Buffy placed Spike down on her bed. Her bed had a wooden frame that encircled it and there were burgundy curtains that covered the bed's circumference. The room was very cold from lack of decoration. There were, however, two paintings: one was a painting of grassy hills with a peaceful stream flowing between them and the other was a painting of a young Buffy in a puffy blue dress on her mother's lap. It looked like her real mother; the hair, the smile, even the way she held Buffy. Buffy touched the painting as if she would be able to feel her mother's skin and breathe her motherly smell. She's been sick lately and in and out of the hospital. Deep down Buffy was scared for her and what may happen but on the outside she was brave and wore a smile.
"Buffy," Spike said for the fifth time.
Buffy snapped out of her daze and turned to him. "What? Sorry."
"You all right love?"
"Yea, fine."
She didn't yell at him for calling her 'love.' Something must be on her mind, but Spike wasn't going to push; especially now that he was as big as an action figure. "Who do you think's doin' this?" he asked, changing the non-subject.
"I have no clue. It seems every week there's a new big bad that decides, 'hey, I think messing with the Slayer's head sounds like fun.' I just want to know what's going on. I mean, are we in our world and someone just changed it into a fairy tale world or are we in a completely different world and my friends are worrying about me back home?"
"Dunno. Haven't seen Red or her bosom buddy anywhere."
"Yea, the only person we've seen is Giles, but he isn't acting like us. It's like he's always been here whereas we just arrived and are freaking out about."
"Maybe you should kiss me so I can become a human," Spike suggested.
"We did that twice and it didn't work," Buffy informed him, but not in a snotty way.
"Can't blame a bloke for tryin'."
Suddenly the castle started shaking. Buffy steadied herself and carefully peered out her window. She looked down on the swarming mass of ooglie booglies. "That's a lot of peop-" A huge dragon eye abruptly blocked her view and it glared right at her. Buffy screamed in shock. The dragon let out a loud scream.
Buffy ducked and covered her ears and Spike hopped over to her pillows. "No hands! No hands!" he frantically yelled. He burrowed his head to try and block out the noise.
A man covered in torn cloth jumped through her window. He was bearing a large wooden stick with a sharp point at the highest end. Buffy looked up and jerked back as he tried to run her through with his weapon. She ripped a slit in her dress and flipped to her feet. She punched him several times and then grabbed his shoulders before kneeing him in the face. She tried to kick him but he grabbed her and lifted her over his head, then threw her down on the stone ground.
Spike pulled himself out from under the pillows and saw Buffy and some kind of deformed thing fighting her. "Go Buffy!" he yelled for support.
Buffy kicked the demon into the wall and tried punching him. He grabbed Buffy's arm, punched her and flung her across the room. He ran towards her with his stick and attempted to stab her. She grabbed one end and used his momentum to spin him around into the wall. He fell to the ground and Buffy jumped on top of him. They struggled for which way the point of the wooden stick would go.
Another demon came running in while Buffy's back was turned. He went to run towards her and Spike jumped in the way. He knew it wouldn't be much help but maybe it'll bring her attention to the new situation. The man just backhanded him, which sent Spike flying into the wall. His body fell to the ground like a rag doll. Buffy's attention was drawn and she saw Spike's body lying on the floor. "Spike!" she yelled with worry. The demon took advantage of the distraction and flipped her over his head. Buffy stood up and wrapped her arm around his neck and with a quick jerk his body fell limp.
Spike's frog body morphed into human form and he was dressed in a velvet blue outfit. He looked around in confusion and looked down. "I have legs!" he announced as he stood up.
Buffy was being strangled by the opposing demon. She slammed her arms down on the crease of his elbow and kicked him away from her. She jabbed him in the face and swiped his legs out from under him. She grabbed the sharp stick and thrust it through his neck. His body squirmed for a moment in shock before he became still.
"Are you okay?" Spike asked as he rushed over to her.
Buffy nodded. "I'm fine. What about you? You okay?"
"Uh…" Spike was caught off guard. "Yeah, fine. Not a frog anymore."
"I noticed. Good job."
"Only it took a sharp blow to my small body as opposed to a gentle peck on the cheek."
Buffy held her hands up in defense, "Hey, in the story I've seen it's based on a kiss. Unless I combined that story with the other ones that end in a kiss. Ya know like, Snow White. Sleeping Beauty."
Spike nodded and laughed. Are we having a conversation? Without anger and argument?
"So, about getting out of here," Buffy said.
"I think we should do it as quickly as possible," Spike added.
"I second that." The castle shook again. "Very quickly."
"Kally!" Giles yelled. "Kally!"
"Who's Kally? Am I Kally?" Buffy asked.
