Notes: I felt like writing something a little different, something to
test my descriptive writing skills. Please let me know what you think; I
could use the feedback. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Neon Genesis Evangelion
belong to their respective owners; no insult is intended by this.
Oblivion
When the end came, a part of her realised absently that she was breathing heavily, that she was sweating, that her muscles ached, having over-exerted herself in physical combat.
Lights flickered uncertainly, vacillating between a dim light and total darkness, leaving the only constant light as the crimson light of an alarm siren. NERV was under attack.
And in the uncertain light, the otherworldly young woman was aware of the bodies around her. There were more than a dozen. And there was blood, and, though it was a little difficult to see in the light, the coppery scent hung heavy on the stale recycled air of the underground facility.
Buffy Summers bent to examine one of the bodies, rolling the man in black easily onto his back. The man was already dead, his eyes wide and unseeing. She relieved him of his weapons, obviously military issue, just in case.
Buffy brushed her shoulder length blonde hair from her face, from her green eyes, breathing a weary sigh and noticing for the first time her bruised and bleeding knuckles. Her petite body was shaking, quivering. The fight took more out of her than she'd thought.
She leaned back against the bloodstained wall, taking this moment to catch her breath. She closed her eyes and swallowed, trying to force down the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her; the taking of human life, no matter how necessary to her own survival, didn't sit right with Buffy.
"What is it that you want?"
The words startled the young woman; she hadn't heard anyone approach. She opened her eyes again. Quickly pulling herself to her feet, she slipped easily back into a state of heightened alert.
There was something altogether otherworldly about the sudden appearance of the First Child, Rei Ayanami. The fourteen-year-old girl appeared as Buffy remembered her, dressed in a school uniform. Her skin was pale, a creamy near-white. Her short azure hair was tousled, and her crimson eyes burned with something alien, something Buffy couldn't recognize.
But this was not that Rei Ayanami. Her skin glowed softly with an ethereal light that somehow put Buffy at ease. She carried herself differently now, with a sense of purpose Buffy hadn't seen before.
This, Buffy realised, was an Angel – the last Angel.
"The Third Impact…" Buffy whispered.
Rei nodded silently. Buffy felt her knees go weak, felt her heart sinking, felt herself collapse back against the wall. She'd only been in this world for a short time, but she'd made friends, come to love them.
Third Impact. The end of the world. It didn't seem fair somehow. After everything… after Glory… to have it end like this…? Buffy realised that she was crying.
"It's not what you think," Rei said quietly, observing Buffy with those crimson eyes.
Buffy looked up at her through her tears. "It's not?"
She understood so little about this world, about its peoples, about the Angels. In some respects, this world was so much like her own, but in others it was completely different, alien. Everything she'd been led to believe told her that Third Impact meant the end of the world as she knew it.
Rei actually smiled.
"There is nothing to fear," she told Buffy.
"I don't want to die again," Buffy said. The bodies strewn across the hallway seemed to melt into nothingness, into LCL. The smell of blood became that much stronger.
"Do not worry," Rei told Buffy, giving her that same haunting smile. Buffy felt strangely reassured. This was the end… and she welcomed it.
Oblivion
When the end came, a part of her realised absently that she was breathing heavily, that she was sweating, that her muscles ached, having over-exerted herself in physical combat.
Lights flickered uncertainly, vacillating between a dim light and total darkness, leaving the only constant light as the crimson light of an alarm siren. NERV was under attack.
And in the uncertain light, the otherworldly young woman was aware of the bodies around her. There were more than a dozen. And there was blood, and, though it was a little difficult to see in the light, the coppery scent hung heavy on the stale recycled air of the underground facility.
Buffy Summers bent to examine one of the bodies, rolling the man in black easily onto his back. The man was already dead, his eyes wide and unseeing. She relieved him of his weapons, obviously military issue, just in case.
Buffy brushed her shoulder length blonde hair from her face, from her green eyes, breathing a weary sigh and noticing for the first time her bruised and bleeding knuckles. Her petite body was shaking, quivering. The fight took more out of her than she'd thought.
She leaned back against the bloodstained wall, taking this moment to catch her breath. She closed her eyes and swallowed, trying to force down the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her; the taking of human life, no matter how necessary to her own survival, didn't sit right with Buffy.
"What is it that you want?"
The words startled the young woman; she hadn't heard anyone approach. She opened her eyes again. Quickly pulling herself to her feet, she slipped easily back into a state of heightened alert.
There was something altogether otherworldly about the sudden appearance of the First Child, Rei Ayanami. The fourteen-year-old girl appeared as Buffy remembered her, dressed in a school uniform. Her skin was pale, a creamy near-white. Her short azure hair was tousled, and her crimson eyes burned with something alien, something Buffy couldn't recognize.
But this was not that Rei Ayanami. Her skin glowed softly with an ethereal light that somehow put Buffy at ease. She carried herself differently now, with a sense of purpose Buffy hadn't seen before.
This, Buffy realised, was an Angel – the last Angel.
"The Third Impact…" Buffy whispered.
Rei nodded silently. Buffy felt her knees go weak, felt her heart sinking, felt herself collapse back against the wall. She'd only been in this world for a short time, but she'd made friends, come to love them.
Third Impact. The end of the world. It didn't seem fair somehow. After everything… after Glory… to have it end like this…? Buffy realised that she was crying.
"It's not what you think," Rei said quietly, observing Buffy with those crimson eyes.
Buffy looked up at her through her tears. "It's not?"
She understood so little about this world, about its peoples, about the Angels. In some respects, this world was so much like her own, but in others it was completely different, alien. Everything she'd been led to believe told her that Third Impact meant the end of the world as she knew it.
Rei actually smiled.
"There is nothing to fear," she told Buffy.
"I don't want to die again," Buffy said. The bodies strewn across the hallway seemed to melt into nothingness, into LCL. The smell of blood became that much stronger.
"Do not worry," Rei told Buffy, giving her that same haunting smile. Buffy felt strangely reassured. This was the end… and she welcomed it.