Part 2: The Sorceress Revealed
AN: X will not become some Uber assassin; so don't worry (his skills will be somewhat unique, but mostly will be imparted from items).
AN2: There will be some B/X angst / bashing / reticule in this part, but don't worry, it'll all be worked out towards the end of the story. (He's just sick and tired of everyone assuming that he can't do anything on his own for his own reasons that don't involve trying to impress Buffy)
"What gave me away, young Assassin?"
He sniffed the air somewhat theatrically, smelling the scent of a desert rose, "Your natural scent, mingled with the Twinkies you have in your left jacket pocket and on your breath." He'd always been able to sniff out the snack cake of the gods, more so after the past year, and Willow's snort of amusement told all present that it wasn't much of a surprise that he had done it again.
The woman had the good grace to blush lightly in embarrassment even as she reached up and removed her sunglasses, "I must confess that I have found that they are a true weakness of mine. Now, back to my original observation, you could just ask me why I am doing this if you truly want to." Her voice was like a dry wind off of the desert, still scented with the smell of Twinkies, but it also held an undeniable power and note of command that said that she was used to being listened to and getting her own way. Xander found that oddly endearing in an oddly rejecting way, reminding him of Cordelia Chase in some manner.
"Okay," Jenny started, "who are you, what are you doing here and why have you been doing what you have been doing?"
"You may call me Sasha, Janna Kalderash of the Clan Kalderash. I am here to find a way back to my home dimension and I am doing now what I have always done since I have finished my training – kill demons." She smiled suddenly, a wistful expression lighting up her face, "Granted, I do it with a flair that none of you, save Umbra, can hope to ever match, but who said that one's work cannot be fun?"
"You know who I am?"
"Of course I know who all of you are, Alexander – I have followed your exploits since before you were forcibly severed from this group by the bottle blonde, and I must say that you show a great potential as well as a rage that would do many Barbarians from my world rather well."
He felt a smile creep to his lips, "Well, one must occasionally TRY, Sasha. Now, that aside, how long have you been here?"
"In this room, about an hour or so at the very most. In this world, maybe a year or so." She shivered, "Ghastly place, this Hellmouth – demons running amok, rampant denial and stupidity among the general populace, corrupt officials in office; I would swear that were it not for the technological differences, it was home sweet hell."
Giles took that point to step into the conversation, "And how to you propose to get back to your dimension, Madame?"
Sasha frowned, "I am not sure just yet, but I will require the use of the Hellmouth as a reference point to my own dimension." She sighed, "I shall miss this place when I leave – granted the atmosphere is nearly destroyed, your people are overly violent and sexually depraved, and your forms of entertainment are only occasionally interesting, like that World Wrestling corporation, but I shall truly miss the Twinkies, pizza and that thing you call a, oh, what is it?" She scrunched her nose up and tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment before snapping her fingers, "Oh, that's right, the Internet. It would be so much easier if we could use that in our world, instead of losing pieces of mail when ships go down at sea, but alas, we are not ready for such technology."
"We'll get you a picture of a web page," Oz deadpanned to Sasha, which made her smile slightly.
"Thank you, Daniel, I appreciate that." She lost her smile and regarded the group, "And to answer your unasked question, no, I am not sure how I am to return home. It appears that my entry into this world was ... unplanned."
"You got that right, Toots," came a heavily New York accented voice from the darkness. Out stepped an outrageously dressed man, looking like a 70's pimp, wearing a fedora and smoking a cigar. "You aren't supposed to be here, Sasha, and the only way to get your behind back to your world is through an inactive Hellmouth."
"Whistler," Buffy said in an exasperated voice, "what are you talking about?"
'Whistler' pointed at Sasha, "SHE is not supposed to be here, Slayer, and to send her home we gotta go to a dormant Hellmouth and send her through."
Xander couldn't help himself, "So what's the good news?"
Whistler looked at him, almost scowling, "That was the good news."
"You can't be serious." The young Assassin, 'Xander' snarled at the Balance Demon, Whistler, whom took several large steps back as the blades on Xander's weapons extended with a 'snap', after the explanation of just what the bad news was.
