DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their other respective owners.
A/N ABOUT THIS STORY: As you can tell, I've taken several scenes directly from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lord of the Rings, word-for-word in the dialogue. This is not to rip off any of the real writers because I respect their work and I am not a plagiarist. This is an artistic ploy to put the reader in the mindset of where they are and is essential to the story. The Buffy episodes used were episodes (5.5) "No Place Like Home," written by Doug Petrie and (5.22) "The Gift," written by Joss Whedon. The movies used are, of course, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, written by Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien (if you didn't know that, shame, shame).
The clock inside of the Magic Box struck two in the afternoon. Giles, standing alone behind the counter, looked up at the clock, his eyes full of apprehension. Dawn had been silent for the past half hour, a true blessing in Giles' eyes, while the others were out on a mission. His Slayer had been missing since noon. He had no idea of calculating how many days had passed in Middle Earth, and prayed to himself that she and the others were safe.
Giles pushed those thoughts quickly away from his mind. With a sigh, he replaced his glasses on his face and walked out from behind the counter, heading towards the door beneath the balcony of the second level. He went through the door and entered the darkened training room with a duty to get to the other desk, searching for a misplaced book.
He reached the desk and his eyes gazed around the dim workspace, finding no book in their sight. He hastily began to open drawers and shelves, searching for the book. He opened the bottom left drawer and suddenly froze as he glared down at its contents.
Buffy, Willow and Xander stared up at him with sparkling eyes and elated expressions. A picture, he remembered, taken in the Sunnydale High School library four years ago. It was there where they met every day; where Giles and Buffy trained; where Buffy first learned that her watcher could betray her; where Giles first learned how much he cared for Buffy; where they stood defiantly before hell itself and closed its gateway.
Giles' legs could no longer hold him up. He plopped down in the chair and stared down at the picture, his heart immersing in the sting of despair. Had he trained his Slayer for this? For so long, he had feared that Buffy did not need him anymore. Now, he saw the truth. It was he that needed her more than anything. The closest thing he had ever had to a child was slipping away from him, and he felt helpless against the forces in motion.
He looked up at the dark, empty training room he was in. It felt more cold and lifeless than ever before.
"Giles!" Tara's voice called from the front of the store. He snapped out of his reverie and stood up quickly, closing the drawer containing the picture. Giles walked out of the training room and into the shop to see Tara, Anya, Riley and a tall, lean African-American woman with heavy, dark, curly hair crowning her skull.
She was dressed in a light satin dress of red, green, yellow and gold, with long gold earrings and gold bracelets around her arms. In essence and appearance, she was ideal stereotype of the word 'gypsy'. The strange woman stared around the Magic Box as she stepped into the room carefully as if she were floating on air. She turned to the man standing at the other end of the shop as a smile stretched her face.
"Mr. Giles..." she crooned with a British accent.
"Madam Rousseau," Giles replied, smiling warmly back at her. He walked across the shop approaching her, "Thank you for coming on such short notice." Anya, Riley and Tara stood back and watched the reunion as Dawn joined them with curiosity.
"This is who you wanted, right?" Anya asked. "Because I think I walked my heels off going through every fortune teller in Los Angeles before we were able to track down Ms. Batty-in-the-head..."
Madam Rousseau turned around and stared at Anya awkwardly as she eyed her down and declared softly, "This one is different from the others..."
Riley replied, "Shine the light on that revelation."
"You were a demon once," Madam Rousseau added with an air of superiority. "A vengeance demon. Nothing more than... spoiled children with emotional baggage."
Anya glared at her, mortally offended, "Now you listen to me—"
"Anya, Madam Rousseau is one of the most renowned mediums in the western hemisphere," Giles explained, interrupting her. "We need her help and cooperation if we are to get Buffy and the others back into our dimension."
"What has happened to the Slayer?" Madam Rousseau asked calmly, turning to Giles.
Dawn asked, "How does she know Buffy's the Slayer?" Madam Rousseau turned towards Dawn, hearing her voice, and glared at the girl silently as the smile slowly melted off of her face.
"Madam Rousseau has very strong connections to the other world," Giles replied. "Those that have passed on from this life." Madam Rousseau stared at Dawn intently, her gray eyes subtly hiding fear. Dawn noticed her strange looks and glanced away from her, breaking the eye-contact that chilled her bones.
"Oh, I get it," Riley answered. "They tell her these things?"