"You could be Kally."
"I don't look like a Kally."
"They're almost the same. Buffy, Kally."
"Kally!" Giles ran into her room and hugged. "Thank goodness. You must get out of here. The attack on the castle is becoming too extensive. You must run." Giles looked over and saw Spike. "Who is this man?"
"Oh this is the frog. He's really a Prince."
"I'm Spike," he said.
The castle shook again but this time they heard the wooden door break and screams came from the opposing crowd. They looked out the window and saw them being pushed back. "What on Earth is going on?" Giles asked himself. They saw three witches attacking the immense rabble. "The witches made it."
The attack was over in ten minutes. The opposition was destroyed and the bodies were presently being taken care of. Giles was talking to the sorceresses downstairs while Buffy and Spike were in her room. Buffy was sitting on her bed and Spike was leaning against the wall across from her.
"You all right Buffy?" he asked sincerely.
"Honestly, I'm very confused. And not just about this freak show of a fantasy." Her fingers were gripping the side of her bed in hops that it would absorb her emotion so she wouldn't have to deal with it.
"What do you mean love?" Spike pushed himself off the wall and he walked towards her.
Buffy moved from her bed so Spike wouldn't get too close. "I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. Between us."
"Us?" Spike repeated.
"It sounds weird when you say it too. See Spike we have always had this hate relationship. First you crash my parent teacher night, which by the way was a blessing in disguise, and then you get a chip in your head. I felt pity for you and couldn't kill you because you weren't a threat. And for some time I've been developing these feelings which I've tried to ignore and pushed back because I do not want this to happen again."
"Again? You've dated me before?"
"No, but I did date a vampire and there's no good there."
"I am nothing like Angel," Spike insisted. He hated being compared to him.
"But you both have the same lifestyle of sleep during the day, hunt at night, a diet that consists of A positive and O negative and I just don't want to go through that again."
"Yes, but I'm not going to raise Acathla and start an apocalypse. And I'm not going to lose my soul after a bit of a rough and tumble."
"Because you don't have one," Buffy reminded him.
"Is that all that's holding you back? A soul? I'll go to the ends of the world and find a soul if that's what I have to do. I want to be with you Buffy."
"I kinda got that feeling. Before this whole debacle."
They were interrupted by the three witches. "Princess," the red-haired one said. "We're glad you're all right."
"Willow? Anya? Cordelia?" Buffy asked, looking at the familiar faces.
They were unsure of what she was talking about. All three gave her a good look over. "You're not the Princess," the Anya look alike said.
"Who are you?" Cordelia asked, moving in closer to her.
"My name's Buffy and I was brought here."
"You were brought here?" Anya moved in as well.
"Him too!" Buffy pointed to Spike, trying to take their eyes off of her.
"What do you want with the Princess?" Willow asked.
"Nothing, I don't even know who she is. I'm just trying to go home."
"Where is your home?"
"It's Sunnydale California. It's above a Hell mouth."
"We should send them back before the king notices," Cordelia told Willow. "I believe they sincerely didn't mean to come here."
"We can help you," Willow informed them.
"Great!" Buffy said.
"Oh no you don't," Iniquity said. She snapped her fingers and her crystal ball went black. A couple seconds later Spike and Buffy emerged in a new setting.
"That was too close Iniquity."
"I am well aware Pernicus. But that will not happen again."
"Now where the bloody hell are we?" Spike asked. He looked around and realized Buffy wasn't there. "Buffy?" He was in another castle and it was becoming dark outside. There was a knock on his door. Spike jumped to his feet and readied himself for attack.
"Are you ready for dinner yet soldier?" a woman's voice asked. It was familiar.
"Soldier?" He opened the door and saw Anya. "Anya. Bring us back to Sunnydale," he said, grabbing her by the arms.
Anya squirmed loose. "Get your hands off me. I am a princess. You do not touch me simpleton. Now brush off your dirty rags and come down for dinner."
Spike was dumbfounded. He followed her down the hall because he had no idea where the dining hall was. He walked into an average sized dining room with a high ceiling. A chandelier hung at both ends of the table. Giles was sitting at one end with six girls on his left and five girls on his right. Anya walked over to Giles and kissed his cheek. "Good evening daddy."
"Good evening Lexi."
Anya sat down in the vacant seat next to someone who looked like Tara. Spike looked around, trying to absorb everything and sat in the empty seat. Buffy looked down from the end of the table and widened her eyes. Spike widened his eyes too, as if they were communicating without words.
They were interrupted by Giles saying, "Hazel, are you feeling better?"
Buffy looked around for Hazel to answer and she caught on that they were all looking at her. She turned to Giles and answered, "Yes. I'm feeling fine now. Thank you."