"Look, kid, this ain't my call! We gotta open a dormant Hellmouth and she has to use one of her Town Portal scrolls to get back home. To open the Hellmouth, you've gotta get to it and that means wading through several thousand demons of varying strengths and classes." It appeared to Sasha that Xander's temper was to be feared, even by a Balance Demon sent at the behest of the Powers That Be; interesting, indeed. "Once you're there, you can open it up and get her home!"
Xander just stalked forwards, weapons still out, but the darkness seemingly closing around him, blacking out all light, "And how do we get out, Whistler? Do you think that those demons are just going to let us WALK out of there alive? And what about re-sealing that Hellmouth? How are we going to do that?"
Whistler gulped visibly even as the rest of the 'Scooby Gang' took several steps back in fear, "Look, Alex, buddy, her being here means that the scales are WAY out of balance, so if she doesn't go back, and I mean soon, then the other side is going to get a heavy hitter for themselves and this whole thing will go to levels it was not meant to go to for a while yet."
'SNACK' went the weapons as the blades retracted into their housings, the rage on Xander's face vanishing, "Finally, a straight answer. How long do we have?"
Whistler sighed and then shrugged, "A week, maybe two. Look, kid, that ain't all." Looking around, he appeared to be looking for avenues of escape, so Sasha took that chance to step in.
"What else is there, demon?"
Whistler gulped again, "Um, well, only you two can go – no Slayer, no Watcher, nobody but you two."
Sasha only felt herself nod, but that was when the Slayer, Buffy Summers, decided to explode, "OH HELL NO! Xander is NOT going to open a HELLMOUTH just to get her home! I won't let him!"
"It is not your call, Buffy," Sasha said to the irate Slayer, narrowing her eyes. "For some reason, Alexander and I are the only ones who can go, so we shall be the only ones going and there is nothing that you can do about it."
"Like hell there isn't," the Slayer snarled, her face flushed with anger as she strode forwards. "I am not going to let someone who is in love with me walk into the mouth of Hell and..." she would have said more, but Xander took that opportunity to begin to chuckle. "What's so funny, Xander?"
"Me? In love with YOU, of all people? HA!" His words were somewhat bitter in tone, but then he stopped laughing and his eyes were like ice, "Let me tell you something, Buffy, and that is that I haven't been in love with your for a LONG time. Yes, I love you like a sister, but I can't be IN LOVE with you, ever, so don't try to use that as reasoning with me."
Sasha then saw everyone present look blankly at him as if he had just grown an extra head, Buffy finding her voice first, "Of course you're in love with me, Xander. Why else would you be trying to prove to me that you're this good?"
"I'm not proving myself to you, Buffy – I'm doing this to prove to myself that I am more than just some hanger-on. Besides, you made your choice when you chose that CORPSE over me, and even if I were still even he slightest bit in love with you at that point, that would have killed it completely." He stopped himself from going any further and then looked over in her direction, "Are you ready to go?"
"I can be in just a few minutes, yes." Summoning her travel bag, Sasha created a portal back to the place she had called home for the past few months and began to collect her somewhat meager belongings – she never intended to stay very long, so she lived simplistically. Even though the portal she could hear the screaming match that was taking place back in the Sunnydale library between the vaunted 'Scooby Gang' and Umbra.
AN: Sasha can cast spells in this world, like Town Portal and Identify, without a scroll – writer's privilege.
"Well, kid, you know how to make declarations of independence." Whistler sat himself down next to Xander, who appeared to be just sitting on the edge of a table while Willow and the others were doing their best to console Buffy 'I'm Always Right' Summers.
"It's been a long time coming, Whistler – I haven't been in love with her for a long time now, so why should it be a mitigating factor for me to stay here." Reaching into his jacket, Xander removed a pack of cigarettes and, after offering one to Whistler, whom accepted one, lit it up and took a drag off of it, "So, realistically, what are the chances that this will actually happen like it's supposed to?"
"Twenty to one that you guys don't make it past the first mini-boss is what the Archangels are running right now, but some of the more powerful demons, whom you will not be seeing much of, are saying that you and Sasha will breeze through it all at 4:1."
Xander looked over at him, "You're actually running bets on if this goes off or not?"
Whistler could only nod.
"What the hell do you use as currency?"
