CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: THE VARIABLE

Harry was at his girlfriend's side in the blink of an eye, helping Buffy to stand. Before either of them could say a word, they'd simultaneously flung themselves at the other, their lips locking with enough passion to make everyone else in the room look away and blush.

"You did it," Harry whispered as he eventually pulled back.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Buffy asked teasingly.

Harry shook his head and kissed her once more, only pulling back when he heard his friends beginning to cough tactlessly behind them. Buffy and Harry pulled apart and grinned sheepishly at their friends.

"So…any luck with the Seal of Mufasa?" Buffy asked.

"Danthalzar," Giles corrected her, though the grin on Buffy's face told him that Buffy had just been trying to get a reaction from him. He rolled his eyes and removed his glasses, polishing them on his handkerchief. "We managed to narrow it down to two places actually. The Chamber of Secrets, or somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. But, the others were kind enough to remind me that you patrolled the Forest too frequently to miss a Seal the size of Danthalzar."

"So…the Chamber huh?" Buffy repeated. "I guess that means we're about to take a trip to the little girls room then."

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco all laughed slightly, thankful for the return of Buffy's humour, something they had sorely missed since the beginning of the escapades with the ghosts.

"We've also discovered that we're in need of Faith as well," Dumbledore added. "It seems that the ritual to destroy the seal requires both the Variable and Variant."

Buffy nodded and looked to the others. "I'll meet you guys at the entrance to the Chamber then," she said.

"Why not just meet inside?" Draco asked.

"Because if it is the home of the Seal, then the Harbingers are gonna be all kinds of pissed off that we're halfway to destroying the First. And I'd feel better knowing that we go as a group with the help of two Slayers as well as some seriously wicked witches and wizards," Buffy explained.

Giles and Dumbledore nodded at the plan, and the others followed the example of the Professors. With a small crack, Buffy disapparated out of the Room of Requirement and into the Wesley's apartment, startling both the primary Slayer and the Watcher.

"B!" Faith exclaimed. "Where the hell've you been girl, I've been worried sick."

Buffy looked to her fellow Slayer, and then glanced at Wesley. "I'll explain everything later, I swear. Right now, I just need you to come with me Faith."

Faith hesitated, but nodded her consent, quickly grabbing some weapons, and tucking the stake that Wesley threw her way into the back of her jeans. Buffy held her hand out for Faith to take, which the brunette Slayer willing did. Wesley could only stay behind and pray to the Higher Powers that whatever was the matter, it would be sorted without injuries to either of the Slayer's.

Buffy and Faith appeared with a crack at the sinks in the girls bathroom on the second floor. The other six were waiting as Buffy had suggested, and the Slayer was grateful for that.

"What the fuck's goin' on?" Faith asked.

"Remember how I was seriously nuts a few days ago?" Buffy asked, waiting until Faith nodded before continuing. "Well, I was being haunted by this thing called the First Evil. Basically, it didn't like that there were two Slayers fighting for good, so it tried to balance it out a little by making me nuts and eventually making me evil. We figured out what was happening, I did a trial thingy, managed to pass it, and now we just have to destroy a Seal that we think is down in the Chamber below us. To destroy the Seal, it needs both Slayers, so…I'm kinda hoping you'll agree to this, because we've got…oh, about twenty-two minutes to destroy it."

Faith's eyes widened. She was definitely wanting to hear the longer version of all of that, but she knew that it could wait. "Let's do this thing," Faith replied confidently.

Buffy looked to Harry. "Do you want to do the honours or should I?" she asked.

Harry shook his head. "I've already opened it once. I've learnt to share."

Buffy grinned and winked, loving the way that Harry blushed a little. She turned from him and stepped towards the broken tap with the small snake emblem on the faucet. Her eyes unfocussed and the light played on the snake, making it appear to move. She whispered something in parseltongue, and the group watched as the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets revealed itself, the gaping black hole in the floor not allowing anyone to know how long the drop was before you would hit the ground.

Buffy looked to Faith and grabbed her sister Slayer's hand, and the two of them stepped up to the edge of the entrance. "Bombs away."

The two Slayers jumped, the others waiting for ten seconds before jumping down one after the other in ten-second intervals. When they reached the bottom, they followed the tunnel, Harry grimacing at the basilisk skin lying on the ground. They reached another door, and Buffy again spoke in parseltongue to open it. She looked at her watch and frowned. Fourteen minutes. If they were wrong about the location of the Seal, they would be screwed.

The Slayers led the group, followed by the four Hogwarts students, and the two Professors bringing up the rear. Each of the Hogwarts students had their wands out, ready for any action. Buffy and Faith had their weapons ready, Buffy with her wand in hand as well as a short sword.

They could hear movement inside the Chamber, and they remained perfectly still as they could hear the echo of footsteps and the frantic chanting of the Bringers.

"I think we're in the right place," Ron whispered nervously.

