And now, the story continues.
An Eternal War
Chapter Seventeen
By IceWing (icewing@one.net)
Chapter 17
The chocolate haired Slayer and the Zeppo quietly left Giles' apartment, still trying to figure out what exactly was going, to understand how their world was shifting even as their worldview was being dramatically revised. Although both had sworn to, well, to do what they were already doing anyway. But now the stakes had been raised, and raised dramatically, and the rules had changed at the same time.
Xander opened the door to the classic car, which was now on permanent loan from his Uncle Rory, while Faith silently vaulted into the convertible and landed on the leather seat with but a whisper of sound. The silence between them was palatable as the V-8 engine rumbled to life. His hand on the gear selector, Xander's words pierced the tension.
"Any preferences Faith? Its too early to hit the hay and I'm a little to twitchy to sit on the couch for hours. I can drop you off at the house if you want." He let the sentence trail off into oblivion.
"Drive?" came the response.
Smiling, he dropped the car into drive and slowly pulled out of the parking spot on the road. Xander asked if she had a destination in mind. Faith responded by waved her hand in a westerly direction.
The miles rolled past as dusk turned to night. After about twenty minutes of driving, Faith sighed and let her head roll backwards. The her eyes closed slightly as she watched the stars moving overhead.
From the corner of his eye, Xander saw this and spoke. "I'm guessing that something's on your mind Want to talk about it?"
Without moving her head, Faith answered. "Just trying to figure out what we've gotten ourselves into, Xan. I mean, lets be real here. These guys are so far above us that we're like little leaguers taking on the majors. We're about to get in so far over our heads its not even funny."
Ahead of them, the moonlight reflected off the ocean. Xander didn't respond for a moment as he pulled the car onto the beach and turned off the engine. Twisting on the seat, he looked at Faith and took her hands in his. "Faith, we're already in this. From what Harlequinn said, this was going on already, and has been for a long time. Sooner or later we would have stumbled onto something bigger than we could handle and that would be it. At least this way we'll be able to do some more good. We may not be on their level yet, but we've been doing this long enough to know when to duck, when to fight and when to run."
Her eyes drifted back out to the slowly crashing waves. "I know Xan, but I'm"
"Nervous?" He supplied and a heartbeat later she nodded. "Hell, so am I. Truth be told, its bordering on scared. But you know what? Its par for the course around here. No matter what happens though, somebody has to be the ones who are going to stand up and protect the innocent people of the world." He squeezed her hand softly. "And no matter what happens, I'll be here for you too"
Faith squeezed his hand back, and for a while, the two sat there, leaning against each other, in more ways than one, as the watched the moon in its slow trek across the heavens.
Buffy sat on her bed, her eyes resting on the picture of her and Xander which she held in her hand. They had been on the beach, a day in the sun for the Scooby Gang. Xander had picked her up and was spinning her around in the air. A faint smile crossed her lips even as the tears began to well up in her eyes. Looking back, she realized how good his arms had felt around her waist, how safe she had felt.
God, why hadn't she seen it sooner. Why hadn't she snapped him up when she had the chance.
The tears rolled down her face as she thought back to how he had flinched when she touched him the day before the Ascension. The pain and ache she had seen when his eyes had met hers.
Her fingertips brushed across his face in the photograph. "I'm going to have to win him back," she whispered. "No matter what."
She just prayed she would be able to get through to him again. Because now that she had figured it out, she wasn't sure what she would do without him by her side.
The tears kept rolling down her face till she fell asleep, the photo cradled in her hand.
The red practice mats where chilled from the early morning air. Faith hardly noticed though as she began to do some stretches before the training session started. One thing she had learned, since becoming a Slayer, was that superhuman abilities would heal a pulled tendon or muscle in a couple of minutes, but they still hurt like hell. Also, she knew that the little incident between her and Buffy before Graduation had taken a lot out of her and it wouldn't hurt to be careful.
As she started a series of kicks to warm up her legs, the door opened and Buffy strode in, tossing a gym bag on the floor to the right of the door. Their eyes met and Buffy's lips tightened. Faith sighed, as it was pretty clear to her that this was not going to be easy. "Morning B, sleep well?"
"And whats that supposed to mean?"