"Well, mostly the fates of Champions, but occasionally small countries and magical artifacts." It didn't hurt to be honest on occasion.
"Don't you guys have better things to do with your time than bet on us and our actions?"
"Normally, yes, but this time even the higher ups are getting in on this – you've made more than a few friends and enemies both north and south of the mortal plane, so it's mixed as to just whom is betting on whom?"
"Are there any surprise bets, demon?" Whistler turned to see the Sorceress, Sasha, walking out of the portal she had created and was dressed to kill in the ghost armor known as 'The Spirit Shroud', the skull cap known as 'The Tarnhelm', gloves called 'The Hand of Broc', heavy boots called 'Gorefoot', a belt called 'Nightsmoke' and what appeared to be a pair of rings and an amulet, along with her staff, a war staff called 'The Iron Jang Bong'. All of wha she was wearing enhanced her magical abilities and skill levels several levels and Whistler felt himself gulp even as the kid snarked off a reply.
{AN: Alright, these items are real w/in the game and here are the stats – 'Tarnhelm' (1 all skill levels, 25 – 50% better chance to get magical items, 75% extra gold from enemies), 'The Spirit Shroud' (Cannot be frozen, 1 to all skill levels, 150% Enhanced Defense, 10 Life Replenish, Magical Damage Reduced by 10), 'The Hand of Broc' (3% life and mana stolen per hit, Poison Resist 10%, 10 Defense, 20 to Mana), 'Gorefoot' (Faster Run/Walk, 2% Mana stolen per hit, 12 Defense, attacker takes damage of 2), 'Nightsmoke' (50%Damage taken goes to mana, Damage reduced by 2, All Resistances 10, 15 Defense, 20 to mana), and 'The Iron Jang Bong' (50% bonus to Attack Rating, Fastest Cast Rate, 1 to All Sorceress Skill Levels, 34% Enhanced Defense, Adds 1 – 25 Lightning Damage, 25 Defense). Yes, she is a fairly high-level Sorceress, level 32 in fact, but with some of the level-enhancing stuff she has on, not to mention the pair of rings and the amulet, which will be explained later, she is just that much more powerful.}
"Probably, Sasha – nice duds."
She smiled at the kid and spun on her heel, twirling herself around, "Why, thank you, Alexander."
"Um, yeah, one or two of the VERY higher ups, but mostly that the world keeps turning, regardless of the cost."
"Hmm, you know, it's such a good thing that they have that much confidence in us to do the job right," Harris said somewhat dryly, removing his jacket and tugging at the straps of the armored vest he wore beneath it to snug it up. "So, where is this Hellmouth and how do we get to it?"
"This is wrong on SO many levels that it fucking sucks." The pure rage that could be heard in Alexander's voice was somewhat disconcerting even as she looked over at the remains of an old Convent and Orphanage, "Who in their worst nightmares would build a Convent and then an Orphanage over a Hellmouth?"
"Sometimes it is the best way to mask evil, Alexander, by making it look good." Sasha was glad to be back into the fight, especially when at the end was a ticket home, but it worried her that if all went well her new comrade in arms would be abandoned next to a Hellmouth all alone, probably very tired or injured, and he would more than likely have to fight his way back out to the surface.
"Are you kosher with this, Sasha?" Alexander looked over at her, his face mirroring the worry that she felt deep in her core.
"Yes, I am fine, but the immensity of it all is starting to get to me, I believe. Odd, I don't remember feeling like this before."
Alexander only shrugged, "Everyone gets the butterflies once in a while, Sasha – mine seem to have set up several retail stores and franchises right now." He looked down at his hands, as did she, and Sasha was surprised to see that they were trembling ever so slightly before he clenched them and stilled them by pure force of will, "Gotta stay frosty."
She looked up at him, "While my repertoire of Ice spells is somewhat limited, I could use one of them on you if you wished to get ... frosty."
He looked at her oddly, "It was an old saying from the military – it means that you can't let anything get to you, be like an ice sculpture and shit like that." He then paused and chuckled, "Thought if I do get caught on fire, don't let me stop you from using one on me."
"Most assuredly, Alexander."
"Xander, call me Xander, Sasha. I only get called Alexander if I am in trouble."
