Morning in Sunnydale.
That was when the monsters that prowled the seemingly idyllic town skulked away to wait for night when they can prowl again. Now as the golden rays of the sun washed over Sunnydale the human population awoke to enjoy the time when the city was theirs.
This was the time when those who were ignorant of the fact that they lived on the threshold of Hell could almost, just almost, convince themselves that Sunnydale was simply another slice of the suburban paradise of Southern California. But even the brightest morning could never get rid of the slight feeling that there was just something wrong about the town.
Those who knew Sunnydale for what is was looked at mornings differently. Morning was when you knew that just for a second, you could stop and catch your breath. It was the start of a chance to prepare for what battles, literal or figurative, could come during the night. Those that knew Sunnydale's true nature knew that the really terrible things always happened at night.
This day would be no exception.
~*~
The light coming in through the window woke Buffy. The Slayer sat up in her bed and had a quick stretch. She glanced to her right side and saw that her beloved stuffed toy pig, Mr. Gordo, was still there. Mr. Gordo had comforted Buffy through many a bad night since her childhood. As she climbed out of bed Buffy gave the toy a small smile. It hadn't been since Angel's nightmarish transformation to Angelus the year before that she'd found herself clutching Mr. Gordo so tightly for comfort as she had the night before.
The Slayer headed to her closet and quickly made her selection of outfit; black tanktop, a reddish brown light jacket and matching pants, and stylish but sturdy black boots. After a quick glance in the mirror Buffy headed down to the kitchen.
Joyce Summers, the world's #1 mom in the eyes of her daughter, stood at the stove flipping a pancake. Three other pancakes sat on a plate on the counter just to her side.
"Hi, mom," greeted Buffy in a voice that her mother found surprisingly upbeat. Especially in light of the fragile state Buffy had been in when she'd returned home the night before.
"Morning, Buffy. Are you…feeling okay?" asked Joyce, the concern in her voice clear.
Buffy nodded as she picked up the plate of pancakes from the counter and reached for the cabinet with the syrup. "I'm feeling…better," replied the Slayer slowly. "And by better I mean not wanting to cry until my eyes fall out anymore."
"Do you want to talk some more?"
Buffy, syrup now in hand, shook her head and headed for the dinning room table. "No. Talking means thinking about how one of my best friends is now a prime candidate for winning a garden show and my other best friend could now borrow clothes from me. If I were a few inches taller that is."
"Buffy…" began Joyce.
Buffy looked at her mother, her face now a mask of total seriousness. "Mom, its okay. It's just…last night was so crazy and awful I just want…"
"Want what?" asked the blonde woman as she sat down at the table across from her daughter.
"I just…want to pretend that today's just another normal Saturday," said Buffy. "Until I get to the library and meet up the guys and those goddesses I told you about, I just don't want to have to deal with what happened."
Buffy was quite again for several moments, just staring at her breakfast. "Is that being selfish?" she finally asked.
Joyce took her daughter's had, gave it a squeeze and smiled. "No, honey, it isn't. Not one bit. What's say we eat now, okay?"
Buffy returned her mother's smile and nodded. What harm did a little denial ever do to anyone?
While Buffy and her mother talked brightly over breakfast the weight of the stake in her jacket's lining was never far from the Slayer's thoughts.
~*~
Xander strolled toward the kitchen of her house feeling much better than she had hours before. A few hours of nightmare-free sleep and a quick shower had made her feel almost normal. Though taking a shower in a female body had been a somewhat disconcerting experience. Many naughty thoughts had been had.
But as Xander approached the kitchen she actually allowed herself a small smile. After breakfast it would be time to head to Sunnydale High and come up with a way to find Mara and teach her what happened to demons that messed with the Scooby Gang.
The teen took a moment to fantasize about Mara's head stuffed and mounted on her bedroom wall. Ah, what a pretty picture…
Urd and Skuld sat at the table and gave Xander a quick nod of greeting when she entered. Skuld then returned to scarfing her cereal while Urd went back to rifling through Sunnydale's morning paper. Belldandy was at the counter cleaning up after putting the finishing touches on the most wonderful breakfast Xander had ever seen.
Pancakes, bacon, eggs, milk, orange juice, muffins, sausage, and fresh fruit all sat on the kitchen table prepared to perfection. Which was extra amazing since Xander was sure that none of what was needed to make any of those things had been in her house the night before.
