Author's Note:
I used a bit of conversation and stuff from the Season 7 episode "Get It Done". Mostly the guys in the desert, but I added some bits in. I just wanted to include it as a disclaimer. And I HAD to use a quote from the Angel Season 4 episode, "Orpheus". It's a Faith quote.
- - - - -
Chapter 47
... And How it Ends
- - - - -
Harry felt like a walking zombie that Friday in class. He walked into Potions feeling sluggish and exhausted, and he wasn't the only one. Hermione looked feeble and almost ill, but Ron was quite pale, his eyes looking startled under his mane of bright red hair.
It had been over twelve hours since they'd disappeared.
Harry had managed to get a few hours of sleep. He knew he needed them.
Professor Snape was just as cold and vindictive as usual, too. He prowled the narrow aisles between desks, scowling at the non-Slytherin students mixing their own truth potion, although it wouldn't be as powerful as Veritaserum.
Draco Malfoy had returned to class the previous day and was still in a rather foul mood with the Potions instructor. The first thing Professor Snape had done was dock Malfoy ten points (that his other classmates had somehow gained back) for glowering at him.
Harry had been in a good mood about this, but it was Ron's laughter that caused Professor Snape to take off ten points from Gryffindor.
"That isn't fair!" Seamus protested from the table behind them. "Professor!"
"Do shut your mouth, Finnegan, or it will be twenty more," Professor Snape snapped before returning to his desk. "Finish your potions by the end of the period and bring one sample in a flask up to me. I shall test them overnight."
"Joy," Harry muttered as he continued adding ingredients to his simmering cauldron. Hermione, who was working next to him, had barely started in on her potion. "Are you all right?"
"I'm just a little tired," she said, giving him a small smile.
"You sure?" he asked, touching her arm.
She gently pushed his hand away. "I'm fine, Harry, really."
"You didn't sleep at all, did you?" Ron asked from Harry's opposite side. His voice was still angry and suspicious and Hermione gave him a sad smile.
"I really couldn't," she finally said after a moment of stirring her ingredients counterclockwise. "I mean, can you sleep with all of this going on?"
"In a heartbeat," Ron said with a loud yawn. Professor Snape noticed this and scowled. "He's sure in a right, cheery mood today, isn't he?"
"None of the Professors are very happy today," Harry said, stifling his own yawn.
"It's because one of their students went mental last night," Seamus whispered at them from behind.
"If you're talking about my sister, you could show a little respect," Harry snarled as he turned to face the Irish boy.
"Your sister touched in the head, Potter?" a drawling voice came from his left. Harry heard Hermione gasp before his own eyes met the silver eyes of Draco Malfoy.
"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that, you twitchy little ferret," he growled.
Draco gave him a strained smile. "Wouldn't you like to know what she's doing in the Citadel, Potter? My Father gave her his regards."
Harry nearly launched himself at Malfoy, if Hermione hadn't been struggling to hold him back.
"You... you heard where she was?" Hermione asked Draco with a strange look on her face. In that instant, they both knew the other was hiding something. They both knew something the others didn't. Draco scowled even deeper at this. Trust the one person to know his secret was a bloody Mudblood.
"Of course I know," Draco spat, watching in relish as Hermione paled considerably. "One doesn't usually call upon the Dark Mark to lead them to the Dark Lord now, do they?" He turned taunting eyes to Harry. "Your sister has gone to join them, Potter, didn't you know?"
"She... she what?" Harry asked, dumbfounded.
Draco grinned eerily. "She's got her power on and now she's off to join to the Wizard... I guess she knew where her loyalties lied. She would have made a great Slytherin. As she should have been in the first place."
"That's not true!" Hermione shouted. Everyone in the class, including Professor Snape, was watching them avidly.
"Oh, really, Granger?" Draco asked coolly. "And just what do you know about her little vacation to the dark side?"
"She's after one man, and she's going to take care of it, and then she's going to come back," Hermione said in a cold voice.
"Really?" Draco said, sounding bored. "Well, perhaps it would surprise you then that the little fiend has been asked to join His court. How could she not accept with all of that dark, righteous power swirling around her? It's just calling her, as it has called to me. No one can resist it. Who would want to?"
"Buffy would," Harry said firmly.
At this, Hermione glanced at him uncertainly.
She'd been feeling the power, since it had been her research and her charm on Buffy's wand, which had given her the knowledge to gain access to her power like that. The conversation last night seemed as though it had happened a decade before, but with Malfoy telling them where she was and all, it was almost deja vu.
"Well, she would!" Ron said, glaring at Hermione before turning to give Malfoy a scathing look. "She has things to live for in this world, she wouldn't throw them all away, would she?"
No friends. No family. No hope.
Well, at Hogwarts, she had all three. She had her closest friends at Hogwarts. Harry was definitely her family since he was her younger brother. The hope part was sort of lost if she was in the same room as the Death Eaters, but there were so many who were hoping for her return, Hermione just hoped she had the power within herself to go back.
"What, she has Weasley and Wood, not a big difference if you ask me," Malfoy said snobbishly. "And, no offense, Potter, but you're really not that big of a catch yourself..."