She gave him a sly grin, "From what I hear, then you must be called Alexander all the time then."
He struck a wounded pose, "Ouch – I thought I was supposed to be the assassin here, Sasha. You slay me with such cutting wit and banter." They shared a chuckle for a few minutes before it petered out, Sasha able to forget her nerves for a time, before he spoke again, "Ready to go?"
Sasha didn't answer, but rather she hefted her staff and began walking into the Convent, determined to get home, despite the dangers that would lie ahead.
Once inside of the building, she was greeted with the sight of several impaled nuns, which brought several snarled oaths of pure hate from her companion and the sounds of his weapons extending and locking into place, before murmuring, "The sanctity of this place has been fouled." (AN: I Know this is from Diablo 1, but it fits) They set off in a cover formation, with herself leading and Alexander ... Xander tailing and watching their backs, and within minutes they found a set of roughly hewn stairs that descended into the lower portions of the Convent, but waiting there at the mouth of those stairs was a group of zombies that shuffled back and forth. With precise aim, she launched off a Fireball at the center of the group, which detonated and took out one of the zombies as Xander skirted off to one side.
"Where do you think you're going, demon?" He lashed out with the katar on his left arm, severing the zombie's up-raised hand, but then raked the claws into the chest of the corpse with a, "HA!" The zombie seemed to explode from the waist up and then slump to the ground, several chunks of decaying organs flying over and nearly landing on herself.
Getting her mind back onto business, she switched her spell from Fireball to Lightning and fired off a bolt at the lead Zombie, whom was only staggered; firing off another bolt of lightning, which spun the corpse around, but didn't kill it, which made her growl slightly and move forwards even as Xander dispatched anther of the minions of the Unique monster.
Even as she moved forwards, her gut began to tighten, as if to warn her to not do what she was thinking of doing, but by the time she registered it, the Zombie was already attacking and she felt herself weaken considerably as the poison took effect.
"Die, you son of a bitch," Xander snarled at the last minion even as Sasha went down to a heavy right from the last zombie. It was only a pure force of will that kept him from puking his guts up at the stench and sights of decaying bodies and entrails around him, but even as he stepped forwards that will began to weaken as the Zombie bent down to take a bite out of Sasha.
Instinct took over and he lashed out with a hard left kick to the face of the bent-over Zombie, much the same as a punter in the NFL would have preformed, and it lifted the corpse off of the ground, sending it back several feet before it regained it's footing and ground out, "Brains."
"Bite me," Xander said, picking up a piece of concrete from the ground and flinging it at the Zombie even as Sasha got back to her feet, th greenish cast to her skin now lightening as she took up her staff again.
"You are into that, Xander?" Sasha managed to grate out even as she fired off a Fire Bolt, which hit at the same time as the rock, and caused the Zombie to explode ... and drop a ring.
"Not normally," he told her, working his arm around her shoulders and leading her away from the corpses, "but if you ask nicely, you never know, Sasha." He set her down in a relatively clean area to recover as he went about the grim task of picking up what the Zombies had left behind. A few minutes later Sasha was back on her feet and helping him, "You alright, Sash?"
"Better, and don't call me Sash," she said, working some sort of mojo on a pair of gloves and then on the ring that he handed over to her. "Hmm, interesting."
"Interesting good? Or Interesting bad?"
"For you, an interesting 'good' thing – this ring is enchanted to raise your resistance to elemental damage, but also cut the time you are poisoned or frozen in half." She tossed him the ring, which he looked at, "Put it on."
"But will it go with my outfit?" It was a simple ring, silver, with a green stone that might have been emerald set on top, but regardless of how it looked, he put it on over his left ring finger and immediately felt an ... almost rush, but rather a fortifying of his own body, "Neat."
Sasha looked at him oddly, "Your body armor could feasibly do the same thing with the proper enchantments, and wearing a ring is ... neat?"
Xander shrugged, "I'm a simple kind of guy." As she checked over everything else, he stashed away things that she deemed to be saved in his coat, which was starting to be a burden; he'd have to find something else later on to fight in if he wanted that level of spell protection without hampering his reach or mobility, "Ready?"
"As I shall ever be." She hefted her staff again and they set off to the stairs, descending down the darkened passage way and into the jaws of death and danger.
