Equinoxium: Chapter 3
by Lisette

Legalese: See Chapter 1 for disclaimers and ratings.

The night was dark and silent, the bright moon lighting their way as the large group picked their way through one of the many graveyards that filled the small California town - a town that had been slowly pushed towards the brink of madness for months now. Despite the group's impressively large size, the crashing of stumbling feet through dark shrubbery and the frightened murmurs of too many frightened young girls did nothing to drown out the thundering beat of Buffy's own heart. As the slayer easily loped through the darkness behind the group, Faith keeping pace beside her, each and every heeled boot that fell upon cold winter grass thumped in time with her heart as her senses desperately screamed their warning: they were coming. They were coming fast and hard and everyone was moving far too slow.

"B-" Faith gasped, her eyes darting nervously behind them.

"I know," Buffy cut in, her small shoulders tense and stiff as she vaulted over a low-standing tomb and nearly stumbled into the backs of the girls they had been tailing. Twirling quickly to the side to avoid a painful collision, Buffy threw a brief glance behind her before pushing her way through the crowd of potentials until she was standing with her sister and friends before a single tomb, their eyes locked on the memorial. Slightly out of breath, Buffy took a moment to admire the smooth granite with the simple words etched into the hard stone:

BUFFY ANNE SUMMERS
1981 - 2001
BELOVED SISTER
DEVOTED FRIEND
SHE SAVED THE WORLD
A LOT

"I guess we should be grateful that we never bothered taking it down," Buffy stated, surprising them all with her presence as she threw her friends a weak grin.

"Yeah - good thinking on our part," Xander returned with a small frown.

"Come on, let's do this," Willow whispered as she began collecting their supplies from a few potentials and enlisted the others' help in preparing the spell.

Sighing, Buffy tiredly shook her head before turning away from her friends - and then froze as a small, unexpected smile lifted her lips at the sight that greeted her.

"Listen up," Faith stated, her clear voice ringing in the quiet graveyard as her eyes swept over the girls that uncertainly turned in her direction. "We've got something nasty heading our way and we can't let 'em get through our lines. I want you two over there, and you three..."

"She's going to do a good job, don't you think?"

The slow smile building, Buffy nodded her agreement as her eyes swept over the dark-haired slayer that was trying her best to hide the uncertainly that shone in her large brown eyes. "Yeah, she will," Buffy agreed as she tore her eyes from her sister slayer and looked upon the short man that stood beside her, his tacky green suit luminescent in the moonlit night. "Why me?" she asked, her eyes piercing his as the balance demon sighed softly.

"I truly am sorry," he stated as he eyed the slayer's friends as they frantically worked to prepare the spell that would finally set the balance right. "I was telling the truth when I said that the Powers never foresaw any of this. Just as you and Angel weren't supposed to happen, neither were you supposed to give your life for Dawn's. They didn't see that one coming and now they just need the balance restored."

Smiling wryly, Buffy shook her head as she, too, turned towards her friends. "You guys really need to get a better crystal ball," she muttered as she went to join her friends, pausing at the warm hand that gripped her jean-clad arm.

"It's time for me to go," Whistler stated as the slayer turned towards him, her green eyes filled with so much sadness at what she was being forced to leave behind for a future that was suddenly so uncertain. Sighing, he quickly shook his head. "Listen kid, while I can't tell you where you're going, I can tell you that there isn't gonna be a lot in the way of shopping where you're headin', and the stuff you're wearin' now?" he broke off as he pointedly took in her long black skirt, her calf-length black boots and the white sweater and jean jacket that adorned the fashionable outfit. "Well, let's just say that it's not gonna last you long. So... well, I hope this helps," he added before he snapped his fingers, using only a small portion of the power that was his to engulf the petite slayer in a blinding light that left her in clothes far different than those that she had been wearing.

"Damn, B," Faith muttered as she turned quickly, alerted by the bright flash of light, only to freeze as she took in her fellow slayer. "You been in' my wardrobe?"

For a moment, Buffy merely stared at Faith in confusion before she slowly lowered her eyes and took in the form fitting, tan leather pants, the matching leather halter and the accommodating leather duster that completed her new wardrobe. "No, these ones actually fit... too well," she muttered in response as she threw a brief, weak grin at the taller slayer before arching a slender brow at the balance demon. "Leather?"