Faith backpedaled, both mentally and physically. "Whoa there girl, I was just being friendly. Not trying to start anything with you, B. I want to make peace. I'm not the same person I was when we squared off. I know I don't have any right to ask it of you, but please believe me when I say that I want to make things right and do things right from now on"
Buffy looked at her before saying that she was right, that she didn't believe her and she didn't have the right to ask anything from any of the Scooby Gang, then stalking off to the opposite side of the mat to start her own warm ups.
After about ten more minutes of warm ups, Faith started shadow fighting, her eyes closed, against a series of imaginary opponents. With a liquid grace, she bobbed and weaved, throwing her weight behind quick jabbing punches and using her Slayer enhanced agility to flow through imaginary attacks before countering with her own. A faint sheen was developing on her body from the exertion as one of her kicks was blocked and she felt someone sweeping her feet out from underneath her. Twisting as she fell, she opened her eyes to see Buffy standing there, in a combat stance off her own. Faith turned the fall into a roll, then from the roll into a handspring backwards and was back on her feet.
The smile on Buffy's face was almost feral as she asked Faith how it felt to get knocked on her ass, again. Faith knew that no matter what she said, it would only make the blonde more irritated, so she simply rolled her shoulders to loosen them up a bit more, and waited for Buffy to make the next move.
It wasn't long in coming. Buffy opened the impromptu sparring match with a spinning crescent kick. Even as she swayed backwards to avoid the impact, Faith could tell that Buffy was not coming at her full bore. If she had, the kick would have had far more power behind it and would have moved a hell of a lot faster.
"You want to spar B?" Faith forced herself to relax somewhat, less she forget to pull some of her own attacks and keep this sparring match, albeit a cover for something else going on between the two Slayers, from becoming a full out rumble. "Lets dance."
With that, the dark haired beauty moved in with an attack of her own. A series of feints, followed by a hook kick towards Buffy's shoulder. All of which were blocked, then countered with a pair of palm strikes towards the younger Slayer's stomach. Faith grabbed Buffy's extended arms, and pulled, rotating and bringing Buffy across her hips. The blonde rolled with the throw, hitting the mats with her shoulder before springing back towards Faith, unleashing a hurricane kick at her head.
Faith punched Buffy's leg in the calf, deflecting the blow and ducking underneath as Buffy passed through the space which Faith had just occupied. As she was straightening back up, Faith was rocked by a spinning hammerfist across the mouth. The taste of blood filled her mouth as she drew her hand across her now split lip. "First blood to you B"
Before she could finish her sentence though, an extremely irritated voice chimed in from the edge of the mat. "If you two are quite finished with this stupid little display, we've got work to do."
Both the Slayers turned to see who had entered the room without either of them noticing. Standing there, her arms crossed in front of her in obvious irritation, was a young black woman, somewhere in age between eighteen and twenty five Faith guessed. She was clad in what looked to be some kind of warm up suit, but of a material which neither Slayer had ever seen before.
Buffy spoke first, after having appraised the woman and coming up in the not impressed category. "Actually lady, I do mind. Me and my," she paused, realizing she didn't really know where to classify the other Slayer anymore. "And Faith here were working through some differences and we're not quite done yet. So whoever you are, you can just wait for a couple of minutes." Buffy moved to tap her finger against the woman's chest to emphasize her words.
What happened next occurred so fast that Faith wasn't quite sure just what had happened. Before Buffy's finger could make contact, the girl's arms lashed out, grabbing the blonde's sweatshirt with a deathgrip. She then dropped, twisted and thrusted with her legs, hammering her feet into Buffy's chest. The Alpha Slayer went airborne for a moment, before being slammed into the ground, and skidding for a few inches on her face. The black girl then seemed to spin around in a Bruce Lee like move, before coming to a stop, kneeling on Buffy's back, with both of her arms twisted up behind her. "As it happens, I don't want to wait. And, as I'm stuck being your trainer, I'm going to say that we've got a lot of work ahead of us. So, if you're quite through with your bitchy little princess routine, I'd say its time for me to teach you two how to be real Slayers."
"Katrina, right?" asked Faith, still trying to process what had just happened before her.
"That's right. Now lets get to work, shall we?"
