spell," Giles told the two women, "We will leave immediately!"

Erie, Pennsylvania:

            It had taken Giles, Willow, and Buffy a while to find a place to stay, but they finally did. A church had taken them in and allowed for them to spend a few nights, if needed, there. They had arrived in Erie the day before and were unable to find Cindy. So they needed a place to stay so they could search for her the next day. They were in the church currently, about to set out searching again.

            "This is going to take forever," Buffy said.

            "It's like finding a needle in a haystack," Willow said.

            "Excuse me," a young man came up to the three of them, "I couldn't help but overhear that you were looking for someone. I may be able to help you."

            Giles spoke, "That would be great!"

            "Who is it that you are looking for?" the man asked.

            "We're looking for someone by the name of Cindy," Giles informed him.

            "Last name?" the man questioned.

            "I'm not exactly sure," Giles told him.

            "Let me check the church congregation to see if there is anyone named Cindy that attends our services," the man said, "I will be right back."

            With that, the man left the room. The church had given the three of them the youth room to borrow for a few days. Luckily, they didn't need it for a few days.

            "See," Giles said, "We may have a lead."

            "May is the key word here," Buffy told him.

            The man returned a few minutes later, holding a piece of paper.

            "There is only one member of the congregation named Cindy. Her full name is Cindy Jones. She lives down the road, which is down the hill and across the train tracks. She lives with her younger sister, Stephanie," the man informed them.

            "Thank you very much," Giles replied.

            "Here, you may need this," the man said to Giles, giving him the paper with information on it.

            He smiled as he left the room and went back to work. Giles, Willow, and Buffy gathered put their coats on and headed out of the church. It wasn't that far of a walk to Cindy's house. It took them about fifteen minutes to walk there.

            The three of them walked up to the front door. Giles wrung the doorbell and Buffy and Willow stood behind him. Several seconds later, a young woman came to the door. She had long blond hair that looked almost white.

            "Hi, can I help you?" she asked.

            "Yes, in fact you can," Giles told her, "I'm looking for a woman by the name of Cindy. Does she live here?"

            "Yes, she does," the woman said, "I'll go get her."

            She left the door and headed back into the main area of the house. A few seconds later, Cindy came walking up to the door, with the other woman in tow. Cindy opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.

            "Hello Giles, Buffy, and Willow?" Cindy said.

            "Yes," Willow said.

            "How can I help you Mr. Giles?" she asked.

            "Well, according to Willow, Jake is gone," Giles told her, "We have reason to believe that the wizard of destiny came and banished him to another dimension."

            "Yes," Cindy said, "Jake is gone. The wizard did come and send him away. Normally, I would have been able to go after him, but he got rid of my magiks. I can no longer do magik."

            "I'm sorry to hear that," Giles said, "But the three of us have found a way to summon this wizard and bring Jake back."

            "How do you plan on doing that?" she questioned.

            "Well, we have found a spell that can summon the wizard, but it needs to be done in the place where Jake was taken from this world," Giles informed her, "There are two ways to bring Jake back. One way is to destroy him and the second way is to destroy his power source, his necklace."

            "That's interesting," Cindy said.

            "Could you possibly tell us where he was taken away at?" Willow asked.

            "Jake was staying here," Cindy told them, "He took Jake away right here at the front door."

            Buffy began to get suspicious thoughts in her head. She wondered why Jake was staying with two women. She quickly erased those thoughts.

            "You can help us to summon the wizard," Giles said, "But we all must be very careful."

A Few Hours Later:

            It had taken a few hours, but they had finally got the ritual to summon the wizard of destiny all down. They had gathered the materials needed to complete the ritual. The three visitors were introduced to Stephanie, Cindy's younger sister.

            Everyone got into their positions. They had to trap the wizard so that Buffy could grab his necklace. Giles stood in front of the closed door and began reciting the ritual from the book.

            Suddenly, the door blew open and a powerful gust blew Giles off his feet. He flew against the wall furthest from the door. Snow blew into the room and began to take the form of a man.

            "Who dare summon me!" the wizard bellowed.

            "Now," Willow whispered loudly.

            Cindy began citing the spell that would trap the wizard. Giles stood up and faced the wizard.

            "You have taken a friend of mine!" Giles shouted at him.

            "And you want him back," the wizard roared, "Well, that's not happening! I will punish you for summoning me!"

            The wizard pointed his left arm at Giles. Just as magik was about to engulf Giles, Stephanie finished the protection spell.

            "Silly human!" the wizard exclaimed, "That protection spell can't protect you forever!"  

            "I've already planned on that!" Giles exclaimed.

            The wizards raise his arm again, but this time no magik came out of his arm. He was trapped.