"Now, young soldier, have you figured out where my daughter's go at night?"
Spike's face looked like a Picasso painting. He wasn't sure how he should answer so he went with: "No."
"No," Giles repeated. "You have two more nights to find out. Otherwise you'll be beheaded."
"What!" Buffy and Spike asked at the same time.
"That's a little harsh Watcher."
"Yea, Giles- I mean, Dad, isn't that a little too much?"
"He agreed to these terms before he spent the night. Five other princes have been beheaded and I won't change the rules now."
"But beheaded?" Spike repeated. He was hoping he would be told he heard wrong but they never "corrected" him.
"Are you sure you're all right Hazel? You've never denounced this idea before." Giles looked at her with worry, the same worry he always showed towards her.
"I'm sorry," Buffy covered. "I'm just a little woozy and confused. You're right, that's the rule that was set and we can't change it now."
The rest of dinner was silent. The only sound you heard was the silverware rubbing together or hitting the plate. After dinner Spike returned to his room and the twelve princesses were close behind.
"Do you want to skip tonight Hazel?" the Cordelia look alike asked.
"Skip what?"
"Dancing. I mean, we don't expect you to dance all night if you're not feeling well. We don't mind missing a night of dancing."
"I'm fine. Stop fussing," Buffy insisted.
Willow approached her with a cup of milk. "Here's the wine."
"For?"
"For the soldier. Ya know, so he doesn't follow us."
"Oh right. Uh, where's his room again?"
"Two doors down," Anya said.
"Right. I'll be right back." Buffy quietly left the room and walked down the hall. She knocked on Spike's door. When he didn't answer she opened the door. "Spike?" she whispered.
"Buffy?" he called.
"Where are you?"
"Right here." Spike's head popped out of nowhere on the bed and he walked over to her but his body was gone.
"Holy crap!" Buffy yelled, clinging to the door.
"What?"
"You're body… it's missing!"
"Are you all right?"
"Look, you have no body. There is no body where a body should be. You're just a creepy floating head."
Spike looked down at his lack of body. "Whoah!" The invisible blanket he had on fell from his shoulders and his body appeared. "Oh, look, I have a body."
Buffy grabbed the blanket from the ground. On one side it was a light brown but the other side was invisible. "You have an invisible blanket. But this story seems very far from Harry Potter though."
"You don't know this story?"
"Not a clue."
"That's not good," Buffy said, even though it's redundant.
"Now what do we do? "
"Well, I was told to give you this wine so you couldn't follow us. So don't drink this. Why don't you wrap yourself up in that blanket and follow me into the room."
"All right." Spike took the blanket from her and wrapped himself up. "Can ya see me?"
"Nope, let's go." They went back to the room and Buffy made sure to leave time for Spike to inch in. She whispered, "Spike?"
"Behind ya love," he whispered back.
Buffy shut the door and walked over to her sisters. "Father will soon lock the door, we must go make sure that the soldier has fallen asleep," Tara said.
"He did," Buffy quickly intervened. "I saw him fall asleep. I tried poking him and yelling at him but he didn't wake up."
Giles opened their door, hitting Spike. "Ow, bloody hell!"
Giles looked behind the door and didn't see anything so he just shook it off. "Good night my twelve princesses."
"Good night father!" eleven of them said in unison.
"Father," Buffy said, pretending she said the whole thing.
Giles closed the door and locked it. The eleven of them giggled and opened their closets, revealing extravagant gowns. Buffy went with the flow and watched everyone change. Buffy held her dress up and smiled at the girls as she inched over to Spike. "I know they can't see you," she whispered, "but I know you're there and I would like it if you looked away. Not that I would know if you did."
"I'm over here Slayer," Spike said over by the dressers. "And I'm not lookin'." Buffy quickly removed her nightdress and slipped on her gown. She put her hair up in a clip and left it at that.
"Everyone ready?" Willow asked.
"I feel strange," the replica of Amy said.
"You are always frightened Drazelle."
"But I feel like someone's watching."
"Watching?" Buffy asked in shock. "What's wrong with you? Who would be watching."
"I don't' know, but-"
"Just stop Drazelle. You can stay here if you want but the rest of us are going." With that Cordelia walked over to Buffy's bed and knocked on it. The bed slowly sank into the ground, revealing a dark cove. "Let's go girls. Hazel, you first of coarse."
Buffy pursed her lips and entered the darkness. The followed her one after the other and Spike, still hidden under his blanket, went in last, after Amy.
Author's Note: For those of you who don't know, this story is The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I'm sticking with Grimm's fairy tales and this was the one I thought of doing next. Are we liking it? I hope so.