Before Hermione could hold him back, Harry nearly tackled into Draco, holding him by the scruff of his cloak. "If you ever speak of my sister like she's some dark creature's plaything again, I'll kill you myself."
"Potter! What are you doing? Malfoy, get back to your chair. You have been on restriction enough these past few weeks. If either one of you acts up again, I'll be forced to give you both detention." Professor Snape had separated them both, shoving Malfoy towards the Slytherin end of the classroom. "Go. Now."
Harry quickly resumed his position, throwing dark looks at both Malfoy and at Professor Snape, his mind reeling.
Buffy was with the Death Eaters? He knew she had a vendetta against one of them, but she was just one girl, even with Faith, that was two girls. There had to be a hundred Death Eaters. It wasn't a comforting thought knowing how strong she was, even with the advanced magic flowing through her veins. It scared the hell out of him.
What could one girl hope to accomplish against the Dark Lord and his most humble servants?
- - - - -
Buffy was dreaming. She had to be.
The second to last thing that she remembered was looking Quentin Travers in the eye and telling him she was going to kill him. Painfully. The last thought she had was of Wormtail gently cleaning her cuts and bruises with a now-bloody towel that was sitting in a clay jar at her feet.
The last few hours had been fuzzy. It was almost as if her mind had been far too primitive for her to remember her own call to arms.
For some odd reason, her clothing had been discarded, including her boots. This wasn't making her very happy. Instead, she wore a long, slim black dress that didn't have sleeves, which pissed her off twice more, since she was freezing. There was only one fire lit and it was in a pit in front of the grand chair, which looked like something someone had sewn together with a few sticks and some barbed wire. It was rather uncomfortable.
Since she'd been forced into this situation.
What had she done?
The Dark Lord had left her alone after he'd threatened her with the usual death and decapitation which she suspected her brother wouldn't appreciate. Not that he had any reason to jump for joy as it was. He probably thought his sister had gone insane in her old age.
And she was barely nineteen.
She stood and crossed the marble floor, wincing as her bare feet touched the cold, highly polished floor. She didn't know where they were, only that they were in a small castle that seemed to be protected from daylight, since all she could see was a cloud that hung like despair over them.
This bode well, she thought sarcastically. And then she paused.
Sarcasm... that hadn't been a part of the Slayer's forte. No, something was definitely wrong. The Slayer was still in her, because of the dark power that she still wielded, but there was something else, now, too.
It was almost as though her soul had been returned to her.
But how? When? She hadn't given up her extra powers! She didn't know what was going on until a cold hand touched her elbow and she nearly screamed when she saw the person staring at her.
It was her Father.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, storming away from him, crossing her arms. "You're going to get us both killed."
"I'm already dead, so I guess as luck will have it, our daughter will be with us soon."
"Don't sound too hopeful," she said dryly, eyeing him warily. "What are you doing here?"
"Making certain my daughter stays alive," he said, taking her uncomfortable chair and watching in mild amusement as she paced back and forth.
"No offense, but I have a really bad history with Fathers," Buffy said coolly as she turned to glare at him.
"And I highly doubt you'd say the same thing had we not given you up all of those years ago."
"How in the hell did you get inside my head?" she demanded. "I want you to get out! I can't do what I'm here to do unless you go. I can't afford to be weak now."
"Yes, you can," he said, the amusement disappearing from his face. "Elizabeth, I know it's been a hard few days for you to comprehend. But this isn't the way to go."
"No, it is," she said firmly. "I am going to kill one little man."
"You cannot take a human life," he said quietly. "It'll destroy you."
"And I care because..."
"He'll take you away from us," James Potter said in his damned softest tone of voice. "Again. He'll take your power and that'll mean you'll be joining the fight against your own brother."
"He knows I will never join him," Buffy said confidently. "He murdered you. I can't join a murderer."
"You don't have a choice, Elizabeth," he said, rising and crossing the room to touch her face. "If he wants your power, there is no stopping it. Not until you release your hate and let us in."
"Not now," Buffy said angrily, taking a step away.
"You look so much like your Mother when you do that," he said, pulling his hand away as though he'd been burned. "She will be most distressed to find out you've been consorting with the enemy."
"Oh, right, like I sleep with evil a lot." She paused. "Not this bloody time, anyway." She gave her father a dirty look. "Spare me the sex talk, Father. I got one a long time ago. It's called a pointy sword sending my lover to Hell."
"That's where you'll be going if you stay on this path," he warned. "You'll die and you won't be a hero. Not a martyr. Not a Slayer. You'll be a traitor, a sad side to what was once something so beautiful and magnificent. I've been watching over you for far too many years to watch you throw your life away."
"I'm doing this for Harry," Buffy said, and she felt tears prickling her eyelids. Cursing, she turned away to wipe her eyes.
"No," James said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're doing this for yourself. To justify some idea of vengeance while--"
"He killed the Watchers, all of them save two," Buffy snapped, turning around to face him. "What would you do? Huh? Would you let Quentin sit high and mighty? No... you'd fight them."
"You're not ready for what's to come."
"I've had worse."
"You have to let it go."
"You're not my... oh, wait... well, you are my Father, but you're dead. I don't listen to ghosts you invade my mind!"
"If you keep acting like this, we'll be all that's left of your mind!"