The morning rays of sunlight washed over Kylar as he snaked through the underbrush, passing silently between the fresh growth without disturbing it. From here in the foothills, he could smell the ocean, although even here the air had the metallic tang which mankind had wrapped the world with. 'At least it smells better than London used to. By Jaspree, that place was a cesspool.'
As soon as that thought had finished crossing his mind, he realized he was at the clearing where he had instructed Oz to meet him in about an hour. Clearing his mind, the ancient troll began to circle the clearing in a ritual he had done tens of thousands of times in his life. After completing the circle, he moved to the center of it and sat on his haunches, relaxing and becoming one with the wilds around him. In a language long forgotten, borne of a people reduced to myth and legend, he spoke.
"Oh Mighty Jaspree, Your son calls upon you to give thanks for another place of beauty in the world. From this vista, the air and the land and the sea are all revealed to me, as are your creatures. I thank you for your bounty, for providing abundance for those in need, for providing shelter for your children of the glades, beneath these aged trees.
"Lord Jaspree, I call to you on this morning, as I am about to help a young man on the first steps along the road which was taught to me so many years ago. Teaching was never my strength. My strength is in the woods, like the oak, standing in all the glory you granted it. I ask your help in allowing me to know what I shall need to do, when I shall need to do it. Let his eyes be ready to be opened, for after so long, with so few of my brothers left in the wilds of the world, I worry that the time in which he has been born may close his heart to the truths that I see in this world around me.
"This world needs its wilds, its virgin greens. I beg of you, Mighty Jaspree, to help me reach this one, so that he can help the world survive that which approaches, and so that he may help in the rebirth of the gifts which you granted to all Name Givers. Let your favor be with your servant, as I take another under my wing, as Meridia of the Twilight Peaks took me under hers so many years past.
"In your name, and for the honor of all who Walk the Path of Beasts, I shall do my best in all I achieve."
And with that Kylar opened his eyes, seeing over a dozen creatures standing or sitting on the outer edge of the circle he had paced earlier. A mountain lion sat next to a doe with a fawn, and they all looked at Kylar. He nodded to each animal, be they feathered, furred or in the case of a diamond back rattler, scaled. The fawn crossed the circle as the other animals began to disperse, its spindly legs supporting a grace which seemed out of place, and approached Kylar. With a smile, he petted it, offering a small sprig of mint from the ground beside him. The fawn took it and after chewing once, it walked back to its mother and together the two vanished into the woodline.
"Things like that happen often to you?"
Kylar spun, dropping into a combat stance. As he moved, Oz noticed something happening to his hands. The nails and fingers seemed to shimmer and looked almost claw-like. Seeing it was Oz, Kylar shook his head and straightened. "I did not see you approach."
Oz hopped out of the tree he was sitting in. As soon as he was on the ground, he looked and saw that the claw-like effect was gone as fast as it had appeared. "Been waiting actually, couldn't sleep."
The troll nodded. "You saw the ritual I take it?"
The currently purple-haired guitarist nodded but said that he couldn't understand any of it, sounded a little like Russian. Upon hearing this, Kylar laughed a deep booming laugh which sent birds into the sky. Oz looked at him quickly, but then just shrugged.
"So, now what?"
Kylar motioned for Oz to sit. The young man complied, but Kylar seemed to hesitate. His eyes scanned the trees before stopping on a branch slightly above where Oz had been sitting. Oz followed his eyes, and saw the owl sitting there, watching the scene as it played out. "He's with me," said Oz before whistling softly. The barn owl spread its wings and flew down the ground, landing gracefully on a tree stump slightly behind where Oz was sitting. "Seemed like he wanted to come today, I didn't think it would be a problem."
His brow furrowed for a moment, then relaxed as Kylar smiled. "You are more than you seem, are you not, young one?"
"Not quite sure what you mean," replied Oz, deadpan.
Kylar looked at him, and then at the owl. "You are more than you seem in two ways. First, the blood of the wolf flows through you already."
Oz actually looked a bit flustered. "Oh, that. Its only an issue a couple nights a month. Nothing to worry about."
"You misunderstand me. It will help you on this Path, for you and the animal are already joined at some level. Second, your owl there, shows that you have taken the first steps in learning to be one with nature, existing with it instead of just beside it."