AN: X will not become some Uber assassin; so don't worry (his skills will be somewhat unique, but mostly will be imparted from items).
AN2: There will be some B/X angst / bashing / reticule in this part, but don't worry, it'll all be worked out towards the end of the story. (He's just sick and tired of everyone assuming that he can't do anything on his own for his own reasons that don't involve trying to impress Buffy)
"What gave me away, young Assassin?"
He sniffed the air somewhat theatrically, smelling the scent of a desert rose, "Your natural scent, mingled with the Twinkies you have in your left jacket pocket and on your breath." He'd always been able to sniff out the snack cake of the gods, more so after the past year, and Willow's snort of amusement told all present that it wasn't much of a surprise that he had done it again.
The woman had the good grace to blush lightly in embarrassment even as she reached up and removed her sunglasses, "I must confess that I have found that they are a true weakness of mine. Now, back to my original observation, you could just ask me why I am doing this if you truly want to." Her voice was like a dry wind off of the desert, still scented with the smell of Twinkies, but it also held an undeniable power and note of command that said that she was used to being listened to and getting her own way. Xander found that oddly endearing in an oddly rejecting way, reminding him of Cordelia Chase in some manner.
"Okay," Jenny started, "who are you, what are you doing here and why have you been doing what you have been doing?"
"You may call me Sasha, Janna Kalderash of the Clan Kalderash. I am here to find a way back to my home dimension and I am doing now what I have always done since I have finished my training – kill demons." She smiled suddenly, a wistful expression lighting up her face, "Granted, I do it with a flair that none of you, save Umbra, can hope to ever match, but who said that one's work cannot be fun?"
"You know who I am?"
"Of course I know who all of you are, Alexander – I have followed your exploits since before you were forcibly severed from this group by the bottle blonde, and I must say that you show a great potential as well as a rage that would do many Barbarians from my world rather well."
He felt a smile creep to his lips, "Well, one must occasionally TRY, Sasha. Now, that aside, how long have you been here?"
"In this room, about an hour or so at the very most. In this world, maybe a year or so." She shivered, "Ghastly place, this Hellmouth – demons running amok, rampant denial and stupidity among the general populace, corrupt officials in office; I would swear that were it not for the technological differences, it was home sweet hell."
Giles took that point to step into the conversation, "And how to you propose to get back to your dimension, Madame?"
Sasha frowned, "I am not sure just yet, but I will require the use of the Hellmouth as a reference point to my own dimension." She sighed, "I shall miss this place when I leave – granted the atmosphere is nearly destroyed, your people are overly violent and sexually depraved, and your forms of entertainment are only occasionally interesting, like that World Wrestling corporation, but I shall truly miss the Twinkies, pizza and that thing you call a, oh, what is it?" She scrunched her nose up and tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment before snapping her fingers, "Oh, that's right, the Internet. It would be so much easier if we could use that in our world, instead of losing pieces of mail when ships go down at sea, but alas, we are not ready for such technology."
"We'll get you a picture of a web page," Oz deadpanned to Sasha, which made her smile slightly.
"Thank you, Daniel, I appreciate that." She lost her smile and regarded the group, "And to answer your unasked question, no, I am not sure how I am to return home. It appears that my entry into this world was ... unplanned."
"You got that right, Toots," came a heavily New York accented voice from the darkness. Out stepped an outrageously dressed man, looking like a 70's pimp, wearing a fedora and smoking a cigar. "You aren't supposed to be here, Sasha, and the only way to get your behind back to your world is through an inactive Hellmouth."
"Whistler," Buffy said in an exasperated voice, "what are you talking about?"
'Whistler' pointed at Sasha, "SHE is not supposed to be here, Slayer, and to send her home we gotta go to a dormant Hellmouth and send her through."
Xander couldn't help himself, "So what's the good news?"
Whistler looked at him, almost scowling, "That was the good news."
"You can't be serious." The young Assassin, 'Xander' snarled at the Balance Demon, Whistler, whom took several large steps back as the blades on Xander's weapons extended with a 'snap', after the explanation of just what the bad news was.