"Holds up better than cotton," Whistler replied with a small, nonchalant shrug. "It's more durable and should offer you better protection from all the seasons that you're going to encounter. Just trust me when I say that you'll be thanking me later, and... good luck," he added before disappearing with a flash of light that left her momentarily blinded.

"Thanks," she whispered, sighing softly as she once more took in her new attire before shrugging and moving towards her friends. The UberVamps were still coming and they were getting closer - she could feel them and they certainly didn't feel pretty. "How's it coming, Wills?" she asked as she stepped lightly beside the red-haired Wiccan.

"G-good. We're good," Willow stammered in return as she eyed their layout with a critical eye, her teeth absently worrying the soft flesh of her lower lip as she directed Xander and Anya to opposite sides of the grave as she knelt at the base, just as she had done almost a year and a half previous. "Buffy, you... you just need to.. to- what are you wearing?" she broke off as she took in the new outfit.

"Yeah, since when did you become Safari Barbie?" Xander added with a weak grin.

Smiling, Buffy waved away their questions as she gently squeezed Willow's arm. "Where do you need me, Will?"

Sighing, the redhead briefly closed her eyes before she hesitantly waved towards the grave.

For a moment, Buffy merely stared at her friend in confusion until she finally understood what she was unable to say. "Got it," the small slayer stated, forcing a smile for her friend as she stepped around her and stood over the hard-packed earth that hid an empty casket six feet below. Ignoring the chills that raced up and down her spine, she then lowered herself to the stiff grass and then laid herself out so that she was lying above her own grave - a thought that she couldn't quite force her mind around as she blinked up at the moon that towered above her, the stars glittering in the heavens above.

"Can we even do this without Tara here?" Anya whispered as she worked to light the candle that she held, cursing quietly beneath her breath as the flame refused to ignite - again.

"Tara's already here," Willow returned as Dawn hurriedly stepped forward and took the lighter from the ex-demon and lit the candle for the nervous young woman, her eyes continually skipping to her sister who was spread out before her. "I can feel her," Willow continued, a small smile lifting her lips as she passed the lighter to Xander.

"Okay, now if that isn't creepy-"

"Anya, enough," Xander cut in as he scowled at his ex-girlfriend, all the while extremely conscious that in order to do so, he had to look above Buffy's outstretched body. "You, uh... comfy Buff?"

"Quite," Buffy sighed as she wriggled on the hard ground, her head rolling to the side to flash a brief, tired smile at her favorite male Scooby.

"Well don't you need sacrificial blood and stuff?" Anya persisted as she fidgeted in her place. "Last time you went all finger painting with the blood and-"

"Not this time," Willow stated as she cut off Anya's rambling protests with a patient smile. "This is one of those cases where the borrowed magic is really going to come in handy," she added, more to herself than the others as she worked on harnessing the immense power that she now carried within her. And with one last deep breath-full of the cool night air, Willow delved into powers that she never should have touched in the first place. "Osiris, keeper of the gate, master of all fate, hear us."

Grimacing as a wave of power rushed through her body, Buffy felt her muscles contract and tense.

"Before time and after; before knowing and nothing; know our prayer."

Gasping now, Buffy felt the world begin to swim away as a wave of lightheadedness caused the stars to dance above her.

"Osiris! Here lies the warrior of the people! Let her cross-"

"No!" Buffy gasped as her slayer sense burned through the disorienting and dizzying waves that were crashing into her small frame. Fingernails digging into the grass at her sides, she felt the wave of Turok-Hans as the UberVamps crashed into the line of Potentials that circled her grave, Faith and Spike leading the girls in a desperate fight to keep the UberVamps at bay - a line that Buffy knew they would be incapable of holding for long.

Breath tearing through lungs that were beginning to find the air thick and difficult to breathe, Buffy forced her trembling limbs to push her weight up until she was staggering to her feet. Xander seemed torn between wanting to abandon the circle in order to help the girls while Anya clearly wanted to join the small circle of newer Potentials that huddled in a group with Dawn, her little sister wielding a long sword that she brandished towards the UberVamps that were working to break through the lines. "Don't... don't stop!" Buffy ordered, her sharp words centering both Xander and Anya and directing their attention back towards Willow, the red-head's eyes two liquid pools of black as her hair began to whip in a magical wind that was entirely of her own creation. "Don't stop," she repeated as she stumbled out of the circle and nearly plowed into... herself.