"The Slayer is absent from this world," Madam Rousseau declared, turning towards Giles again. "She is not alone. They have passed very far beyond your reach."
"We knew that," Anya answered pompously, her arms crossed. "What we lack is the way to get them back."
"And this is why you ask for my service?" Madam Rousseau responded. "I share no bond with them. I will not be able to contact them personally."
"Yes, I understand, Madam," Giles nodded, "but your aim would not be to contact them. It would be to contact someone who has been dead for quite a while."
"A name?" Madam Rousseau asked.
"Sorcerer Cloutier," Giles replied. "He has traveled to the dimension where Buffy is now, and he may know the way back. Please, Madam Rousseau, will you help us?" Madam Rousseau gaped around in silence at the faces of those around her. Her eyes met again with Dawn's and then she turned back to Giles.
"Jana loved you very much, Mr. Giles," the gypsy woman declared. "She has told me so herself." Giles eyes were fixated on Madam Rousseau for a few moments as he silently released the air in his lungs. He looked away from her with a hint of pain in his eyes as he nodded, forcing a smile onto his lips.
"Hey, Sam," Xander declared, walking towards the hobbit, "hand me some of that, I'm starving." Sam had been bent over a frying pan of food that sizzled over an open flame as he cooked their meal on top of the rocky mountain where the Fellowship had stopped to rest.
"Here you are, Mr. Xander," Sam grinned, passing Xander a plate of food as the light of an overcast day beamed on them. "That's some of the best food in the Shire." Sam added with a slight blush, "Next to Rosie Cotton's food, of course."
Xander took the plate and stared down at the hobbit as the two sat across from each other at the fire, "Rosie Cotton? Ah, so you've got a little hobbit girlfriend?"
Sam looked up at him, embarrassment in his grayish-blue eyes, "Never said any such thing..."
"Oh, come on, you little hobbit love machine," Xander smirked as he took a bite out of a loaf of bread. "Don't lie." Sam looked away and quickly tended to the frying pan again. "So..." Xander curiously beat around the bush, "are you two... you know, together?"
"Who're you talking about, Mr. Xander?" Sam asked as he pushed around sausages.
"You and Frodo," he answered. Sam turned to him with a stunned expression as Xander added, "Who do you think I'm talking about? This Rosie girl... are you, you know, dating? Is that what you call it?"
"Oh," Sam breathed, still blushing at the thought of Rosie Cotton, "sometimes I don't think she knows I exist."
"I know how that goes," Xander raised his eyebrows.
"Forgive me for saying so, Mr. Xander," Sam glanced at him, "but I'm not sure you know much about the ways of us hobbits."
"Well, I'm sure not the Zen master of dating normal girls," Xander replied. "'Cause let's look at my record... A biology-teaching praying mantis, a 500-year old mummy girl, the former witch-queen of Sunnydale High, a homicidal Slayer, and my most recent accomplishment – a 1000-plus-year-old ex-vengeance demon." Xander smiled and looked back up at Sam, "But trust me when I say you've got to grab the bull by the horns."
Sam nodded his head in approval of the idea, "Bull by the horns..."
"You've got to be the man," Xander squeezed his fists closed, holding them up. "The hobbit-man."
"Hobbit-man," Sam nodded.
"Don't let some woman push you around," Xander declared mightily. "Claim your territory and conquer!"
"Xander!" Buffy called from a short distance away. "Where's that canteen of water?"
"Coming, Buffy," Xander called back. Sam looked up at him with an amused grin and watched Xander obediently grab a canteen of water and rush over to her as fast as he could.
Sam stood up from the fire with some food and went over to Frodo and Willow, who sat together on a rock as they watched Boromir teach Merry and Pippin how to use a sword. Aragorn sat nearby silently smoking a pipe, as Xander walked past him a few feet and handed a canteen of water to Buffy, who stood by and watched the sparring match. Spike was a few feet away, lying with his back against the top of a boulder, as he gazed up at the sky and the sun tanned him in a non-fatal way.
Boromir approached Pippin first, both of them with swords in their hands, as he attacked at a moderate, steady pace. "Move your feet," Boromir instructed with a smile as Pippin carefully paid attention and blocked each of the light blows. "You look good, Pippin," Boromir grinned as he pulled back.
"Thanks," Pippin smiled and turned to Merry proudly. Boromir turned to Merry and easily approached him with the same moderate speed attack. After that was done, he turned to Pippin again as they knocked swords.