"I thought I told you to leave me alone."
"Elizabeth," James said, pleading with her one last time. "Please, don't do this. Don't think this. I don't want you to die now. Harry needs you."
"I said leave," she said angrily, not pulling her eyes away from the black cloud spiraling in from the outside world. It was suffocating her within this small room.
"Buffy, please..."
"Why won't you leave?" she shouted, only to realize that the room was empty. Feeling foolish, she turned away, but not before a single tear dripped off her cheek and landed on the floor, right where a blood-soaked towel lay at her feet.
Buffy glanced up as her vision cleared as the Dark Lord towered over her.
The terror and uncertainty she'd felt in her vision cleared away as she gazed up at the Dark Lord boldly, not bothering to hide her hatred. "So, what is it you wished to tell me?"
"The nature of your true existence," he said, lifting his wand and aiming it towards the candles lighting the cold, dank room. Buffy shivered under her thin cloak a bit more as shadows started appearing on the walls. "You cannot just watch, you have to see to believe that is your nature."
Buffy forced herself to sit upon her knees, which quivered slightly in protest, since most of her moves inside the citadel hadn't been used in over a year, and her body was starting to catch up with her. She forced her eyes to stare at the shadows now spinning on the walls.
She was dreaming again. Damn it. There were three men walking around her, pounding their staffs into the ground. They were chanting in some language she didn't understand. Why was this always happening to her?
"We know who you are," one said, lifting his staff as he spoke.
"And we know why you're here."
"Well, that's great, because I haven't got a clue because some psycho loony just happened to force this upon me," Buffy said, crossing her arms while glaring at the men, who were starting to quicken their pace now.
"We've been waiting."
"Good. That's good then. Um, you know, I know we have bigger issues to deal with, but how'd I understand anything you guys just said?" They didn't say anything. They didn't need to. "Oh, I know, ancient magicks. I just thought it was neat."
"We have been here since the beginning," the first man replied, coming to a halt while the other two walked around them.
"Now, we are almost at the end," the second said, stopping right beside the first.
"The end? The end of what?" Buffy asked uncertainly. "What are you talking about?"
"You are the end of the world," the first replied, knocking his staff into the ground three times.
"You mean I'm at the place?" Buffy asked, confused. "I'm at the end of the world party or something?"
"No," the third said, stopping on the other side of the first. "Your power. Your protections. You have let them go. This brings us to the fact. You are the end of the world."
"Oh, bloody hell!" she moaned, shaking her head. "Could you please try to make some sort of sense, because you're all really not right now. Just tell me what I need to know so I can go on my merry way."
"We cannot give you knowledge. Only power."
"I have some already, thanks," she replied sarcastically as she touched her arms, only to realize she was wearing the dress again. Rolling her eyes, she stared up at the three who were staring at her, unblinking. "You know what I think? I'm not really here at all."
"You are not mistaken, young one," the second said, lifting his staff and knocking her on the side of the head. She fell down to the ground with a small moan. "It is you who should not be here at all."
- - - - -
Hermione couldn't wait anymore. After Potions, she ran as fast as she could to the Headmaster's office, only to realize she couldn't get past the gargoyles.
"This isn't helping," she said after kicking one of them in anger.
"You might want to try 'Lemon Drop'," said a voice at her elbow. She turned and saw Ron's brother Percy standing there, his arms folded.
"Thanks," she said softly before turning to the gargoyles. "Lemon drop!"
The gargoyle sprang to life and Hermione turned to look at Percy, but he was already halfway down the opposite corridor. With a sigh, she walked inside and stepped onto the lower step and felt the stairs rise and twist their way to the very top.
She knocked on the door before bursting inside. Professor Dumbledore had been facing the door and his eyes widened with surprise when he saw who it was.
"Miss Granger, please, come in."
"I'm sorry, sir, but I needed to speak with you," Hermione said quickly. "I have to tell you--" Her voice was cut off as Professor Dumbledore stepped one step to the right.
Draco Malfoy was standing behind him, looking at Hermione indignantly.
"What is he doing here?" she demanded.
"He is here for the same reason you have come," Professor Dumbledore said, walking around his massive desk and sitting down. "Please sit down, the both of you. You both carry one half to a story I am fascinated to hear."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, now feeling slightly overwhelmed. She knew what Draco did, but did he know what she did?
"Mister Malfoy here was just explaining to us what his Father told him," Professor Dumbledore said, nodding respectfully at Draco. "But I am most curious to know how she came by this spell in the first place."
Draco turned to Hermione abruptly with a look of slight awe on his face. "It was you who concocted all of this?"
"Me," Hermione said, giving Draco an arrogant smile. "A simple Mudblood?"
"Yes, Draco, you have underestimated our Hermione," Professor Dumbledore said briskly. "Now, please explain to us, Miss Granger, what is going on? I spoke with Miss Potter a few days ago about what she wanted to accomplish but having no plan of action, she couldn't do much of anything. Last night she took a great deal of advanced magic without any knowledge of how to do so. I can only suspect your involvement."
"You would be correct," Hermione said quietly. "I was involved. I told her what she needed to do in order to activate the Slayer."
"What do you mean, activate?" Draco asked her scathingly. "It isn't some toy robot you can just switch on and off."