Pulling up tight, Buffy forced her weakened limbs to straighten as she looked into her own green eyes, the other's lips pulled down in a cold smirk that had never before twisted Buffy's own pale features. "We're restoring the balance," she murmured as she eyed the First Evil, feeling as though she was speaking to a mirror.

"We'll see about that," the First returned, the smirk shifting until it was a smile that caused Buffy to recoil in disgust.

"We will," Buffy insisted, her voice growing hard as she turned and moved on limbs that were slowly forgetting their strength, diving into battle as Willow's voice rose in a loud chant that caused the trees to shift and moan with her words.

With an ageless grace, Legolas finally abandoned the ancient trees that filled the wood, falling silently to the forest floor in the clearing before the palace. Straightening, he moved on light feet towards the nearest trunk, one pale hand falling against the coarse bark. "Rest well, my friends," he murmured as he bid his final goodbye to the trees that he had known since birth - the ones that had provided him shelter, comfort, and passage for so many centuries. Yet even as his elven words whispered amongst the trees, he was already turning away, his sensitive hearing alerting him of the arrival of both Thoron and Mirdan as the two woodland elves dropped from the trees before him.

"Is everything set, my Lord?" Thoron asked, his tone neutral as he sketched a quick bow before him.

Eyes narrowing slightly, Legolas slowly shook his head. Even though he had lived for over five centuries as a prince in his father's realm, always adhering to the strict formalities that went with his position, the past ten years in which he had lived amongst men and mortals had stripped him of the desire for such things. The formalities that went with his position seemed so unneeded and tiresome, yet the traditions that had been driven into his kind for ages were not something that could so easily be dissuaded. Even now both elves watched him with a critical eye and it took centuries of experience to prevent Legolas from fidgeting beneath their weighty stare. They were concerned, he knew, for they had traveled a very long distance on a need that neither understood. Yet in this case, protocol aided him, as neither would ever question his decisions. Then again, after spending so many years with mortals, and especially after befriending a dwarf and naming him elf-friend, his kind always looked upon him with that same concerned air. While disconcerting, it was something that the archer was quickly becoming accustomed to.

Shaking his thoughts away, Legolas lifted his fingers to his lips and whistled for Sador, his horse appearing from the shadowed forest and trotting to his master's side. "Come my friends, it is time we...." he began, only to have his words die as the song of the trees shifted. Eyes narrowing, Legolas tipped his head back, his golden hair trailing around his shoulders and his lithe body tensing as a fierce feeling of dj vu swept over his long frame.

"My Lord?" Mirdan tentatively asked, obviously concerned as he turned questioningly towards Thoron, the older elf's dark eyes narrowed upon the prince.

But Legolas was lost to the elves concern as his senses strained, a puzzled frown pulling at his lips. There was something wrong - something terribly wrong in the forest as the song of the trees fell silent. It was as if the entire wood was tensing, eerily waiting for something. And then... slowly Legolas' sharp ears began to hear what his companions could not, his royal blood having long ago cemented his ties with Arda as his time with the Fellowship honed his elven senses to the darkness. He heard a voice, floating on the wind and chanting in a strange, dark language. He heard the voice from his dreams.

"Prince Legolas?" Thoron prompted, muscles tensing as the young prince's hand strayed towards the knives that were strapped to his waist, his eyes constantly darting around them as though searching for a foe to fight.

"There is a fell voice on the wind," Legolas murmured, his voice so low that his comrades had to strain to hear him. Yet even as the words left his lips, the chanting became louder, more persistent as the skies began to darken, clouds blotting out the bright sun as a fierce wind sprang from nowhere, tossing their hair and causing both Thoron and Mirdan to automatically reach for their own weapons. "There is great evil here," Legolas added, his eyes narrowed as a chill gripped his very soul.

Grunting, Buffy dodged the UberVamps powerful punch and lashed out with a roundhouse kick that sent it stumbling back into one of its brethren. "Hold the line!" she called, her voice vying for attention against the foreign chant that tossed their world into chaos. Stumbling as a heavy kick connected against her unprotected back, Buffy tipped towards her knees, the world spinning as she dug her fingers into the cool, moist grass as though it could somehow stabilize a reality that had taken to shifting with each and every step. Gasping, Buffy bent her chin towards her chest, her eyes clenched shut against another wave of dizziness - and yet when she opened them, it was to the sight of her hands slowly becaming less defined with every word that fell from Willow's lips.

