Time Explains Us by Erykah Miszti
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chapter Ten: Recrimation on a Theme
After promising to be good, the nebulous masses of energy were allowed back out to play…
Xxxxxx
The carriage bounced along the tree-lined avenue with its occupants still sitting in stony silence. It had been this way for the duration of the journey, so far some 4 hours worth of it.
Buffy stared out of the window, not even daring glances at William as she had done earlier in the day. Each glance had been met with a pointed look away. He was aware of her attempts at eye contact but stubbornly refused it.
She hated this situation but she was convinced that she'd done the right thing. William could not have understood. Her telling him would have created more questions than she could possibly answer. She told herself that it wasn't fear that stopped her telling him, this was her job, her calling, to bear the knowledge alone.
The house appearing out of the trees stopped her line of thought. Built of red brick, the house was a single huge block… grandiose, majestic and framed by gigantic trees of a type with which Buffy was not familiar. Large white steps led up to a colonnade of columns, like a Greek temple. The sweeping gravel drive formed a circle in front of the house with an expanse of grass in the centre.
The carriage followed the road around and pulled up in from of the house.
To Buffy's intense relief a familiar figure come out of the house and stood upon the steps. She climbed out of the carriage without waiting for William and met him with a huge smile.
"You're safe." She stated with relief apparent in her voice.
"I'm glad I can say the same for you." Mortimer replied. "We expected you yesterday."
"We had some problems on the road." William said from behind Buffy as he climbed out of the carriage. He went forward and embraced his uncle warmly.
"Thank god." Mortimer breathed as he hugged the younger man. Buffy was struck again by the resemblance between them.
"William!" An excited voice cried from the direction of the house and they all turned in surprise as a young girl dashed towards them. She threw herself into William's arms.
"Summer, I've missed you." William told her with a genuine smile on his face as he hugged her tightly.
"His sister." Mortimer informed Buffy with a fond smile as he watched the pair of them. "I brought her here for safety."
"This is the Watcher's Council library?" Buffy asked, dragging her eyes away from the embracing siblings and forcing her mind off her own beloved sister who seemed to be about the same age as this girl.
"Yes." Mortimer replied.
"Some spread." Buffy commented, getting a puzzled frown from the Victorian man. "Uh, it's not really what I expected. Not that I knew what to expect."
"You've never visited here in your time?" Mortimer seemed shocked. "But all Slayers are brought here by their Watcher's at least once to meet with the entire Council. It's our secret retreat."
"Well, I'm not what you'd call a conventional Slayer." Buffy said wryly. "When can I meet with them?"
"They are in session right now, so I can introduce you at once if you like. But perhaps you'd prefer to get a little rest first?" He offered.
"No." Buffy said firmly. "Let's get it over with now."
"As you wish."
Buffy looked back at William and his sister, they were still hugging and both seemed to be crying.
"Will they be alright?" She asked Mortimer. He sighed.
"Eventually. At least they have each other."
Buffy took a deep breath and set her resolve. They have each other, she thought, and I'll see to it that it stays that way.
The staircase went down and down and down. To Buffy it felt as if they'd already been descending for a good ten minutes and yet the stairs before them seemed interminable. There was a faint yellow glow in the distance but for a long time it never seemed to get any closer.
Eventually they walked out into a candle-lit corridor. Up ahead they could hear the murmur of voices. They stopped outside a wooden door covered in ancient looking carving. Buffy vaguely recognised them as Egyptian-ish.
"I've explained the pertinent points to them already." Mortimer informed her.
"Thanks." She replied. "So they already believe that I'm from the future?"
"Yes, they – apparently – used their physics to validate your story."
"Not more psychics." Buffy murmured under her breath. She'd had her fill of them.
"Ready?" Mortimer asked and Buffy nodded soberly. He gave her a reassuringly smile and knocked firmly on the door.
He opened it without waiting for an answer and guided her inside.
The huge room – vault - was dark despite being lit by the largest candles Buffy had ever seen in her life. The walls were lined with bookcases containing the usual large dusty-looking ancient tomes and interspersed with magical looking objects that Buffy vaguely recognised as the similar to those dotted around the Magic Box back home.
The ceiling momentarily caught her attention. It was remarkably high and the flickering candlelight occasionally highlighted monstrous looking carvings on the high vaulted beams.
"Slayer." A voice bellowed, dragging her attention back to the proceedings at hand. "Approach us."
Buffy gave a twisted smile at being ordered about so imperiously but did as she was asked.
The "table" was a frightening large circular affair with a large hole in the centre. The Council members (maybe 20 in all) sat around the outside. The candlelight left them mostly in shadow, so they were vague and ghostly presences.
At one end of the table was a gap so that someone could literally walk into the centre and be surrounded by the Watcher's Council. Buffy guessed that this whole scenario was designed to be intimidating (presumably especially to young Slayers). She smiled to herself. They didn't know that she wasn't that easily intimidated.
Buffy walked confidently into the centre and approached the man sitting exactly opposite the gap. He was sat in the fanciest chair so she guessed he was the head honcho.
"Hi. I'm Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer from the future." She said brightly. "Who are you?"
There was silence for a full minute and she could actually sense the affronted propriety all around her. She guessed that maybe they were used to meeker Slayers than herself. She half turned and saw Mortimer – standing just outside the circular table – trying to hide a smile.