Boromir's blade slipped and nicked Pippin on the hand. The hobbit grimaced and snatched his hand back, shaking it out. "Sorry," Boromir exclaimed and Pippin swiftly kicked him in the shin. Merry joined in and the two hobbits playfully pushed him to the ground. "Hold him, Merry!" Pippin called as Boromir laughed aloud. "For the Shire!"
Aragorn and the others let out a chuckle as they watched the three wrestle with each other on the sandy ground amongst the rocks. After a few moments, they all came to a stand as Boromir brushed himself off, laughing heartily with a wide smile.
"It's so hard to remember," Pippin declared finally as he picked his sword back off of the ground. "All of these steps and positions... What you're supposed to do and when you're supposed to do it..."
Buffy hesitated, and then offered, "Well, you could try playing a song in your head." Each of them turned towards her in confusion, her dim-witted comment causing them to stare at her, making her feel even more like an outsider. Even Spike lifted his head off of the ground and glared over at Buffy as she stared back at them, a bit wide-eyed, "'Cause you know, it's like-like... keeping time. And with a song in your head it... it... helps..."
More silence blanketed them until Boromir finally declared, "This fighting technique has been used by my people in battles for hundreds of years."
Spike gasped with sarcasm, "Oh. Do I hear a challenge?"
"I have no doubt in my fighting skills," Boromir declared to Spike.
"Yeah, well," Willow replied, "when it comes to battles in our world, Buffy's definitely the 'go to' girl."
"Yeah," Xander nodded with a grin, "nothing can stop the Buffinator when she gets going..."
"Are you saying Buffy's been on adventures, too?" Merry asked, intrigued.
"Are you kidding me?" Xander answered. "Buff's got adventures coming out the wazoo."
Pippin turned to Merry, confused, "What's a wazoo?"
Aragorn glared at Buffy and honestly asked of her, "You're saying you know a better way to fight with a sword?"
"Well," Buffy sheepishly smiled, "I don't exactly have Excalibur stored away in my closet, but, yeah. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve passed down to me from the talking book that is my watcher."
Boromir turned away as he let out a small unbelieving laugh. Buffy glared at him, losing her patience. Aragorn continued to stare at her for a few moments, then retrieved his Ranger sword and held it out to Buffy.
"Show us," he declared. Buffy stared at him, a bit surprised, then took Aragorn's sword and spent a moment or two examining its weight and form. Aragorn turned to Boromir, "Go on. Let's test her theory."
"Go on, Boromir," Pippin grinned as the two hobbits backed out of the way, leaving a sparring space open.
Boromir turned to Buffy, staring at her, and then turned to Aragorn with a clear, you-can't-possibly-be-serious expression. "You expect me to fight a mere... child?" Boromir asked.
"Not that you have any doubt in your fighting skills," Spike declared, as he returned to his position watching the sky. Boromir glared over at him bitterly as the vampire declared with a smug smile, "Go for it, Borrie. Show the bird how it's done."
Boromir turned to Buffy who already had her sword raised, ready for the challenge. The hobbits and humans watched excitedly on the sidelines as Boromir raised his sword as well. "I promise," Boromir smiled, "I'll not harm you."
"No," Buffy grinned. "You really won't." With that, Boromir stepped forward and attacked swiftly, but Buffy easily blocked the blows away. They clanked swords, twisting and turning, each of them giving the other a good fight. The clinking of the swords also caught the attention of Legolas, Gandalf and Gimli, who moved over the boulder and watched the fight.
Boromir swung his sword at Buffy's waist and she leapt over it swiftly, ducked under his next swing and jumped up and blocked his next blow. The fight came to a halt as Buffy stared at Boromir, asking with a grin, "Getting tired yet?"
"Not in the least," Boromir answered, as he twisted his sword out of the tangle. Buffy swung to his left side and he blocked the attempt, and she quickly swung to his right, but he thwarted the blow. The two swords clashed more as Boromir slowly backed Buffy towards a boulder. Boromir mightily swung his sword at her side, but she jumped and back-flipped through the air and landed on top of the boulder.
He looked up at her, having not expected the move, but replied coolly, "You're not bad."
Buffy gazed down at him with a cockish glare, "Thanks. I don't usually get that from the things I fight." She quickly flipped off of the top of the rock and landed behind Boromir, facing him again in a flash. "They tend to die."