Startled, Buffy sat back on her haunches as she lifted one hand and inspected it in the bright moonlight. It was undoubtedly her hand, the skin pale and the nails short and shaped in a graceful arc, and yet the moonlight was beginning to pass through the flesh and meat. Slowly shaking her head, she squeezed the hand into a fist, feeling the muscles tighten beneath her skin and the sharp bite of nails into her soft flesh. Yet when a girl's voice rang out in pain as a Turok-Han cut her down, Buffy forgot the liquid that was filling her lungs just as easily as she forgot her disappearing limbs. Instead, she staggered to her feet and quickly rejoined the losing battle - a warrior that was slowly beginning to fade away.

By now the wind had been whipped into a frenzy, as though stirred by the woman's echoing voice, and leaves billowed about the elves' slight forms as they struggled to remain on their feet. "To the trees - take to the trees!" Thoron bellowed as he and Mirdan jumped lithely into the branches above them.

Legolas, however, found his limbs frozen and unwilling to obey him as Sador broke free of his hold and disappeared into the forest. Slipping his knives free of their sheath, Legolas crouched low to the ground, his eyes narrowed against the hail of debris that buffeted his lean frame. Lifting an arm and pulling it against his face, he closed his eyes briefly and opened them again, freezing as his sharp sight locked on a phantom before him. Heart clenching and words locked in his throat, Legolas vaguely heard his companions calling to him as he stumbled back and fell to the ground. Wide eyes locking on the hazy figure, he watched as she became more clear with each passing second, subtle curves and long hair pulled away from her face as the figure darted around him, fighting the very air itself as she dodged and twisted, her phantom footfalls silent on the leafy grounds. Then, as though struck by a heavy force the figure fell back and towards Legolas, hurtling through the air so fast that he barely had time to even think about moving before she fell through him and to the ground behind him.

Feeling as though a cold wind had ripped through him, Legolas finally found his invisible restraints broken as he straightened and jumped gracefully into the high branches of the trees. Settling beside his two companions, the three elves watched the phantom figure as she danced around the clearing below, oblivious to them all as slowly her features began to clear.

Groaning, Buffy clutched her arm around her waist and what she was certain was at least a few broken ribs. Shaking away the dizziness that was becoming more pronounced with each passing second, she slowly rolled to the side and staggered to her feet - only to feel as though she was jumping back into the pool of energy to save Dawn from Glory as Willow's magic ripped through her form. Simultaneously she heard her scream mingle with Willow's as her legs collapsed beneath her, the magic searing her body inside and out. Her back arched with the pain and the world began to dissolve around her... until her sister's frantic scream grounded her once more. Gasping for a breath that she was coming to realize would never be fully replaced, Buffy once more forced herself to reclaim her feet as the world tipped dizzyingly around her.

"Buffy!"

Startled, the petite slayer turned towards her sister's frantic screams as another of the Turok-Han took advantage of her distraction and sent her crashing into a nearby tomb that was quickly reduced to a pile of granite rubble. Gasping, Buffy didn't even wait for the dust to settle as she pushed herself back to her quivering legs, her eyes darting to where Andrew and the other Potentials held her sister back as Xander and Anya struggled against whatever force held them in their places beside her grave.

"Don't... don't stop!" Buffy gasped as she staggered towards an UberVamp that was about to take a bite out of Kennedy. "Don't stop!" she shouted as she launched herself at the creature's back - and grew wide-eyed as she encountered some sort of friction that stopped the UberVamp short as she toppled through the beast and back onto the ground beside Willow's startled girlfriend.

With a scream that echoed hauntingly in the dark wood, the phantom creature fell to the ground, her back arching in a pain so intense that Legolas felt himself shying away from her haunting figure. Her cry was like an echo in the trees as the chanting grew louder until it was almost deafening to him. Yet despite the phantom's obvious pain, she slowly climbed to her feet and continued to fight her invisible demons, her movements becoming slower and more awkward until she faltered once more, her legs collapsing until she rest upon her knees.