Xander quickly pushed her mental questions about how all this had come to be aside. It was chow time!
At the counter Belldandy began to put the cooking utensils away while humming a merry tune to herself. "Good morning, Xander. How are you feeling?"
"I'm feelin' like I've died and gone to Heaven's breakfast buffet," replied Xander as she dug into some scrambled eggs. "Hey, once I've got my Y-chromosome self back you guys wouldn't be in the market for a brother, would ya? I could help you fix stuff around the house, lift heavy things, and kill spiders in the bathroom for you. You know, brother stuff."
Urd made an amused sound. "Wadda ya say, Belldandy? I think we've got room at the house, and a certain motor lovin' someone could certainly use a male friend who wouldn't take advantage of his nice guy nature."
"Yeah, can we keep 'im?" asked Skuld earnestly. The little goddess had felt a bond with Xander since their talk the night before and decided that she liked her. Plus, the Sunnydale teen's goofy but charming attitude seemed to Skuld like a vast improvement to Keiichi's nerdy ways.
"Uh, I really don't think…" stammered Belldandy.
"Hey, Belldandy, relax," said Xander. "I was kidding. I'm Xander. I'm joke guy, er, girl. Its what I do."
Urd chuckled at her sister. "You're too easy sometimes, sis."
Skuld mentally frowned. She liked Xander but making him their brother was a pretty silly and impractical idea. The little goddess felt a bit chagrinned about her previous words.
"I have to say, considering what happened last night you're in rather good spirits, Xander," said Belldandy, wanting to change the subject.
"What can I say? It's a survival mechanism," shrugged the teen as she continued to eat. "In the Scooby Gang you learn pretty quick that even though the world might end tonight, you still have to go to school and try not to flunk your history test. Once that's done you can go stomp demon butt. I guess that over the years we've all just sort of learned to carry on as best we can until its time to fight. I'm sure Buffy, Willow, and Oz are hangin' in there.
"Besides, this really isn't the worst we've ever been through. Willow is stuck as a tree and me as a girl but other than that we're fine. Now last year when Deadboy went all evil on us that was…"
Xander mentally kicked herself. Angel's return to evil was the last thing that Buffy would want brought up in any way at this point. Neither would Angel but Xander didn't give one rat's ass about how the vampire felt about anything. Except Buffy, and that was a touchy subject at best.
"You were saying something," prodded Urd.
"Uh, nevermind," said Xander. "Long story. Let's just finish breakfast. We'll need to be heading to the school soon."
Deciding to respect Xander's wishes the goddess returned to their meal.
~*~
About forty-five minutes later Angel was walking purposely through the halls of Sunnydale High toward the library. The tunnels that ran like a maze under the city had gotten him to the school in record time this morning. Angel's trademark duster had then provided enough cover to get the vampire inside without suffering any burns. As Angel entered the library he saw that Giles, Xander, Buffy, Urd, Skuld, and Belldandy were already there.
"Ah, Angel, you're here," said Giles by way of greeting. "Good, I was just about to share some information I found on Mara with the others."
"Don't let me stop you," replied Angel. "I'm all for anything that'll help us to put Mara down once and for all."
Belldandy frowned at the vampire's words but said nothing.
"As I was saying," began Giles, "I was going through some of the books that just arrived from the Watcher's Council and I made a most fortunate discovery. A book called Great Demons of the NorthLands. It was published almost fifty years ago, but it uses Mara as a case study and as such has a great deal of information about her."
Giles picked up a worn looking red book from a nearby table and began to leaf through it. "The author calls Mara a 'spoiler' demon."
"So she has the power to make milk go bad really, really fast?" interrupted Xander.
Giles gave Xander a look.
"Shutting up now."
Giles heaved a small sigh and continued. "He called Mara a spoiler demon because her main activity as far as can be discerned is bringing misery and ruin to the lives of those who've received divine blessings or favors of some sort. By doing this her goal seems to be to turn people to the dark powers in order to reclaim what they've lost."
Urd nodded. "Increasing evil's market share in terms of human souls is Mara's main gig. She's damn good at it too. She made first class, unlimited demon in record time from what I heard. Of course, making bad things happen to good people isn't all she does."
"Quite right," nodded Giles. "Using this book, as well as a few other sources with information on Mara that I was able to find, I've been able to put Mara at the sites of a disturbingly high number history's blackest moments.