Buffy attacked and a frenzy of swords crashing and blades flashing ensued. Finally, Boromir steadily backed Buffy towards the boulders again. With every attempted hit, Buffy progressively spoiled them, but suddenly lost her footing. She tripped over a rock Boromir had pushed her back to and fell backwards, but grabbed Boromir by the shoulders and brought him with her. As her back hit the ground, she used her legs to catapult Boromir over her and threw him onto the ground a few feet above her.
Buffy grabbed the Ranger sword and did a backwards somersault, ending up standing over Boromir with the sword to his chest as he lay on his back and stared up at her. Buffy's theory held strong.
They stayed in that position for a few seconds until Buffy removed the sword from his chest and extended her hand down to him. With hesitation, Boromir took her hand and stood up as they each caught their breath. Boromir looked up at her for a few seconds, then nodded and declared simply, "Well done."
"Thanks," Buffy nodded, each of them sharing a new respect for the other. "You're all right yourself. You get a thumbs up in the book of Buffy." Spike, now paying attention again, watched the two share a half-smile as he glowered to himself, turning his head away with a scoff.
"Cloutier," Madam Rousseau declared aloud. Giles, Anya, Tara, Riley, Dawn and Madam Rousseau sat around the reference table with joined hands while the medium channeled beyond the living realm.
"Sorcerer of long ago," Madam Rousseau continued, "we ask of your presence here with us. Speak to us, Cloutier. Tell us your wisdom. Provide the answers we so desperately seek. Communicate with us, Cloutier. Send us a sign." All of the lights in the magic shop dimmed suddenly for a few seconds while the ground trembled and then was at peace.
"I think he just honked," Riley declared, staring around at the shop. Madam Rousseau suddenly snatched her arms back away from the others. They stared at her as her head titled down at her eyes tightly closed shut.
"What is it that you seek?" Madam Rousseau asked in a French accent with a deep voice, almost deeper than her voice range would allow. "Why do you disturb my rest?"
"Is she talking to us?" Dawn asked.
"Cloutier?" Giles asked, glaring at the medium awkwardly. "Is your presence with us?"
"It is I – he whom you seek," Madam Rousseau declared. She lifted her head and opened her eyelids to reveal her eyes, whited out completely and glowing faintly white. "Why do you call to me?"
"To inquire about a world you visited once," Giles answered. "Middle Earth."
"Xander is lost," Anya announced to Cloutier. "Tell us how to get him back."
"This is a task not accomplished effortlessly," Cloutier answered. "For much is happening in that world. It is changing." They stared at the medium with her eyes whited out as she stared forward, seemingly looking at nothing. As she spoke, her voice changed to sound nothing like her voice, but she spoke with the voice and dialect of Cloutier. "Evil has awoken once more. The Dark Lord is restless."
"Dark Lord?" Giles repeated.
"His Eye sees all," Cloutier answered.
"The Eye!" Tara replied, turning to the others, then back to the medium. "I-is it all fiery?"
"The Eye of Sauron sees you," Cloutier announced gravely. "It sees the intruders. They tip the scales of good and evil. Nine were meant to stop him. Thirteen were sent." The gang glanced at each other as Cloutier continued, "For this alone, one shall perish. All shall suffer."
"They don't have to suffer," Giles replied urgently. "We can bring Buffy and the others back."
"It is too late already," Cloutier answered. "The price will be paid."
"No," Riley declared, shaking his head in defiance. "They're our friends. We can't let them die. Tell us how to save them. Tell us how to bring them back. How do they find the way back?"
"They do not find the way," Cloutier responded. "The way finds them. This world is now void of the light it once possessed. Equilibrium must be achieved on both sides for the way to appear."
"Balance?" Giles shook his head in confusion. "How? That's impos—"
"One loving heart for another," Cloutier answered, "one bearer of power, one demon, one champion."
"I don't understand your answer," Giles shook his head.
Cloutier replied, "Then your friends are lost forever. And both worlds will diminish into ruin."
Giles breathed heavily as those words weighted down upon each of them. "How much time do we have?" he asked.
"There is not much time left in either world," Cloutier asserted. "For if they do not return to this world, when the sun sets on this very day the fates of both worlds will be sealed." Terror began to creep into their hearts and minds as Cloutier declared finally, "One alone can bear the weight of this task... but it will take all to guide him."
A massive blast of wind exploded through the shop as the spirit of Cloutier left them behind.