Seeing White
A Buffyverse fanfic by Sisiutil
Joss and ME own the characters, I'm just playing with them. This story isn't all that original--it's inspired by an idea Joss Whedon said he had but was unable to accomplish. Thought I'd take a whack at it. I'm just crazy that way.
Part 2: The White Room
Willow carefully poured sand out of a jar onto the floor of Buffy's living room. The witch used the sand to form a nearly-perfect circle roughly six feet in diameter while Xander and Dawn watched anxiously. When she finished, she placed the jar aside and stepped into the middle of the circle, careful not to break the narrow band the grains had created. She sat down, cross-legged. A heartbeat later, a brief flash of light illuminated the sand, indicating space it enclosed had become a sacred place and was now ready for the spell the witch was about to cast.
Before she could begin, however, Xander cleared his throat nervously. "So, you're not gonna go all veiny again, are you?"
He was standing a few feet behind Willow, outside the circle and to her left. He held a long, slender red candle in his hand, its pale glow illuminating his face. Dawn stood close by, also behind Willow but on her right, and she, too, held a lit candle. The tiny flames provided the only illumination in the room.
"No veininess," Willow muttered. "Veins are out this year. So says Vogue."
"But your eyes are gonna go all dark, aren't they?" Xander went on. "That always creeps me out."
"Since I have my back to you," Willow said with forced patience, "and you won't see my eyes, why do you care?"
"Well," Xander said, "it's just, you know, with the magicks and all, and you going evil that time..."
Willow exhaled angrily. "I'm not evil again. Why does everyone think that?" She turned her head and threw a glare Xander's way over her shoulder. "I haven't been evil for a long time!"
"Hey, okay, witch-girl!" Xander replied defensively, holding up one hand in apology. "Just remember: yellow crayons, and...I love ya." He showed Willow a broad, forced smile and gave her a cheerful thumbs-up.
"Yeah, yeah," Willow said impatiently as she turned her head away from Xander. "Can't believe he saved the world with that stupid story..." she muttered.
"Uh, what was that?" Xander asked.
"I'm trying to start my incantation!" Willow said through clenched teeth. "Not lovin' the chatter, Xan. I lose my concentration, and POOF! You could be small and furry and subject to uncontrollable cheese cravings, capeesh?"
That shut Xander up. Willow's lips curled into a pleased grin, and she mentally filed the threat away for future reference. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and relaxed. A moment later, she began to recite the incantation.
"Hecate," she said, her voice low and reverent, "Mistress of the dark..."
"Isn't that Elvira?" Xander interjected. He saw Willow's shoulders tense up. "Sorry..."
"Hecate," Willow began again as she forced herself to relax. "Mistress of the dark, sister of the moon, Blessed One, we implore you, hear our prayer. Pull back the veil betwixt this world and the next. Open a portal that you may guide us in our quest." The air in the room seemed to grow denser. A light breeze stirred Dawn's long brown hair and made the candles flutter. Willow opened her eyes, and they were, as Xander had anxiously supposed, completely black. "A being has been torn from this plane," she went on, "a sister, a friend, a champion...a vampire slayer. We seek her essence. We beseech you, aid us in our search. Reveal those who would take Buffy Summers from this realm! GUIDE US TO THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE!"
Suddenly, a pinpoint of light appeared directly in front of Willow's face, hovering above the edge of the circle of sand. It illuminated the witch's face, then grew in size and luminescence, lighting the room. The vortex grew to the size of a clenched fist, smoke and light swirling about its focal point. The breeze in the room became a steady wind and blew out the candles Dawn and Xander held. Willow opened her eyes; the corners of her lips curled into a pleased and somewhat smug smile. She stared into the bright portal, awaiting its response.
A minute passed, and nothing else happened. The mystical vortex continued to swirl, silent and unresponsive. Willow frowned.
"Uh, isn't something supposed to..." Dawn began to say.
"Shhh!" Willow shushed her impatiently. "Yes, Dawny, sorry. But...I don't know, just hang..."
"Hello," a voice said, its tone bright and chipper, from within the luminescent portal.
"Uh...hello?" Willow responded, clearly puzzled.
"You have reached the Powers that Be," the voice went on cheerfully. "We're sorry, but all of our spiritual guides are busy assisting other sorcerers. Your incantation is important to us, so please, remain within your enchanted space. A higher power will be with you shortly."
The voice stopped speaking, and a different sound emerged from the vortex. It sounded like a choir of angels humming "My Heart Will Go On".
"Will," Xander said after a long, dumbfounded pause, "...what the hell...?"
"Did we just get put on hold?" Dawn asked, frowning, her expression and tone incredulous.
Still seated within the sacred circle, Willow exhaled and ground her teeth together. Wiccans didn't like to talk about it, but sometimes, the Blessed Ones exhibited a perverse and extremely annoying sense of humor.
Buffy looked around, studying the place to which she had been transported so suddenly. It was white, completely white, an impossibly huge, seemingly endless, empty white space. It was so large and purely white that she found it extremely difficult to make out where, exactly, the walls were, or if in fact there were any walls at all. There was definitely a floor, however, and she slowly pushed herself up from where she was laying on it.
"Huh," she muttered as she stood up, "someone's into minimalist decor in a big way..."
"BUFFY ANNE SUMMERS", a female voice intoned majestically from behind her.
Buffy spun around, then raised her arms and shifted her legs to shoulder-width. Having assumed a defensive position, she glared at the being that had abducted her.
"Again with the three names," Buffy said. "Y'know, I get the feeling I'm the only 'Buffy' here. Though 'Ms. Summers' would also..."