"No, but it something you can bring unbalance to," Hermione retorted. "I told her that the only possible way she could get through what she wanted to do was to allow the Slayer to overtake her body in its purest form."
Professor Dumbledore turned away suddenly and both teenagers glanced at him in surprise. "Professor?" Draco asked uncertainly.
"Please, continue," he said, turning to look at Hermione with his serene, blue gaze.
"The advanced spells she took required a price," Hermione said, her voice dropping even more. "They required her to leave her humanity behind. That was why she attacked Draco last night. That was why she knew all of those incredibly advanced charms. She asked to find a way to do what she needed to do, and I gave it to her. I sent her to her death..." Hermione bit her lip as the tears started welling behind her eyes. "Because you-know-who is going to kill her. He is going to destroy her and everything she holds dear. She's not going to be able to pull away from this."
"Not yet," Draco said suddenly. Hermione turned to him as a tear rolled down her cheek. "My Father said she fought back. Both Slayers did. But the Dark Lord killed her parents; there is no way she'll turn to that side."
"She doesn't have any choice," Hermione said heavily. "I was mistaken in this plan; it was too rash. She's going to die and there is nothing on this earth that can stop it."
"But there is," Professor Dumbledore said softly. "There is still goodness inside of the Slayer. There is no possible way it can be completely evil. She just has to find that spark and get out."
"What did she want to do in the first place?" Draco asked, looking at both his Headmaster and his archrival's girlfriend.
"She wanted to a human life," Hermione said, her voice an echo of its usual brass and bossy tone. "Just one."
"Can it be done?" Draco asked. "Can she do it?"
"I am uncertain," the Headmaster said, not looking at either one of them. "But one thing is clear. We are running out of time."
- BlackCastle, Unknown -
Faith moaned as she lifted her head, her fingers probing a bump on the backside of her skull.
"Poncy bastards," she muttered, borrowing one of Sirius's more clever curses for stupid people. She ran a hand through her disheveled hair and checked her body for bumps and bruises she may have sustained in her brief fight.
It had been ridiculous, mostly. They'd wanted to kill her. Those bastards. She was glad that Buffy had enough of herself left to put skid marks in their plans. All she had to do now was find out where Buffy was and get her the hell away from this place.
The Dark Lord wanted her. No wonder. She was crackling like a super-juiced Wicca. She had power far beyond Faith's comprehension. Faith was a Slayer, too, but she was mostly the good one, for whatever curse that happened to be. It was almost unnerving to know that the true Slayer carried that much anger and hate.
Quentin had called her primitive. What did that mean?
Faith hadn't thought much of the other Slayers born over the generations. Being chosen and called had been the best thing that had happened to her. Until she met her brother, of course, to annoy the hell out of him until this war ended seemed like the most entertaining thing to do for some odd reason.
The first Slayer must have been someone called thousands of years in the past, Faith realized. She had been a primitive.
And it was in this moment of clarity that Faith began to understand that maybe, just maybe, Buffy was using the essence of the first Slayer in this task. She had to be. It was completely un-focusing her.
She heard footsteps and rose, her hand plunging into the pocket of her robes, only to discover her wand wasn't there.
No, it was twirling idly in the hands of the one man Buffy had come all this way to kill.
He was standing before Faith, looking more than pleased. He wasn't alone, either. There were other cloaked figures in the background, their masks glinting eerily in the swift candlelight of the sconces lining the walls.
"What do you want?" Faith asked angrily; the silencing charm had been taken off of her.
"I have come to speak with you, Miss Black," he said nonchalantly, ignoring the indignant look upon her face. "Yes, my dear, I know who you are. I have known who you were. And, just as the Dark Lord has foreseen, you have returned to offer yourself up the way you had meant to back when you were just an infant." He gave her a mocking smile before handing her back her wand. "You can have this back. I know for a fact you have little magical talent within you, a squib born to one of the purest blooded families. They would have been alarmed to know such useless talent existed in this world."
"I am not that useless," Faith muttered as she pocketed her wand, knowing she couldn't exactly intimidate him with it since he already knew it was a worthless plight. "I'm still a Slayer."
"You see, Faith, we are not blind to that, either," Quentin said, smirking at her slightly. "It is perhaps this reason more than others that the Dark Lord wished you to return to his court. He wishes to tell you what you really are."
"Oh, right, I get it, we're evil," Faith said, rolling her eyes. "Can I go now? I have some serious asses to kick."
"It won't help," Quentin said, sounding mildly amused. "Buffy will be ours before nightfall."
"If you think she'll turn to the one monster who murdered her parents, you are gravely delusional," Faith said, taunting him.
"And if you believe that she can ever return to this world from the darkness now binding her, you are mistaken," Quentin said coldly. "There is no humanity in her."
"Yes, there is," Faith said proudly. "She's still Buffy."
"She has horrors that she never knew existed, not that you did not," Quentin said, giving her a half-mocking apologetic bow. "But we will offer this choice to you as well. You were to be raised in the court of the fallen Lord in the hopes that you would be able to hold the dark power."