Unable to stop himself, Legolas pushed away the restraining hands of his companions and dropped from the trees, landing lightly in a crouch before her. With narrowed gray eyes, Legolas looked into the face a young woman, decidedly of the race of Men, her features shadowed and her body small and clothed in tight leggings and a shirt that was very short and seemed to merge with her skin, a long coat trailing around her slender form. Frowning, he turned his gaze from his inspection of her strange and hazy garments until they locked on a pair of eyes that were slowly becoming more and more green until they were the sole point of color in her translucent form - eyes that looked right through him.

Body trembling, Buffy forced the liquid air through her aching lungs as her hands hung limply at her sides. The pain was excruciating as the magic wove its way through her battered form, igniting her world into flashes of color so bright that she was blinded by their intensity. Somehow she had made her way back to her grave as the world had begun to shake, the small slayer collapsing on her knees above her empty coffin as she faced Xander, his large brown eyes wide and filled with hurting tears. And then Dawn was beside Xander, the tears streaking down her face as her younger sister lifted one shaking hand and tried to put it against Buffy's cheek, only to have her trembling hand pass straight through her sister's hazy form.

"Buffy," she pleaded, her hand lifting to pass just over Buffy's features as though trying to smooth away the hurt that lined her sister's face.

"It's okay. I'm okay," Buffy panted, forcing a weak smile past the pain that was quickly filling her eyes with tears. "Just... just remember what I said," she stated as she felt the magic begin to pull her apart. "B-be brave and live... r-really live for me. We'll meet again. I p-promise," she whispered as the pain blinded her even to her sister's tear-stained face as Buffy and Willow screamed out in agony. The world was tilting around her and she was powerless to stop it as she fell back to the cold ground, her body lying in perfect harmony with the coffin that was lined below her. Wheezing now, her head tilted and rolled drunkenly to the side, her eyes sweeping past where Dawn was sobbing hysterically in Xander's arms and lighting on Spike as he fell to his knees beside Anya, his blue eyes filled with unshed tears as her friends were forced to watch her torture. And then Faith was there as well, the dark-haired slayer's blood mingling with her tears as she joined their little circle. And for that moment, for that last perfect moment, Buffy felt the pain die away as she truly smiled at her friends and family.

"Thank you," she whispered, one final time before the pain came rushing back in a blinding torrent that stole the last of her liquid breath and caused it to fall from her lips in an agonized scream that became one with Willow's and the First Evil's as everything coalesced into a light that was brighter than the sun.

As the woman's dark voice lifted and thundered around them, Legolas felt the earth begin to tremble beneath him. Startled, the elf quickly stumbled to his feet, warily backing away from the young woman who was becoming so real that the leaves littering the forest floor began to bend beneath her weight. And then, as the voice thundered around him, a bright light surrounded the girl before exploding in a backlash of magical energy that threw him to the ground before everything became silent once more.

Gasping, Legolas shakily pushed himself to his feet as Thoron and Mirdan dropped to the ground beside him, bows lifted and arrows notched against their strings, eyes never straying from the maiden that lay limp and unmoving on the ground before them. As the trio watched with wide, distrusting eyes a single leaf fell from the sky and brushed against her small hand before falling to the ground beside her.

She was real.

Blackened body trembling with a strange mixture of unease and excitement, the creature slowly tilted its head; its tangled, greasy black hair falling around its pockmarked face as it tentatively sniffed the wooded air. The darkness was gone and the hated sun was once more shining in the too-blue sky, spotted as it was beneath the large, leafy canopy of the once dark, twisted trees that towered over him and his brethren. Scarred nostrils flaring, he drank in the scent of the moldy wood, cringing as a wave of hated elf-scent clogged his sensitive nose. They were near the place that was once inhabited by Elves - the dreaded home of the Elvenking which polluted the silent wood with elf stench. Yet carried on the slow breeze came the scent of something different.

Twisted body trembling with a need that it didn't understand, the creature glanced to its companions - a small force that was spread amongst the trees. The darkness was gone and the deep, feminine voice that called out to its twisted soul had fallen silent... and yet... and yet there was something else out there that seemed to call to him, just as the moon gravitated towards the sun. There was something else out there, something that it wanted and something that it was going to have.

Turning, the orc smiled its cruel, blackened smile at its companions as it lifted its weapon, the wickedly curved blade glinting in the fractured light and drawing his troops as moths to a flame. The dark evil that had momentarily taken hold of this part of Mirkwood had called out to him and his brethren - and it was a call that they were powerless to refuse.