The werewolf shrugged. "I just found him when he was a hatchling and helped him out. He stuck around so he must like me. Not a big deal."
As he laughed, Kylar could feel his worry vanishing. "Oh, but it is, my pupil. For it shows you are ready to begin. Now, close your eyes, and we shall start.
Willow took a deep breath as she lifted her hand to the door knob in front of her. The address on the building matched the one on the card she had been handed the night before, so it was a safe bet that this was where she was supposed to begin her training. Cautiously, she turned the knob and pushed the door open.
The warehouse was well lit and seemed to almost shine inside. Both of these facts caught Willow's attention as the warehouses in SunnyDale tended to be bordering on condemned. Letting out the breath she had unconsciously been holding, Willow stepped inside, knowing that her universe was about to get a lot more interesting. Checking her surroundings, she notices a large ritual circle of some sort inscribed in the center of the floor, although she couldn't identify to many of the symbols which were etched into it. At the northern end of the warehouse, a few feet outside of the circle, she saw a large conference table with two chairs and what looked to be a large dry erase board, albeit it one which from the arcane symbols on it, was more than it appeared. In the southern two corners of the building, Willow saw a series of what could only be described as targets, although there didn't seem to be any weapons anywhere she could see.
"Ah, Ms. Rosenburg. Prompt I see."
Willow turned back towards the conference table, where the ancient mage was now visible. She started to say something, but stopped the words before she could speak them. Obviously he hadn't wanted her to see him until he was good and ready. Terral waved her towards the table and began setting items on the lacquered tabletop. Hesitantly she walked towards the conference table, making sure not to break the edge of the circle as she walked.
"So," the red head started, unsure of herself.
"You might as well take a seat, because we have a lot to go over. I took the liberty of providing pad and pencil." Willow grinned sheepishly and held up her laptop. "That's fine for words but part of what we will be going over will be multi-dimensional geometry, as well as a variety of arcane symbols which I can guarantee will not correspond with any standard keys on your keyboard.
Willow smiled again and pulled a digital tablet from the laptop's carrying case and plugged it in to the USB port. "Paper works great for a lot of things, but I prefer to keep my study notes online. Much easier to run a search if I forget something."
After a couple of introspective mumblings about a digital grimore and the possibilities it would offer, Terral asked Willow to take a seat. "Willow, may I call you Willow?" When the redhead nodded, Terral continued. "Willow, I must say that out of all of your friends, your task is going to be the most time consuming. Whereas they are only going to be learning talents, that is to say learning to use a certain world view to be able to perform certain feats, you are going to have a lot of actual knowledge which you are going to have to learn, and I mean learn completely, before you will be able to be fully ready to handle the abilities which I shall teach you. Do you understand?"
"How long are we talking about here? From what Harlequinn said, time wasn't exactly on our side."
"This is true, but when one has been around as long as I have, you tend to pick up some useful spells. One of which will be quite useful for your education in the arcane. It will allow me to teach you at a vastly increased speed by projecting our consciousness into astral space, where the flow of time is far faster than it is on this plane. It will be tough on you, but we have a limited amount of time, as you said, and the skills which I need to teach you cannot be learned in any way other than by pure study. Once you have these basics down, I will be able to begin teaching you the Talents which will allow you to not only become a far more able spellcaster, but will allow you to be one of the strongest forces of good in your generation. That is, if you agree to this. I cannot force you."
Willow pondered the words for a moment, weighing them against the possible outcomes. "How dangerous is it? And how long are we talking?" After all, she could not make a well informed decision without asking at least a few questions.
"In another time, I would say the danger would be great. And I must admit there is some danger involved, but honestly, I can say that it is not too bad. Many of the methods to attack a being in astral space have been forgotten as the ages pass. And almost all of the creatures which might try and hunt us while we are in astral space are either dead, banished or hibernating until the magic level increases to higher levels. Couple that which the protections I will establish and the wards I have already placed, and the danger is negligible. As for time, we shall spend around twelve hours of real time a day studying, which will translate to about a week of relative time for us."
The redhead thought about it, weighing the danger, and the weirdness, against the fact that without this knowledge, she wouldn't be able to help her friends as much as she could otherwise. With that fact firmly in her mind, she nodded her assent.