"Look, kid, this ain't my call! We gotta open a dormant Hellmouth and she has to use one of her Town Portal scrolls to get back home. To open the Hellmouth, you've gotta get to it and that means wading through several thousand demons of varying strengths and classes." It appeared to Sasha that Xander's temper was to be feared, even by a Balance Demon sent at the behest of the Powers That Be; interesting, indeed. "Once you're there, you can open it up and get her home!"
Xander just stalked forwards, weapons still out, but the darkness seemingly closing around him, blacking out all light, "And how do we get out, Whistler? Do you think that those demons are just going to let us WALK out of there alive? And what about re-sealing that Hellmouth? How are we going to do that?"
Whistler gulped visibly even as the rest of the 'Scooby Gang' took several steps back in fear, "Look, Alex, buddy, her being here means that the scales are WAY out of balance, so if she doesn't go back, and I mean soon, then the other side is going to get a heavy hitter for themselves and this whole thing will go to levels it was not meant to go to for a while yet."
'SNACK' went the weapons as the blades retracted into their housings, the rage on Xander's face vanishing, "Finally, a straight answer. How long do we have?"
Whistler sighed and then shrugged, "A week, maybe two. Look, kid, that ain't all." Looking around, he appeared to be looking for avenues of escape, so Sasha took that chance to step in.
"What else is there, demon?"
Whistler gulped again, "Um, well, only you two can go – no Slayer, no Watcher, nobody but you two."
Sasha only felt herself nod, but that was when the Slayer, Buffy Summers, decided to explode, "OH HELL NO! Xander is NOT going to open a HELLMOUTH just to get her home! I won't let him!"
"It is not your call, Buffy," Sasha said to the irate Slayer, narrowing her eyes. "For some reason, Alexander and I are the only ones who can go, so we shall be the only ones going and there is nothing that you can do about it."
"Like hell there isn't," the Slayer snarled, her face flushed with anger as she strode forwards. "I am not going to let someone who is in love with me walk into the mouth of Hell and..." she would have said more, but Xander took that opportunity to begin to chuckle. "What's so funny, Xander?"
"Me? In love with YOU, of all people? HA!" His words were somewhat bitter in tone, but then he stopped laughing and his eyes were like ice, "Let me tell you something, Buffy, and that is that I haven't been in love with your for a LONG time. Yes, I love you like a sister, but I can't be IN LOVE with you, ever, so don't try to use that as reasoning with me."
Sasha then saw everyone present look blankly at him as if he had just grown an extra head, Buffy finding her voice first, "Of course you're in love with me, Xander. Why else would you be trying to prove to me that you're this good?"
"I'm not proving myself to you, Buffy – I'm doing this to prove to myself that I am more than just some hanger-on. Besides, you made your choice when you chose that CORPSE over me, and even if I were still even he slightest bit in love with you at that point, that would have killed it completely." He stopped himself from going any further and then looked over in her direction, "Are you ready to go?"
"I can be in just a few minutes, yes." Summoning her travel bag, Sasha created a portal back to the place she had called home for the past few months and began to collect her somewhat meager belongings – she never intended to stay very long, so she lived simplistically. Even though the portal she could hear the screaming match that was taking place back in the Sunnydale library between the vaunted 'Scooby Gang' and Umbra.
AN: Sasha can cast spells in this world, like Town Portal and Identify, without a scroll – writer's privilege.
"Well, kid, you know how to make declarations of independence." Whistler sat himself down next to Xander, who appeared to be just sitting on the edge of a table while Willow and the others were doing their best to console Buffy 'I'm Always Right' Summers.
"It's been a long time coming, Whistler – I haven't been in love with her for a long time now, so why should it be a mitigating factor for me to stay here." Reaching into his jacket, Xander removed a pack of cigarettes and, after offering one to Whistler, whom accepted one, lit it up and took a drag off of it, "So, realistically, what are the chances that this will actually happen like it's supposed to?"
"Twenty to one that you guys don't make it past the first mini-boss is what the Archangels are running right now, but some of the more powerful demons, whom you will not be seeing much of, are saying that you and Sasha will breeze through it all at 4:1."
Xander looked over at him, "You're actually running bets on if this goes off or not?"
Whistler could only nod.
"What the hell do you use as currency?"