            "What is this mortal?" he yelled.

            "A barrier, I have trapped you!" Giles shouted back.

            "You will pay for this human!" he shouted angrily at Giles.

            Buffy ran onto the scene. She headed straight towards the wizard. Her mission was to smash his necklace, which was his power source.

            "Slayer!" the wizard shouted.

            "That's me!" Buffy yelled and smiled.

            She ran in gave the wizard a kick in the stomach. He fell to the ground, which gave Buffy a free chance. She saw the necklace around the wizard's neck and grabbed it. It broke when she pulled. She lifted it high in the air.

            "NO!!!" The wizard roared.

            The wizard smacked the necklace out of her hands.

            "Now we're gonna have to do this the hard way," Buffy smirked.

            Buffy reached behind her back and withdrew her sword for the scabbard. The wizard stood up and knocked Buffy across the room. Buffy got up and ran at the wizard. The wizard grabbed Buffy by her neck and lifted her off the ground.

            Giles ran at the wizard and shoved a stake into its body. He howled in pain. He dropped Buffy and then reached for Giles. This gave Buffy a great opportunity. She raised her sword and sliced the wizard's head off. He disappeared completely, head and all.

            "Good job, Buffy!" Giles exclaimed.

            Buffy didn't say anything.  She slid her sword back into the scabbard. She turned and walked out of Cindy's house.

            "What's wrong with her?" Willow asked Giles.

            Cindy and Stephanie walked up to Giles and Willow.

            "Is there something wrong with her?" Cindy questioned.

            "I'm not sure," Giles answered.

            He walked out after Buffy. She was sitting on the porch steps. Tears were dripping down her face. Giles walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.

            "What's wrong, Buffy?" he asked.

            Buffy wiped the tears away and spoke, "He put images in my head. Horrible images! Images of all you guys dying. He was trying to scare me with his last ounce of breath."

            "It's ok, Buffy," Giles assured, "Let's go back inside! It's cold out here!"

            Buffy stood up and dried her tears. Then she followed Giles back into Cindy's house.

            "Wait a second!" Buffy exclaimed when she sat down on the couch, "Where's Jake?"

            "Oh my god, Buffy's right!" Willow shouted, "Wasn't he supposed to be freed?"

            "They're right, Giles," Cindy said, "What could have gone wrong?"

            That's when Buffy noticed something on the floor under the table. She walked over and picked it up.

            "We forgot about this!" she smiled and smashed the necklace onto the floor. The pieces flew everywhere. Magikal energy left the necklace, returning people to their original places.

            Jake stood up and rubbed his head.

            "Ouch!" he shouted, "That hurt!"

            He glanced around the room. Giles, Buffy, Cindy, Stephanie, and some girl were sitting on the furniture. Then he looked down and saw another guy and a girl lying on the floor around him.

            "Oh my god!" Cindy shouted, "You're back!"

            She ran over to him and gave him a big hug.

            "Ouch," he said, "Ribs kind of hurt."

            "Xander? Anya?" Buffy questioned.

            She was looking at the two people on the floor, where Jake had just been. The guy stood up and looked confused. Then the girl stood up with a surprised look on her face.

            "Umm…am I dreaming?" Xander asked, "Because I see Willow, Buffy, and Giles. That's hard to believe!"

            Willow ran over and gave her friend a hug.

            "No, Xander," she smiled and said, "This isn't a dream. You're back."

            "Hey!" Anya yelled, "What about me?"

            "Who could forget you?" Xander said and gave his girlfriend a hug.

            Jake, Cindy, and Stephanie just stayed out of this little reunion. Cindy was glad that Jake was back. She missed him so much and never wanted him to leave again.

            Jake whispered to Cindy, "What's going on?"

            She replied, "You were sent to another dimension by the wizard of destiny. Your friends came and destroyed the wizard, freeing you."

            "Really?" he asked, "Then why are they all hugging their old friend?"

            "I'm not sure," Cindy whispered back.

            "This is another reason why they don't need me anymore," he whispered to her, "I'm going to take a walk."

            Jake turned and left. He didn't know when he would return. He was hurt that his friends cared more about those people, than they cared about him. He thought they had attempted to rescue him. Jake just wanted them to go back to Sunnydale. There was no way that he wanted to talk to any of them now. The sooner they left the better.

            Jake continued his walk, feeling left out from the rest of his old group. His walk was one of sadness. It was to get his mind off of everything. Little did he know that Cindy was taking this same walk. Their paths didn't cross. Jake felt left out and Cindy was confused with the way she now felt for Jake. The sun began to set on this day. The shadows of the two friends, walking their different paths, slowly disappeared.