"SILENCE, LOWER BEING!" the Emissary commanded. Pure white light shimmered around the being's female form, making Buffy squint as she watched her opponent.
"Yeah, the condescension thing isn't really winning me over either," Buffy remarked as she cocked one eyebrow in annoyance.
"YOU HAVE BEEN SUMMONED. YOU WILL LISTEN AS I EXPLAIN..."
"Let's just skip that and get to the part where I kick your ass," Buffy interrupted.
The vampire slayer leaned back and quickly lashed out at the Emissary with her right leg. The being's arm swung to her side and easily deflected the blow. Buffy allowed the Emissary's defensive push to spin her around. She struck out with her left arm in a quick jab. This blow, too, was blocked by the Emissary, who moved with both supernatural speed and supercilious ease. Buffy stood her ground and threw a series of punches at her opponent. The being blocked them all without appearing to strain herself whatsoever.
Finally, with an impatient sigh, the Emissary caught both of Buffy's arms at the wrist and held them while the slayer grimaced with the effort of trying to break free. The emissary threw Buffy's arms to her sides, leaving the slayer open and vulnerable. In the blink of an eye, the supernatural being drew back her right arm and struck Buffy, open-handed, in her sternum.
The force of the blow sent Buffy flying through the air backwards, her arms wind-milling uselessly. She suddenly struck a wall and sunk several feet to the white floor in a crumpled heap.
"Guess that's one way to find out where the walls are..." Buffy groaned through clenched teeth as she painfully pushed herself up from the floor again. She looked up and saw her opponent advancing on her, seemingly floating across the plain white floor rather than walking.
"VIOLENCE," the Emissary intoned disdainfully. "THE TYPICAL FIRST RESPONSE OF A LOWER BEING."
"Yeah, well, we get a little cranky when some glowy demon abducts us and takes us to a hell dimension," Buffy responded testily as she slowly resumed a defensive stance. "Guess we're kind of funny that way."
"HOW DARE YOU!" the Emissary thundered, her pale, ageless features displaying anger for the first time and making Buffy cringe in spite of herself. "I AM NO DEMON, LOWER BEING! I AM THE EMISSARY, SENT BY THE POWERS THAT BE!"
"Powers that be, huh?" Buffy said, unimpressed. "Like that's anything to be proud of. I heard all about you bunch from Angel. Guess you're still ticked he put Jasmine in her..."
"JASMINE?!?" the Emissary shouted, clearly infuriated. "Oh, do not get me started on the subject of that passive-aggressive bitch!"
Buffy's eyes went wide and her eyebrows rose at the being's surprising outburst. The Emissary glared at her for a moment, then blinked and looked away as if realizing what she had just said. The being's next action proved just as astonishing to the slayer as her previous one.
"Shit!" the Emissary exclaimed, then frowned, clenched her fists, and stamped one foot on the pure white floor repeatedly as she repeated the expletive. "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"
"Uh, does one of us need a time out here?" Buffy suggested dubiously.
The Emissary exhaled angrily, then took a deep breath and struggled to compose herself. "Damn it!" she swore, shaking her head of long, pure white hair. Then she cast her crystal blue eyes upwards and spread her arms in resignation. "Well, so much for the whole 'superior being' act. I hate it when I lose it like that!"
"Oh. Um, sorry, I guess..." Buffy offered, but remained in a defensive stance.
"Oh, it's not your fault, Buffy Anne Su...can I just call you Buffy? Is that cool?" the Emissary asked, glancing at the slayer.
"Yeah, sure," Buffy responded, her blue eyes wide and still incredulous.
"Good. Look, can I drop the high-falutin'? You know, since it's just us girls?" the higher being offered with a slight smile. Buffy indicated her slightly-stunned agreement by nodding her head. "Sweet. You can call me Emmy. Look, I'm sorry about the whole 'Voice of Doom' thing, and the bitch-slapping. Upper management has this whole 'Shock and Awe' policy that goes back centuries," she explained, rolling her eyes as she spoke. "Me and the other first contact spirits have been trying to get them to loosen up, but you can imagine what that's like. It has to go through committee, and get approval, policies have to be drawn up..." Emmy paused and sighed. "Parting the Red Sea was easier."
"Okay..." Buffy responded, casting a very confused sideways glance at the supernatural being who had just assumed a much more conversational tone. "So...what's this all about...Emmy?"
"Do you mean life, the universe, and everything," Emmy replied with an amused smirk, "or, just, what the heck are you doing in Mr. Clean's dream home with a fluorescent super-being?"
"Let's keep things relatively simple and just focus on me," Buffy suggested with a tight smile. "As much as I appreciate being taken away from a night of Bruckheimer blockbusters, I'm still in the dark here." Buffy paused and glanced around at the pure, bright white room. "And yeah, the irony of that statement is not lost on me."
The Emissary reached out with one hand and tenderly brushed her fingertips over Buffy's left cheek. Her touch felt warm, and it instantly brought Buffy comfort. She felt her heart rate and breathing slow to normal levels in an instant. She unclenched her fists and dropped her arms to her sides.
"Buffy the vampire slayer," Emmy said with a sad, knowing smile. "You've really been through it, haven't you? How many lives have you saved? How many times have you saved the world?" Buffy just shrugged. "And yet you yourself have lost so much. Your mother. Your lovers, Angel, Riley, and William. Friends..."
"Okay," Buffy said, suddenly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. "Is there a point to this, or are you just rubbing it in?" she said testily.
Emmy smiled and gently put one arm around Buffy's shoulder. "Girlfriend," she said, "we so need to talk."
To be continued...