"Well, mostly the fates of Champions, but occasionally small countries and magical artifacts." It didn't hurt to be honest on occasion.
"Don't you guys have better things to do with your time than bet on us and our actions?"
"Normally, yes, but this time even the higher ups are getting in on this – you've made more than a few friends and enemies both north and south of the mortal plane, so it's mixed as to just whom is betting on whom?"
"Are there any surprise bets, demon?" Whistler turned to see the Sorceress, Sasha, walking out of the portal she had created and was dressed to kill in the ghost armor known as 'The Spirit Shroud', the skull cap known as 'The Tarnhelm', gloves called 'The Hand of Broc', heavy boots called 'Gorefoot', a belt called 'Nightsmoke' and what appeared to be a pair of rings and an amulet, along with her staff, a war staff called 'The Iron Jang Bong'. All of wha she was wearing enhanced her magical abilities and skill levels several levels and Whistler felt himself gulp even as the kid snarked off a reply.
{AN: Alright, these items are real w/in the game and here are the stats – 'Tarnhelm' (1 all skill levels, 25 – 50% better chance to get magical items, 75% extra gold from enemies), 'The Spirit Shroud' (Cannot be frozen, 1 to all skill levels, 150% Enhanced Defense, 10 Life Replenish, Magical Damage Reduced by 10), 'The Hand of Broc' (3% life and mana stolen per hit, Poison Resist 10%, 10 Defense, 20 to Mana), 'Gorefoot' (Faster Run/Walk, 2% Mana stolen per hit, 12 Defense, attacker takes damage of 2), 'Nightsmoke' (50%Damage taken goes to mana, Damage reduced by 2, All Resistances 10, 15 Defense, 20 to mana), and 'The Iron Jang Bong' (50% bonus to Attack Rating, Fastest Cast Rate, 1 to All Sorceress Skill Levels, 34% Enhanced Defense, Adds 1 – 25 Lightning Damage, 25 Defense). Yes, she is a fairly high-level Sorceress, level 32 in fact, but with some of the level-enhancing stuff she has on, not to mention the pair of rings and the amulet, which will be explained later, she is just that much more powerful.}
"Probably, Sasha – nice duds."
She smiled at the kid and spun on her heel, twirling herself around, "Why, thank you, Alexander."
"Um, yeah, one or two of the VERY higher ups, but mostly that the world keeps turning, regardless of the cost."
"Hmm, you know, it's such a good thing that they have that much confidence in us to do the job right," Harris said somewhat dryly, removing his jacket and tugging at the straps of the armored vest he wore beneath it to snug it up. "So, where is this Hellmouth and how do we get to it?"
"This is wrong on SO many levels that it fucking sucks." The pure rage that could be heard in Alexander's voice was somewhat disconcerting even as she looked over at the remains of an old Convent and Orphanage, "Who in their worst nightmares would build a Convent and then an Orphanage over a Hellmouth?"
"Sometimes it is the best way to mask evil, Alexander, by making it look good." Sasha was glad to be back into the fight, especially when at the end was a ticket home, but it worried her that if all went well her new comrade in arms would be abandoned next to a Hellmouth all alone, probably very tired or injured, and he would more than likely have to fight his way back out to the surface.
"Are you kosher with this, Sasha?" Alexander looked over at her, his face mirroring the worry that she felt deep in her core.
"Yes, I am fine, but the immensity of it all is starting to get to me, I believe. Odd, I don't remember feeling like this before."
Alexander only shrugged, "Everyone gets the butterflies once in a while, Sasha – mine seem to have set up several retail stores and franchises right now." He looked down at his hands, as did she, and Sasha was surprised to see that they were trembling ever so slightly before he clenched them and stilled them by pure force of will, "Gotta stay frosty."
She looked up at him, "While my repertoire of Ice spells is somewhat limited, I could use one of them on you if you wished to get ... frosty."
He looked at her oddly, "It was an old saying from the military – it means that you can't let anything get to you, be like an ice sculpture and shit like that." He then paused and chuckled, "Thought if I do get caught on fire, don't let me stop you from using one on me."
"Most assuredly, Alexander."
"Xander, call me Xander, Sasha. I only get called Alexander if I am in trouble."
She gave him a sly grin, "From what I hear, then you must be called Alexander all the time then."