"I'm Alexander Travers." The man sat at the head of the table informed her imperially. He was perhaps a little older than Giles but a little more grey about the temples. She couldn't see the colour of his suit in the half-light but she could see that it was very well made and even did a reasonable job of hiding his copious gut. His tone was as stiff as his high-necked collar.
"Travers..?" Buffy questioned. "Cool."
"You've heard of me then?" He asked, curiously and set his shoulders a little straighter. "In the future?"
Buffy smiled at the obvious vanity of the man, assuming he might be famous in the future.
"Not exactly." She replied puncturing his bubble. "In my time the Council is run by Quentin Travers." She shrugged. "I'm assuming he's your grandkid or something."
"I have no children." Travers replied stiffly, she seemed to have touched a nerve of some kind.
"Oh." Buffy stated, then smiled and went for a friendly tone. "Well, then don't give up trying."
Someone behind her snorted a laugh and everyone turned around in disgust but the candlelight made it impossible to see who had made the noise. After a beat, attention came back to Buffy and Travers. Buffy shrugged the moment off.
"Look," She began. "I need your help..."
"Tell us about the vampire." Travers cut in.
"The vampire..?" She questioned, having been caught out by the question.
"This... William the Bloody."
Buffy set her features to not show any emotion and looked around at the shadowy figures warily.
"That's information about the future." She told them. "I know my time travel movies, you're not supposed to share that."
"Dammit, girl! This is serious!" He exclaimed.
"You think I don't know that!" Buffy countered with barely controlled anger. "I'm a hundred years away from home... trapped in bizarro land… and all you want to know is what I can tell you about Spike?"
"Perhaps, you don't realise what you've done?" Another council member piped up. Buffy turned to look at him. He was a young man; fairly attractive and dressed as stiffly as Travers. "By saving his life, you've disrupted time!"
"Saving lives is what I do." Buffy replied simply.
"No." Travers interjected. "Your job is to fight the forces of Darkness."
"Yes, and thanks to me there's one less demon in the world."
"Yes and no." A female voice said from the shadows beyond the table. A gypsy walked into the light. "He must die. The future depends on it."
"Huh?" Buffy responded articulately.
"His suffering will save the world." The gypsy replied. "It is prophecy."
"Okay," Buffy said patiently. "Look, prophecies and all that. They can be changed. They don't always have to mean what you think they mean."
"We can send you home." Travers stated suddenly and Buffy turned sharply to face him. "We can return you to your family... to your sister." The word was like a knife inside her. He paused. "But, you must hand the boy over to Angelus. It is his fate."
"No!" Buffy stated flatly. "Just no. I won't hand him over to die. It goes against everything…"
"Then we regret that we cannot let you leave this place." Travers cut her off. "You will stay here – in this building - for the remainder of your natural life… and WE will hand the boy over to Angelus."
Buffy's eyes widened.
"You can't hold me here." She stated.
"I assure you, we can. We have been training Slayers for thousands of year's girl. If you think your strength can escape our prisons then you underestimate us."
Buffy snorted derisively.
"I'm not one of YOUR Slayers." She turned to go.
"We will give you one hour to decide." Travers informed her. "We would prefer to do this amicably. All you need to do is put right what you did wrong by ensuring that Angelus sires William. Then you can go home to your family as if you never left."
"I'll never hand an innocent over to that monster." She said through tight lips.
"You have one hour to re-think that decision or this home will become your tomb."
Buffy shook of Mortimer's hand as she ran out of the vault.
"Miss Buffy!" He called after her as she ran up the stairs.
She continued running when she reached the top, she ran out of the house and out across the lawn. She ran until she hit the barrier and fell into a crumpled heap on the floor. She stood up and tried again but to no avail, a barrier of energy surrounded the house. She banged on it with all her might but it just wouldn't break. She fell onto the wet grass crying with frustration.
She didn't know how long she sat there but a long shadow over her woke her up.
"I can't do it, Mortimer." She said. "I can't let him die."
Mortimer helped her to her feet.
"Miss Buffy," He began. "Much as it pains me… what if it is the right thing to do?"
"It's not." She stated defiantly. "I had this discussion with my Watcher before the last battle over the Hellmouth. He said I had to sacrifice my sister but he was wrong. I jumped into the portal instead and it closed. It worked without having to sacrifice her! There is always another way."
"This is not the same situation." He said softly. "These are events which have already happened."
"But, what if I'm here to stop this happening? What if the purpose of me being here is to save him?" She wiped tears from her eyes. "He's an innocent here. He doesn't deserve this fate. I can save him so much pain."
"Pain?" Mortimer queried. "A vampire does not feel pain."
"I would have agreed with you." She said sadly. "Until I met Spike."
"You care for this vampire a great deal, don't you?" He asked in wonder.
Buffy paused and looked away.
"I care for William." She replied softly, enigmatically. She looked up at Mortimer. "Where is he?"
"He is with his sister in the maze."
"Well, let's go get them both. We need to get out of here."
"Actually I was hoping you'd say that." Mortimer grinned. "I have just the escape route..."
"I thought you wanted me to go along with their plans?" Buffy was surprised.
"There is no definitive right and wrong here, Buffy. You must go with your heart."
"My heart says let's get the hell out of here!"
"Agreed."
Back in the Council chamber…
"She won't do it." The gypsy told Travers.
"She must." He replied.
"She wont."
"Can't we just hand him over ourselves?"
"No." The gypsy said firmly. "These events must run their course. You will let them go."
"Let them go!" He exclaimed.
"Yes. Trust me, Travers. Let them go."