Hermione squeezed Ron's hand slightly, feeling as nervous as Ron looked. She was just glad that they had two of the best Professors with them, as well as two Slayers.

Buffy crept silently to the ledge overhanging the Chamber and looked down, trying to see how many Bringers were down there.

"How many are there?" Giles asked.

"At least forty," Buffy replied. "Good news though, I saw the Seal."

The others swallowed nervously, and glanced at each other in trepidation.

"What's the plan?" Draco asked.

"Faith and I go in first," Buffy whispered. "We ruin their ritual to give us some more First-free time. On our signal you'll come in, magic blazing."

"What's the signal?" Hermione asked.

"Us screaming," Faith deadpanned.

Hermione paled, and the others looked increasingly nervous.

"If you can, go for their eyes, neck or heart. That's their weakest spots. Stun them, immobilise them, leg-lock them for all I care. Remember that these are demons that will kill you the second they have the chance," Giles explained. "Do not show mercy, for you will be shown none."

"Count of three," Buffy whispered.

Faith nodded, and the two Slayers counted in unison before springing into the Chamber and racing towards the Seal where a dozen of the Bringers were chanting.

"Sorry boys. Five more minutes of chanting, and then you guys have to go to bed," Buffy quipped.

The dozen Bringers around the Seal didn't even flinch at the intrusion. The other thirty-odd Bringers around them, however, took exception to being interrupted, and began their attack. The two Slayers fought back to back, guarding each other against the hoard of eye-less demons. Eight minutes.

"You ever wonder how these suckers can see where they're going?" Faith yelled over the din of the fight.

"Can't say that I've lost sleep over it," Buffy replied. "You?"

"I don't lose sleep over anything," Faith replied. "Now, d'you wanna destroy that ritual thing, or should I?"

"You seem like you could use some mindless destruction," Buffy replied. "Have at it."

They suddenly switched so that Faith was closer to the ritual. They slowly edged their way towards the ritual, killing as many Bringers as they could. There was a pile up of bodies, making it harder for the other bringers to get close enough to attack the Slayers. Faith finally had enough of being cautious, and she sprang over the top of several of the Bringers, ducking into a roll and landing in the centre of the Seal. She kicked over the candles, smiling in satisfaction as one of the robes the Bringers were wearing caught fire.

"I'd say now would be a good time to get the others in here," Faith suggested.

"I was just thinking that," Buffy replied as she was thrown to the ground, scraping most of the skin from her elbow. In unison, the two Slayers screamed for the others, thankful when they saw them appear in the middle of the battle.

"Three minutes B!" Faith yelled to her sister-Slayer. "How do we destroy the Seal?"

Buffy kicked her opponent off her and rammed her sword into the Bringers gut, the demon falling lifelessly to the ground.

With the others continuing to fight the Bringers using their magic to freeze the demons, and then killing them, the Slayers were confident to leave the fight to their friends. They fought their way to the Seal and stood on opposites side of it.

"Sixty seconds," Faith muttered, boning on her feet, not keen to see what would happen if they missed the window of opportunity.

Buffy removed a dagger from the sheath in her boot and cut a diagonal line in her palm.

"We come to challenge a darkness in this realm,

We come to lay claim, and drive out the First."

Buffy held her palm over the Seal, letting her blood drip onto it. She handed the knife to Faith.

"We come as Variable and Variant,

We come having resisted temptation,

We come having survived even death."

Faith dragged the blade of the knife across her own palm and let the blood drip onto the Seal, not entirely clear what was supposed to happen, but trusting that her sister-Slayer had a vague idea of what was going on. She checked her watch, her eyes bugging out as she realised that there was under half a minute left.

"We come to challenge a darkness in this realm,

We come to lay claim, and drive out the First."

The ground rumbled beneath them, and the fight was suddenly brought to an abrupt halt. The Slayers and the group from Hogwarts all steadied themselves, using each other or the wall to keep steady as the ground continued to tremble.

"What's happening?!" Ron yelled.

No one had an answer for him.

The Seal suddenly opened a bright light shinning upwards, each of them covering their eyes with their hands, turning away from the brightness of it. The rumbling continued, the ground trembling more fiercely than before.

The white light seemed to suddenly explode, reaching even the darkest, dankest corners of the Chamber, a loud echoing boom roaring through the Chamber. And, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. The light vanished, and with it, the Seal collapsed in on itself, leaving only dirt and ash where the metal Seal had lain. The dead Bringers that had laid in clumps all over the floor had vanished, and there were no live Bringers either. The group cautiously moved to stand in a circle around where the Seal had lain.

"Does this mean we won?" Ron asked.

Buffy laughed suddenly, a grin settling onto her face. She looked around at each member of the group, her eyes meeting their for a few scant moments, silently telling each of them how much it meant that they had been there for what may have been an apocalyptic battle.

"Yeah Ron. We won."

----

One more.