Terral told her that starting tomorrow morning, they would train in astral space, but today would be done in real time, due to the complexity of the spell and the protective wards he would need to prepare in order to protect the both of them as much as possible.
"Well, first, let me ask you, what is magic?"
"Magick is the power to wield energy of will to make a change in reality," said Willow after a heartbeat's worth of time to think about the question.
"Not bad. A little vague, but not a bad place to start." Terral motioned
for her to sit while he took the opposite chair at the large table and the discussion
began in earnest.
The kettle on the stove was just starting to whistle as Giles finished cleaning up from the previous evening's gathering. It had been a long night and frankly he wasn't quite sure of what to expect next.
As he poured the boiling water into the tea pot, the former librarian sighed softly. In a few minutes, there would be an immortal elf in his apartment, trying to teach him a larger world view and helping him prepare to assist his young charges in their newest headlong charge into danger. Lifting the teapot onto the serving tray, he carried it into the living room, where he set it on the coffee table. Already he could smell the subtle aroma of the English Breakfast tea wafting into the air as the herbs steeped in the hot water.
Removing his glasses, Giles pinched the bridge of his nose. No matter what he experienced in life, living here in SunnyDale as a Watcher, albeit one who was no longer an official employee of the Council, always found some way to throw something new at him. And rarely were these curveballs omens of glad tidings. A knock on the door jarred him from his revere. Replacing his glasses, he stood and walked to the door. Opening it, he was surprised to see Harlequinn standing there, a brown paper bag in hand.
"Now this is something I was not expecting, I must confess. Why, if I may ask, did you use my front door instead of simply appearing somewhere in my flat?"
Harlequinn chuckled. "Nice to see you too, Rupert. I come bearing fresh scones"
Giles stood aside and allowed the elf entry into the apartment before closing the door behind him.
Harlequinn sniffed the air. "Ah, you've made tea. Excellent!" Walking into the kitchen, he found a plate and returned with the scones on it. Seeing that Giles was still standing, he shrugged and sat down on the couch, pouring himself a cup of tea and biting into a raspberry scone. "In answer to your earlier question, the truth is that I always used the front door, you just couldn't see me come in due to a favorite spell of mine, which prevents people from noticing me."
"An invisibility spell?"
"Not exactly, more along the lines of it just keeps people from noticing me. I've run some tests with it against cameras, video tape and such, and my image is there, just that people just don't notice me while the spell is in effect. There are some variants I am working on to be masked from video, but so far the results are spotty at best."
"If it only affects people An illusion spell then?" Harlequinn nodded. "If you are able to cast these kind of advanced illusions, would the foe which you mentioned, the traitor, be able to cast them as well?"
After taking another sip of tea, Harlequinn responded. "Actually, he is more skilled than I in the art of Illusion. In fact, it was his primary school of magic, whereas it is merely a hobby of mine."
"Would these illusions be able to, say, make people believe that a human was in fact a vampire?"
"To answer your actual question, yes, the traitor was the one who cast that spell. He knows of the Slayer and her friends and does not want them interfering in his plans while he is in the area. So, he took the opportunity to attempt to drive a wedge between the group. And as much as I hate to admit it, it looks as if he succeeded."
"Can you tell me more about this person?"
Harlequinn sighed. "I knew it was a matter of time before somebody wanted more details." Giles started to say something, but the elf held up his hand. "And you have right to know what it is you're up against. His name is Ezekial And in days longs forgotten, he used to be a hero. He used to be my friend."
The sign on the front of the dojo said closed for renovation. The plywood over the windows made it look like the place had been the victim of a firebomb, if not worse. Looking at the card again, the addresses still matched. Shrugging, he tried the door and found it opened easily enough.
Once inside, it was pretty obvious to Xander that the post-war Dresden look on the outside had been faked. Inside, the dojo was about the nicest he had seen. He recognized some of the machines as relatively new workout equipment, but the bulk of the space has nothing but practice mats. What he did find somewhat disturbing however was the fact that the walls and the ceiling had mats installed on them as well. That fact, coupled with the racks of exotic looking weapons on the east wall behind the weight machines, disturbed him more than a half a dozen hungry vampires would.
"Umm, hello?" he called out, not sure of what exactly was expected of him.
