Seal of Danthalzar

Episode 12

Buffy's House:

            Buffy awoke from the couch. It was still quiet, just like it was before she had fallen asleep. It was strange that it had actually been quiet enough for her to sleep. It hadn't been this quiet since before the potential slayers had moved in.

            She stood up and headed into the kitchen to get a bite to eat. She walked in to find Giles standing there, talking to Willow.

            "We are in big trouble Willow," he said.

            "What do you mean?" she questioned.

            Neither of them had noticed that Buffy had entered the kitchen. She stood there listening to their conversation.

            "Buffy will fail," he replied.

            "What?"

            "She cannot defeat the First Evil. The oracle told me that the First Evil will always be and cannot be destroyed."

"That cannot be, Giles."

"Willow, an oracle is never wrong. They do not lie."

"Buffy will find a way to beat this, Giles. And you know that. She has never lost to anything before, so what makes you think she will lose this time?"

"Willow, there is a lot that you don't understand. The First Evil is not something that she can fight."

"I get that but how can you know she will lose? I mean, can't she like hold off it's agents until it gets fed up with her?

"There are several factors that can be seen by anyone that proves she will lose. She is starting to lose it. She cannot keep focus anymore."

            "What do you mean?"

            "There are too many things distracting her from her work."

            "Like what?"

            "Well, there's you all, her friends."

            "Giles, we have never gotten in the way before."

            "There are other things. There are her feelings for Spike, her job, the training of the potentials, she isn't getting enough sleep. Willow, Buffy is too stressed out with all that is going on right now."

            "How can you say those things, Giles?" Buffy butted in, unable to keep quiet.

            Willow and Giles turned to see her standing there in the doorway.

            "I am stressed out, but those things are not stopping me from my work. I know that my responsibilities are beyond ordinary. No women in her twenties should have to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. But there's nothing I can do about that. I have been stressed out before, Giles. It does not give you reason to say that I am weak and cannot handle everything," she shouted, angry with him.

            "I didn't say that you were weak," he replied.

            "No, you didn't. But you were implying it," she said, "Why don't you go around for seven years with the responsibility of protecting the world and tell me that you're perfect?"

            She didn't wait around for an answer. She stormed to the basement and called down for Spike. He came walking up the stairs.

            "What?" he questioned, "I can't get any peace and quiet in this bloody house."

            "We're going to check something out," she said and stormed out the door.

            Spike followed her and she slammed the door behind her. Willow stood there in shock.

            "I guess you should watch what you say in this house," Willow said.

            "I think you're right," he said, taking off his glasses and cleaning them.

Sunnydale High:

            Buffy and Spike walked through the dark streets of town until they reached the high school. Buffy walked up to the doors and pulled them. Surprisingly, they were open!

            "What are we doing here, luv?" Spike questioned.

            "There's been a lot of violent activity going on here lately," she informed, "I think it may have something to do with that seal in the basement."

            "No!" Spike shouted, "I am not going back in there!"

            "Come on," she said, "I'm not arguing with you! You are coming down with me so let's go."

            She walked through the hallways of the high school, headed for the basement. Spike stared in horror at the state of the place. The walls and lockers were covered in graffiti and there were even small fires in the trashcans. The floors were littered with all kinds of garbage and classroom windows were shattered.

            "What is going on here, luv?" he asked.

            "I think they are possessed and the seal is the thing controlling them," she replied, "We have to figure out if it is and find a way to destroy it."

            Suddenly, Spike was hit on the head by a fire extinguisher. He fell to the ground, but he was still conscious. Buffy turned to get the same fate. Everything got dark for her.

Sunnydale High Basement:

            Buffy opened her eyes. The first thing that she realized was her head hurt. She tried to rub her head, but her hands were bound behind her. She looked around. Her and Spike were leaning against the wall of a room. The floor was made of loose dirt. She knew where she was, in the basement: the room with the seal.