"Oh, so you want my Slayer bad to come out, too," Faith said frowning. "So why all the creepy pretense? Or didn't you know I'm not batting for that side any more? You call me useless? If your stupid scouts have been keeping such tabs on me, then you ought to know by now that I'm perfectly happy where I am."
"Perhaps you won't be when you discover the truth about what you are," Quentin said.
"And what exactly am I?" Faith asked, arching one eyebrow. "Or do we have to play twenty questions again? You must have been a useless Watcher. No wonder Giles didn't respect you."
"He respected me, all right," Quentin snapped, now getting thoroughly irritated by this stupid little girl. "He and all of the others."
"Until you killed them in cold blood," Faith countered.
"Well, that too."
"Forgive me if I don't seem all swoony to your proposal," Faith snapped. "But my answer is still no. Kill me if you want."
"We will, but not yet," Quentin said, narrowing his eyes at her, his forehead wrinkling as he thought. "The time has come for you to learn the truth about what you are, Delita Black, for not many are alive to tell you. Giles certainly didn't want you to know. He feared what would happen if you did have this knowledge. As for Wesley--"
"Cut the drama, Clint and just tell me what I need to know."
His next two words were spoken at a temperature Faith considered to be ice cold. "Very well."
- - - - -
"Okay, that was uncalled for," Buffy said, rubbing the spot where she'd been whacked with the staff. "Do that again, and I'll crack you one."
"You do not frighten us, child," the third one said. The other two were starting to circle her again. It was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable.
"So I can insult you all I want and not piss you off? This is my lucky day."
"We have not come to brandish words with a foolish girl," the first snapped to the third, and they switched places so that the first stood in front of her, and the third resumed pacing.
"You're the one I wanted to deal with, anyway," she said in a bored tone of voice, getting back to her knees. "What is your deal? Who are you?"
"We are the beginning of the end. This is the source of your strength. The well of the slayer's power, reforged and renewed inside of you. We are the ones who created the beginning. And you have come to us at the beginning of the end."
"You're still makin' no sense," Buffy said with a slight groan as she rose to her feet, suddenly feeling rather cold.
There was something in the room with them.
"What is this?" she asked in disbelief, turning to face the first man, who gave her a sad smile before reaching out and touching her face.
"This is why we have brought you here."
"Fabulous," she muttered.
The second one paused and lifted his staff menacingly towards her. "The First Slayer did not talk so much."
"The first... oh, you've got to be kidding me!" she gasped, looking at all three of them in stunned disbelief.
"It is her essence you carry."
"It is her hardships you toiled."
"It is her blood that gives you life."
"And it is in our will that it was done," the first said, directing her attention to him again.
"You know what? Suddenly I'm feeling very cranky."
"Therein lies your truest strength," the second replied, jabbing the ground with his staff again. "For your truest strength gives the essence meaning."
"What?" she asked, trying to understand. "Is it me?"
"No," said the third, giving her a truly horrifying smile. "The energy of the demon. Its spirit is you."
"Wait," she said, looking from one to the next. "Oh, wait a moment..."
"You have asked. We have told you."
"But... what you're saying is..."
"You are a demon."
"One demon born into each generation."
"Who stands up against the forces of darkness."
"Until the darkness takes her."
"And you become one with it."
"Therein lies your truest strength," the second said with the same smile as the third. It was almost evil. "For you have finally become what we have given you. You are not a human."
"You are a demon."
"I... I'm a demon?" Buffy asked. And then she did the one thing she didn't know she could do when she was feeling this overwhelmed. She laughed. She fell to her knees, clutching her side, laughing as hard as she could. "This is how--"
"We created the Slayer," the first man said, blinking at her. "Yes."
"It has become one with you."
"You have allowed this by giving up your humanity."
Buffy was laughing again. "I only did it so I could..."
"How can you take a human life if you yourself were human?"
"I'm a Slayer," Buffy snapped back as the three of them started pacing around her in that circle again. "Would you stop it?"
"This is how it was then. How it must be now. This is all there is." The second one grinned at her. He had no teeth. "You are the end of the world."
Lifting his staff, he struck her forehead and Buffy fell backwards, onto the cold, marble floor.
"All will fall to darkness."
"The one able soul will despair."
"She has led her life to ruin."
"And all of those in her soulless care."
"For she has evil within her."
"Many care not for this."
"Many would die before this would come."
"She will not. She drinks the darkness."
"She has become one of them..."
"Goodbye, Slayer," said the second, descending upon her and striking her again.
Buffy lifted her chin defiantly, only to see one figure towering above her, offering her a cold, pale hand.
"You understand what I mean now?"
"No," Buffy said softly. "No... this... this can't be it... this isn't the end..."
"We both know the end has come, my childe. There is nothing left for you but death. Come with me, and together we will make them bow before us. They will bleed, we will rise, and the world will be our own for the taking."
Buffy stared at his hand before raising her eyes to the red, slanted eyes underneath the hood. "You offer me much. What must I give you in return?"
"Your loyalty. Forever."
- - - - -
Faith stared at the ground. Quentin had just finished telling her about the three wise men who had set loose the spirit, heart and soul of a demon and had forced a young woman to take it, creating the first Slayer.