What he wasn't expecting, however, was for the redheaded bombshell Harlequinn has named as Sonja, to come strutting out of the locker room in a bodysuit that looked like it had been painted on her. Although his tongue wanted to roll right out of his mouth, Xander closed his eyes and tried his damnedest to clear his mind and keep his thoughts on, well on anything but the foxy lady who was now circling him like some kind of predator deciding where to lunge in first. Opening his eyes, he met hers and kept them their. Such beautiful soft, green eyes They were like. Shaking his head, he forced those thoughts away. No more falling in lust with any woman. It only led to danger, death and sometimes worse things, like making out in a closet with Cordelia. 'Focus on her forehead,' he thought. 'Nothing dangerous there Just stay focused Xander, you can do this. You have to do this. Must learn stuff so you can help Faith and Buffy and keep fighting Plus, think what this would do to her She's just starting to open up to you, to trust, don't screw that up!'
"I'm impressed," said Sonja as she stopped in front of him. "Not to many people can stay focused when I put my mind, not to mention the rest of me, into it." She looked him up and down, while he made an effort to return her gaze without giving in to whatever it was she was using to beguile him. "Not bad. Harlequinn says you're the heart of the group. Which helps, but we still need to figure out what Path is right for you." With a flashy turn, she pivoted on the balls of her feet before walking across the room to the practice mats. On the way, she plucked a shimmering robe from one of the exercise machines and slid it over her figure, belting the silk sash so as not to cause Xander quite as much distraction. "Come on stud, I don't bite, well, not on the first date anyway"
Xander shook his head and walked over to the practice mats next to her. This was definitely not going to be easy. "So," he started. "Is this the part where you wave some magic wand over me or pump some kind of magical potions into my system?"
"No, this is the part where you have to be completely honest with every
question I ask you, otherwise in a couple of weeks, the universe is going to
get ticked at you for trying to be something you're not and give you a headache
that may very well kill you, if nothing worse."
"Are you serious?"
"Actually, I'm exaggerating a bit. It won't kill you, but its not a pleasant sensation as your essence, your pattern, rejects the magic that you tried to infuse into yourself. Plus, we're under some time constraints here, so I don't think we have the time to waste. So, I need to know, why do you fight against the darkness, Alexander LaVelle Harris?"
Xander wasn't sure which fact disturbed him more, the fact that she knew his whole name, or the fact that the question was almost identical to the one Buffy had asked him the night before she had staked him. It seemed so long ago. So much had changed since then. The Zeppo looked down at the floor for a moment and sighed.
Why was it that people always asked him these kind of questions, when he least expected them. These were questions better suited to Giles or Willow maybe. Why? Why was he still doing this?
It wasn't for Buffy, not anymore. He started to think that maybe it never was about Buffy, but he couldn't say that for sure. Was it for Faith?
Faith. He sighed inwardly. Life was so damn complex sometimes. From psychotic Slayer on the wrong team, to trying to turn her life around. And he was trying to help her. Why? He knew that he was developing feelings, strong feelings, for her.
But she wasn't why he fought.
Was it for revenge, over Jesse? He had to roll that one around in his head and came up with a no. He had leapt headlong into the battle before losing Jesse, although he had to admit that loosing his best friend had made the battle a lot more personal.
Why then, did he face the darkness? Why did he risk it all instead of just getting the hell out of Dodge? The Slayer and the Watchers had saved the world for years, hell for centuries, before he was even born.
In a moment of clarity, he realized that it didn't have anything to do with any of that. The fact that the foes he fought were supernatural really didn't make a bit of difference. It wasn't about Slayers, or vampires, or demons. It was about keeping the monsters, human or otherwise, from having free reign to spread their venom across the innocents on which they preyed.
He looked up, meeting Sonja's eyes with his. "I do it because somebody has to protect those who can't protect themselves. Somebody has to hold the line, to keep the darkness at bay. I may not be a Slayer. I may not be cool. I'm probably going to end up dying in a way that would be way past an R-rating. But you know what, every night I'm out there, every time I stop a monster, that's one more night somebody doesn't wake up dead, or worse. That may make me stupid, and it may not be the best reason in the world, but that's what I've got."
Sonja smiled. "Excellent. Now we have something to work with.."
End Chapter 17