            She glanced over at Spike. He was out cold. She wondered if whoever had hit him the first time had done it again. She tried to stand up but was unable to. She looked down at her legs and saw that her and Spike were bound together by the legs.

            Just then, someone walked into the room, carrying a torch. Actually it was more like several people. Buffy noticed that they were all students and that they all were chanting in some weird language. Even more startling was instead of eyes, they had weird carvings like the Bringers!

            "Spike, Spike," she whispered, nudging him so as not to let the students know that she was awake.

            Spike moaned and opened his eyes. He went to rub his head, but suddenly realized that his hands were bound behind his back. Buffy's hand was placed over his mouth before he could shout.

            "Shh," she whispered, "We can't let them know that we're awake until we break these chains."

            "What's going on?" he questioned.

            "Their students," she responded, "It looks like they're trying to summon something."

            "What happened?"

            "They knocked us out upstairs. I think it was a fire extinguisher."

            "What should we do? Just wait here 'til they kill us?"

            With a loud snap, the chains broke. Buffy stood up. She had broken the chains that bound her hands and the chains that bound her feet to Spike's. Moments later, Spike's chains snapped and he too stood up.

            The students all stopped their freaky chanting and jumped to their feet. They rushed Buffy and Spike.

            "Don't hurt them!" she shouted, ducking a punch, "They're just students."

            "But their bloody punches still hurt," Spike yelled back, rubbing his check, where he had just been punched.

            Buffy dropped one student and tripped another. They had no expression on their faces, just like the Bringers. She back kicked one into the wall, knocking him out cold.

            "Spike we have to retreat!" she shouted, "We need someone here with us!"

            "You want to retreat from these students?" he questioned.

            Buffy gave one a kick in the chest, causing her to fall backwards.

            "We need the person here that can stop the seal from giving off energy!" she shouted, "Let's get outta here!"

            With that, Buffy made a mad dash for the door. Two students stood in front of the open door, blocking her exit. They were kind of hunched over, ready to attack. Buffy quickly sped up and leaped into the air. She leaped right over the two students and rolled in the dirt when she landed. Spike charged right through the bewildered students. He and Buffy disappeared up the basement stairs and out of the high school.

Buffy's House:

            Andrew sat on the couch. He was eating popcorn and watching a horror movie on the television. He had finally gotten everyone to clear out of the room so that he could be alone.

            Suddenly the front door burst open. He jumped in fear. Buffy walked in, followed by Spike.

            "You're coming with us," she said, grabbing him by the arm.

            "Huh?" he questioned, apparently confused.

            "Let's go!" she exclaimed.

            "Buffy, what the hell is going on?" Giles questioned, walking in from the kitchen.

            "Go away, Giles," she said, "I can handle this."

            "What's going on?" Willow asked as she came down the stairs, followed by Kennedy.

            Everyone looked up at them and smirked.

            "We weren't doing anything!" Willow shouted, "I swear."

            "I need to take care of something," Buffy informed.

            "Why do you need me?" Andrew asked.

            "Are you ready to save the world?" she asked, grabbing his arm and pulling him out the door.

            Spike followed and slammed the door behind him. Giles, Willow, and Kennedy stood in the front hallway confused.

            "Giles, what happened?" Willow asked.

            "Buffy and Spike stormed in the house and demanded Andrew to come with them," he began, "When I questioned her, she told me to go away."

            "She is very angry with you, Giles," Willow told him.

            "Yes I know," he replied.

            "You need to apologize," Willow said.

            Ignoring her, Giles questioned, "What were you two doing up there?"

Sunnydale High:

            "Where are we going?" Andrew questioned.

            Buffy had finally let go of his arm. She knew that he wouldn't try to run away now. They came to the high school and stopped at the front doors.

            "I told you," she began, "You're going to save the world."

            Grabbing him, she yanked him inside the building. Spike followed, not far behind. She stormed through the trashed hallways of the high school, pulling Andrew behind her. They came up to the hallway where the basement door was.