The fact that Faith was partly demon was the part that struck her as completely ironic. Here she was, someone who was called upon to fight vampires, demons and other forces of darkness. And, for crying out loud, she was almost as bad as that ensouled vampire.
"You're joking, right?" she asked Quentin, whom she had never seen look more serious in his life.
"Joking? Surely not," he said in a deadpanned tone as he turned to his companions. "Perhaps you would care to speak with the Dark Lord now?"
"How about not?" Faith asked, glaring up at him. "You're quite stupid if you ever thought I would be dumb enough to join you! Oh, here we are the oh-so-powerful dorks," she said mockingly, lifting her hand as she continued to make fun of the Death Eaters. "Blah, blah, we sit on our mighty asses and make certain that the two strongest women in the world don't find out who they are until we can pull their strings and become our royal slave girls." She turned back to Quentin with a dark smile. "But, see here. If Buffy doesn't kill you, I'll have to, now."
"Well, the thing is, Delita," he said, enjoying the way she scowled at her given name, "once she takes my life, that will seal the deal."
"No," said Faith suddenly as something clicked in her brain. "Not all is lost. At least, not yet. There is still something holding her onto this world."
"Who?" Quentin demanded, the amusement sliding right off his arrogant face.
"Her parents," Faith said with a grin. "Mine were evil bastards, but Buffy's? They hate the big V-man as much as I do right about now. And I think they have a bone to pick with the idiot trying to hurt their little girl right about now."
- - - - -
"Dad, you tried to warn me..."
"I did, and don't say I didn't try. I haven't gone away yet. I'm right here."
"I thought I asked you to leave."
"I'm sorry, but taking orders is the other way around. I told you I'm not leaving your mind until you're out of this place."
"What have I done?"
"All hope isn't lost yet."
"What hope is there?"
"You have to get out of this castle," her father said, stepping beside her as they watched the dark clouds building in the distance. "And you have to take Delita with you. Sirius won't forgive you if you didn't."
"I am so sorry," she said softly as the tears started. "I am so, so sorry..."
"There'll be time enough for that later..." He was starting to fade away and looked around in alarm.
"Dad?" she asked, trying to reach out to him. "Dad?"
"I'm right here," he said, although his voice was all but gone. "Just focus on me. Get us out of here... get both of you out..."
Buffy turned away from the window, her mind finally made up.
The result was an explosion of pain on her left arm as her eyes opened and she screamed, a scream Faith could hear in her cell, surrounded by a vast crowd of cloaked figures whipping their wands out.
Buffy whimpered as she noticed the tip of Voldemort's wand touching her left arm. A black mark was smoldering slightly as she ripped her arm from his and gazed at it. The Dark Mark.
"No," she whispered.
"You are mine," he said with that evil grin on his face, if you could call it a face. What there was of a pair of lips had twisted into a dangerous grimace that Buffy started to fear at that moment.
Fear. Her humanity was returning.
She rose her eyes to his. "I am not yours, you pathetic filth!" she snapped as she jumped to her feet. "I will never be yours! You killed my parents. You almost killed my brother. And now, you won't get the satisfaction of killing me."
Using the last ounce of the dark power she carried, she swooped down and seized her wand from the floor and aimed it at him. "Get the hell away from me."
He was blasted off his feet and she dodged the two curses sent towards her. "You will never escape out of here alive. You are a foolish child!"
"No," she spat as she turned around. "I'm a Potter. I guess that still means something you have no idea of." Turning around, she kicked the doors opened and began running as fast as she could, trying to follow the sounds of Faith's own terrified screams of agony.
Faith glanced up and smiled just as the Death Eaters all exchanged dark looks. "Guess your Master's plan didn't go well, huh?"
"Kill her," Quentin said as one of them grabbed her arm and dragged her roughly back towards the citadel. "Kill her now."
"Oh, I think not."
"Buffy!" Faith gasped just as a cold hand clamped shut over her mouth and a wand came up to her throat.
"Let her go," Buffy said, raising her wand slightly. "I'm the one you came for. She's just a kid."
As the curses started flying at her, she continually dodged them, using her well-learned hexes from her brother's defense course to defend herself.
Faith jabbed her elbow back, throwing the Death Eater cornering her off guard. She flipped him onto his back and stepped on his chest, growling, "I don't think so."
Quentin himself entered the fray with other Death Eaters and together, Buffy and Faith beat them back, standing back-to-back.
"I guess you're back," Faith said, noting how truly lovely Buffy was with black hair.
"I guess I am."
"How?"
"I think you know."
"And I think we all know you're an idiot," Quentin said coldly. "You and your little lap dog."
Faith rolled her eyes. "Arf, arf, psycho." Using a quick spin kick, she managed to knock the sword out of his outstretched hands.
To which Buffy caught, spinning over a downed Death Eater.
There were only four still standing, but the sight of a marked woman standing there holding a sword to a Watcher was reason enough to stand back.
"You're an idiot, Potter."
Faith knocked herself into him as they both tumbled onto the ground. Buffy punched her way through two more Death Eaters before she came up over Quentin.
"If I'm still an idiot, at least I'm the one who's still alive."
"Buffy, no!"
But it was too late. Buffy stabbed down with the sword. It caught Quentin in the chest. It went through the floor.