He struck a wounded pose, "Ouch – I thought I was supposed to be the assassin here, Sasha. You slay me with such cutting wit and banter." They shared a chuckle for a few minutes before it petered out, Sasha able to forget her nerves for a time, before he spoke again, "Ready to go?"
Sasha didn't answer, but rather she hefted her staff and began walking into the Convent, determined to get home, despite the dangers that would lie ahead.
Once inside of the building, she was greeted with the sight of several impaled nuns, which brought several snarled oaths of pure hate from her companion and the sounds of his weapons extending and locking into place, before murmuring, "The sanctity of this place has been fouled." (AN: I Know this is from Diablo 1, but it fits) They set off in a cover formation, with herself leading and Alexander ... Xander tailing and watching their backs, and within minutes they found a set of roughly hewn stairs that descended into the lower portions of the Convent, but waiting there at the mouth of those stairs was a group of zombies that shuffled back and forth. With precise aim, she launched off a Fireball at the center of the group, which detonated and took out one of the zombies as Xander skirted off to one side.
"Where do you think you're going, demon?" He lashed out with the katar on his left arm, severing the zombie's up-raised hand, but then raked the claws into the chest of the corpse with a, "HA!" The zombie seemed to explode from the waist up and then slump to the ground, several chunks of decaying organs flying over and nearly landing on herself.
Getting her mind back onto business, she switched her spell from Fireball to Lightning and fired off a bolt at the lead Zombie, whom was only staggered; firing off another bolt of lightning, which spun the corpse around, but didn't kill it, which made her growl slightly and move forwards even as Xander dispatched anther of the minions of the Unique monster.
Even as she moved forwards, her gut began to tighten, as if to warn her to not do what she was thinking of doing, but by the time she registered it, the Zombie was already attacking and she felt herself weaken considerably as the poison took effect.
"Die, you son of a bitch," Xander snarled at the last minion even as Sasha went down to a heavy right from the last zombie. It was only a pure force of will that kept him from puking his guts up at the stench and sights of decaying bodies and entrails around him, but even as he stepped forwards that will began to weaken as the Zombie bent down to take a bite out of Sasha.
Instinct took over and he lashed out with a hard left kick to the face of the bent-over Zombie, much the same as a punter in the NFL would have preformed, and it lifted the corpse off of the ground, sending it back several feet before it regained it's footing and ground out, "Brains."
"Bite me," Xander said, picking up a piece of concrete from the ground and flinging it at the Zombie even as Sasha got back to her feet, th greenish cast to her skin now lightening as she took up her staff again.
"You are into that, Xander?" Sasha managed to grate out even as she fired off a Fire Bolt, which hit at the same time as the rock, and caused the Zombie to explode ... and drop a ring.
"Not normally," he told her, working his arm around her shoulders and leading her away from the corpses, "but if you ask nicely, you never know, Sasha." He set her down in a relatively clean area to recover as he went about the grim task of picking up what the Zombies had left behind. A few minutes later Sasha was back on her feet and helping him, "You alright, Sash?"
"Better, and don't call me Sash," she said, working some sort of mojo on a pair of gloves and then on the ring that he handed over to her. "Hmm, interesting."
"Interesting good? Or Interesting bad?"
"For you, an interesting 'good' thing – this ring is enchanted to raise your resistance to elemental damage, but also cut the time you are poisoned or frozen in half." She tossed him the ring, which he looked at, "Put it on."
"But will it go with my outfit?" It was a simple ring, silver, with a green stone that might have been emerald set on top, but regardless of how it looked, he put it on over his left ring finger and immediately felt an ... almost rush, but rather a fortifying of his own body, "Neat."
Sasha looked at him oddly, "Your body armor could feasibly do the same thing with the proper enchantments, and wearing a ring is ... neat?"
Xander shrugged, "I'm a simple kind of guy." As she checked over everything else, he stashed away things that she deemed to be saved in his coat, which was starting to be a burden; he'd have to find something else later on to fight in if he wanted that level of spell protection without hampering his reach or mobility, "Ready?"
"As I shall ever be." She hefted her staff again and they set off to the stairs, descending down the darkened passage way and into the jaws of death and danger.