            That was when several students appeared out of no where and blocked their way. One held a piece of wood with nails in it, the second carried a small knife, and the third held onto a fire extinguished. They didn't want anyone in the basement. They were ready for a fight.

            Buffy didn't have time for fooling around. She had to deactivate the seal as soon as possible. But she couldn't risk the chance of getting hurt by the students. She grabbed the closest one and threw her into the other two, knocking them to the ground. She threw open the basement door.

            "Spike, stay here and cover my back," she informed, "Don't let anyone come down here. Let's go Andrew!"

            She grabbed him by his arm and pulled him into the darkness. Spike closed the door behind them, and stood guard.

            "What are we doing?" he asked.

            "Well you were the one that killed him and you're going to fix that," she informed.

            "How?" he questioned.

            Ignoring him, she asked, "I really don't want a murderer hanging around me, but I have to keep the town safe."

            "Well, you see, we keep tossing that word around, but that's not really what happened," he said.

            "What?" she questioned, "You stabbed Jonathan to death. What were you trying to do? Scratch his back from the front?"

            "It was confusing," he said, "Jonathan and I were digging, but Warren was there, and only I could see him."

            "Alright, never mind that now. We have arrived at the hellmouth," she said.

            Buffy slid open the door of the room where the seal was. Two Bringers rushed at her. Well, they were formally students. She shoved them into the walls. They were both knocked out cold.

            "Well, what do I have to do?" he questioned.

            "I guess Willow already told you that you had to talk to it, tell it stop," Buffy said.

            "Yeah, she did."          

            "Doesn't really make sense, does it? Bringing you hear to talk to it? It doesn't understand words, only blood."

            "Blood opens it. You don't want to open it. That would be bad."

            "Yeah, Willow did a little research. Turns out, the blood of the person that awoke it—you—different kind of deal. It reverses the whole thing."

            "So, how much blood... are you gonna—"

            "I don't know. Maybe not enough to kill you."

            "So, this is my redemption at last? I buy back my bruised soul with the blood of my heart. But-but not enough to kill—"

            "Stop! Stop telling stories. Life isn't a story."

            "Sorry. Sorry."

            "Shut up. You always do this. You make everything into a story so no one's responsible for anything because they're just following a script."

            She grabbed him by the shirt and held him over the seal. She pulled out the small dagger that he had bought in Mexico. She brought it closer to him.

            "Please don't kill me. Warren said Jonathan would be OK. I trusted him, and I lost my friend."

            "You didn't lose him. You murdered him."

            "I know, but you don't need to kill me. You said we could all get through this." 

            "I made it up. I'm making it all up. What kind of hero does that make me?"

            "No, you're doing great. Really. Kudos."

            "Yeah? Well, I don't like having to give a bunch of speeches about how we're all gonna live, because we won't. This isn't some story where good triumphs because good triumphs. Good people are going to die! Girls. Maybe me. Probably you. Probably right now. When your blood pours out, it might save the world. What do you think about that? Does it buy it all back? Are you redeemed?"

            "No."

            "Why not?"

            "Because I killed him. Because I listened to Warren, and I pretended I thought it was him, but I knew—I knew it wasn't. And I killed Jonathan. And now you're gonna kill me. And I'm scared, and I'm going to die. And this—this is what Jonathan felt..."

            Andrew began crying, as she held him over the seal. The knife was frozen in place. The tears dripped off of his face and onto the glowing seal. When they hit the seal, it stopped glowing.

            "It stopped," he said.

            Buffy smiled and dropped him onto the seal. He breathed a sigh of relief. She slid the knife back into her pocket.

            "Didn't want blood, it wanted tears," she said.

            "What would you have done if the tears didn't work?" he questioned.

            Buffy didn't answer him. She just left the room. Andrew stood there staring at the seal that he had opened and started that horrible nightmare.