Quentin started gasping and coughing as both Slayers stood over him, staring at him with pitiless eyes. Buffy looked angry, but Faith looked taken aback, or possibly frightened.
"You both wear... the Dark Mark... when he calls for you... you will come... my death... is only the beginning..."
Buffy ripped out the sword with an almighty wrench. "I am the end of you," Buffy said with a cold smile. "Now die, you wanker!"
She was about to stab him again when Faith caught her arms and pulled the sword away. "Let's just get out of here alive, okay?"
There were dozens of shadows moving on the walls now. Faith dropped the sword and grabbed Buffy's hand as the Slayer took a tentative step forward, staring at the body on the ground, slowly dying away.
The Slayers started running again.
Buffy stumbled at about her sixth step and fell completely on her face. Faith would have gone down had she not let go of Buffy immediately.
"Buffy! Now is not a good time for napping!" she shouted as she yanked the Slayer into her arms.
"Getting... weaker..." Buffy said quietly.
The power was waning. Faith knew this. She could feel it. And it was draining Buffy's body.
"How in the hell did you get your soul back?" Faith asked, half-dragging, half-carrying the stumbling Slayer along.
"My... dad... told me... to let it go..."
"Well, good for him," Faith said, as they turned a corner. The shouts behind them were indistinct for the moment, and she dropped Buffy onto the ground. She lay there for a moment, not moving as Faith checked her wrist before lifting the entire sleeve of her cloak and wincing when she saw the Dark Mark, her hand moving instinctively towards where the Mark had been burned on her own left arm. Attached at her wrist though was their portkey, the stupid hair band.
"We're going to get out of here alive, okay? We're going to go back and we're going to explain to those people in charge that we didn't lose our minds and that we're not evil."
"I'm... not going to lie... not anymore... Faith..." She reached out a hand weakly.
"Hang on, Buffy," Faith said softly, tucking a lock of black hair behind Buffy's ear. "I'm not letting you die here."
"You have... to let... me..." Buffy moaned as she started coughing. A thin trail of blood came from the corner of her lips. "Let me go..."
"Harry'd kill me if I just left you here," Faith said angrily, rising to her feet and slipping the band around her own wrist. "We're getting out of here."
"Silly... girl... I'm dying... you moron..."
"Still cracking jokes like that, Potter? No freakin' way. You may not be able to move, but I'll do it for you."
Bending down, she lifted Buffy into her arms until her feet were barely resting on the floor. Buffy's head lolled onto her shoulder, but Faith didn't mind.
"There!" a voice behind them shouted.
"Hang on!" Faith said, and she started running for the dead end.
Buffy moaned in her arms.
Faith leapt into the air and crashed through the stained glass window as bright sunlight flowed into the room.
Faith just never realized how far up they really were. Jumping out of a five-story-high window now seemed suicidal.
It would have been had their portkey not taken them.
As Faith felt herself going forward, she felt Buffy's hold on her weaken.
But it didn't matter. Buffy could get help when they returned. They would straighten Buffy's bold decision out with the Ministry before she was executed as a traitor when they returned. Faith would see her brother again, would see Harry again. When they returned.
Nothing mattered at that moment.
Because they were going back.
- - - - -
Chapter 48... the rescue, the rehabilitation and the realization that the life they knew has ended.
Chapter 49... Faith prepares to say goodbye to her good life.
To the Readers / Reviewers:
I decided to do one large author's note for the double update. Nice of me, I know. That and I could cheat the fact that this chapter was shorter than its predecessor.
You can pretty much tell the end of the first half is seriously nigh. This was a seriously-action packed update that was meant to cleanse the palette of someone who has been sickened with mush. And there's more action to go. This is just a taste of what's to come.
Buffy has actually killed a human being. She's got a taste for it now (from canon, Faith went all nonchalant about everything, blah blah). Both she and Faith are derived from demons (ala Season 7's 'Get It Done', only told WWYG style), which makes them, in part, evil. They're the exact opposite of what they were taught and this is a huge revelation for them. They have to deal with it now, because this war is happening and, as we could see as a direct result of Buffy's power-binge, more forces are being called to the darkness, and a Slayer might join them if she's not too careful.
This is the ultimate reason Faith has to leave, in my opinion. She's had it much worse than Buffy ever did. Now that she finally has the thing she always wanted (an actual brother who happens to think she's 'adorable', not to mention for the first time in her life, self-respect), she has to give it up. I see this as the sort of sacrifice Buffy made when she took her own life for Dawn's.
Buffy didn't have much of a choice. She's dabbled in the dark arts, and she's playing with fire. She has two choices, to give up her perfect life, or learn to balance the demon and the girl. It'll lead to a lot more questions in the future, but I hope this little discussion helped a bit. I put a comment about it on my blog at the second-star site, which, coincidentally, is undergoing a change of pace now as things are added in by both Aly and myself. The entire argument of this issue is there, and worth a good read if you're trying to figure out what the hell I'm thinking, since I don't even know if I know sometimes.
Now, to the good parts:
Emba -- Freaky Buffy is supposed to get scarier, as you could probably tell by these chapters. And then... sudden reversal of roles and bam. Dead Watcher. Power-hungry Slayer. It spells uh-oh. Wesley's going to be okay, I think. He wasn't very close to his father or his sister (I'm trying to go by canon here, but I'm not sure). Anyway, Professor Pryce accomplished what he wanted to do - to bring the Slayers back to life.
CharmedChick -- Actually, according to JK's official site, her name IS Ginevra. I just spelled it wrong. It isn't Virginia. It's under the Extras / Facts about the Weasleys part of the site. More fun displeasure to come!
manticore-gurl -- Note to self - don't kill off characters people actually like.
Nobody -- I love my Faith, too. She's the pet Faith I've always wanted. Heh. Draco sort of got redeemed here. Key word: sort of.
BuffyandDracoLover -- Not really. It was all planned out by one Miss Hermione Granger, actually. Buffy doesn't go evil. It's offered to her, but the truth is, she already is evil, and she's fought herself to keep the Slayer good. I hope this chapter made more sense when that was explained.
Panther28 -- So, for her nineteenth birthday, I decided to give her more power. Just sort of the balance thing, really. It was planned what Buffy did. It's just that she saw Malfoy and snapped. He was the one who did help get the Professor killed, but it wasn't entirely his fault. Yes, she lost control around him. But Faith did, too, then. I don't know. I hope these two chapters summed up the whole "loss of control" thing.
StarBella -- Buffy, dark? Hehehe... she's got a little bit of evil in her blood after all, then. Draco got beaten up ONCE with many pending times a-coming. And Faith made her speech(es). She's getting good at that, especially with her brother standing behind her taunting her. Heh. Faith is getting good at playing Buffy's part, really... hmmmm...
Lady Mione -- it's the first part of it, anyway. I know it was sort of spread out, but it had to be. It builds up the drama and leads to a fantabulous payback. I hope your thoughts untwist though... getting knotted thoughts is no fun sometimes!
Kel -- I felt bad for Oliver, but I couldn't give them a mushy scene now. Maybe once she gets back, you know? And Draco's only begun his beatings.
Inu Youkai-Hime -- So would I! I happen to think that Buffy/Fred would make a rather interesting couple (which was the direction originally intended but, as usual, Grace got her way). It wasn't supposed to be like Dark Willow, more like Dark Buffy. She isn't as badass as Willow, but... oh, well. You'll see (or hopefully, read). Oh, and thank you for adding WWYG to your C2!
Edward -- Thanks. :)
AnitaBlake / BuffyFan -- Buffy Power Anger Hate Voldemort's pet kitten. Only Voldemort Buffy's parents death one pissed off Slayer Voldemort's new enemy. For some odd reason, I've been watching far too much Star Wars lately.
can-i-help -- well, I hope it wasn't too surprising! It had to come sooner or later! Buffy and Oliver will be sort of a happy couple. I'm leaving that one up in the air for now (to garner response, mostly), and Willow, Xander and the rest will return during the summer trip, and Willow will go to Oxford, so she'll be like Faith, there but not, you know?
Sorrow1 -- Well, not really. Buffy got her dark vibes off of Dracula. I just gave her some of Dark-Willow's characteristics. As for the magic books in the Library, they weren't black magic or dark arts. They were spell books. They were there for a reason. As for me taking on an SG1 fic, I suppose it'll give me great entertainment to borrow my sister's discs and just take them with me during my break and just watch them all. I think she has the first four seasons. It might be an interesting take. It might be interesting. I don't know!
CodeName Targeter -- Awww, thank you! :) It hasn't been my favorite though, nearly.
Kara Weasley -- I like your handle... it's catchy. Well, I thought I liked the idea of Harry and Hermione going out (in other words, I've been taking too many blows to the head as of late or something), but there was just something in OOtP that begged me to try it out. Same with the Buffy/Oliver thing (which is an argument my beta won because she wanted me to try an unusual pairing... and they work, sort of). Just trying to be different!
sparky24 -- well, she didn't, until after the fact. She's not channeling Willow, she's channeling the essence of the First Slayer. And to come down from it, it isn't Faith nor is it anyone from Sunnydale. It really wasn't anyone, except her dead parents. From the first part, you could see that was coming anyway. I don't know. It just seemed like a neater way to work them into things. And I hope you're in for the long haul, because this story is going to get long. It's already huge.
I'll answer the few reviews from Chapter 46 in the next update!
I think I liked the 34th Chapter the best thusfar (Faith's life story, A Long, Long Time Ago - taken from the first line of 'American Pie' if you didn't catch it!). It was one of the easiest to write. These past two chapters have been a royal pain in the ass because it was one long chapter (around 12,500 words), separated into two, and then added in with extra content (like flashbacks and the whole dangling sequence from the first part). Trying to make it longer took ages, which is why the second chapter is quite a bit shorter than the first.
Anyway, I have three parts left to add in. They're probably going to be shorter (since my time is too running out) with rewrites added in by Grace, who finally has the jist of this story. I finished the last chapter (because I have so much planned out I could write that one ahead), so it'll be among the first of the three done.
I'm hoping to do another double update come Monday or Tuesday and I'll probably post Chapter 50 by Thursday morning before I leave. And that'll be that.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! You have NO idea how much it means to me that so many of you are enjoying this wiping away tears now. I only hope the second part is as good!