"Just a few examples I was able to find are; the mass executions during the French Revolution, slave trading in Africa and the Middle East, the violent conquest of Central and South America by the Spanish, persecution of Christians in 17th century Japan, piracy in the Caribbean in the 1500s, numerous riots in the United States during the 1960s and 70s, the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, and even the Fall of Rome."
Angel gave a mental wince at the mention of the Boxer Rebellion. Hopefully he and the Slayer Spike had killed there would not come up.
"In no case was she ever the direct cause of these events, but there is compelling evidence of her fanning the flames to make bad situations worse," said Giles, still reading from the book. "Listen to how the author describes Mara; 'In my many years researching demons and other evil creatures I have rarely found any who seem to take as much delight in bringing misery and ill fortune to humans as Mara. Wherever she goes strife and heartbreak follow. She is truly as wicked a creature as any that has ever walked this Earth.'"
"That seems a rather harsh," said Belldandy. "Mara has indeed done many bad things over the centuries. But she wasn't always like that. I know there's still some good in her."
"I'd like to think so too," replied Urd solemnly. "But look what she's done since she came to Sunnydale. We've never seen her that violent. I think she may have finally gone all the way over the edge."
"But remember around New Years? She was really nice after she lost her memory," reminded Skuld. "Uh, well, she was nice until she remembered who she was."
"This 'nice' Mara you guys are going on about turned my best friend into a plant and me into a girl!" flared Xander. "I'm with the guy that wrote the book. Mara's a Big Bad and the sooner we make her dead the better it'll be for everyone."
"Of course there will be no making Mara dead until we get the passwords to turn you and Will back to normal," interjected Buffy. "Then Mara gets the full Slayer treatment."
The goddesses looked at each other uneasily. The ease with which Xander and Buffy had talked of killing Mara was disconcerting to them to say the least.
"I am in full agreement with Xander and Buffy," cut in Giles. "However, I think it only fair to tell you that the author of this book had a reason to hate Mara more than any of us."
That statement got everyone's attention.
"Enough with the cryptic, Giles," demanded Buffy. "What do you mean?"
"The name of the man who wrote this book was Eric Oystan. He was a researcher for the Watchers Council from Norway."
At the mention of Norway Angel felt himself go tense. The events of the previous night's conversation with Mara suddenly flashed back to him.
Giles continued. "When Oystan's father, Jan, was ten he lived with his parents in a mansion just outside of Oslo. His parents were servants there. It seems the Oystan's employer was the leader of a cult that worshipped beings known as Frost Giants, the ancient and eternal enemies of the Norse Gods."
Urd, Belldandy and Skuld all gasped at that revelation.
"Someone worshipping the Frost Giants! Oh my, there's no end to the terrible things that could come from that!" gaped Belldandy.
"Yeah, Mara's a baby kitten compared to a Frost Giant!" exclaimed Skuld.
Urd massaged her temples as if she were trying to ease a massive headache. "Someone would have to be out of their mind to worship those guys. They're part of the prophecy that brings about Ragnarok, for pity's sake!"
"Okay, worshipping Frost Giants bad! We get it!" said Buffy. She then nodded at Giles to continue.
The librarian did so. "The Oystans suspected their employer was up to something strange but didn't want to do anything till they had proof. Sadly, they never got the chance. The cult was gathered in the mansion one night performing a ritual when a squad of vampires somehow gained entry to the house. The massacred everyone there, cultist and innocent alike. Jan Oystan survived only because his parents shoved him down a laundry chute just before the vampires found them. The chute lead to a rarely used room in the mansion's basement where the boy was able to scramble out a window without being seen. He then took refuge in the nearby forest.
"While he was hiding the vampire who lead the attack come outside to report to the demon who had ordered the massacre. The demon's name was Mara. The attack was spearheaded by four vampires. Their names were Drusilla, Spike, Darla, and Angelus."
The humans and the goddesses turned to look at Angel.
"Another fond pre-soul memory, Deadboy? spat Xander.
"Angel?" said Buffy, her voice a mix of confusion, pleading, and anger.
The goddesses looked at each other uncomfortably. Belldandy and Urd felt extra tension do to the fact that they'd heard terrible tales of the vampire Angelus. Though they'd never thought he'd had any connection to Angel until just now.
"Buffy, you saw what I was like after I came back from that hell dimension," said Angel. "It took me a long time to get my head back in order. Even then there were some blank spots."
"So why didn't you tell me?" asked the Slayer, her previous emotions replaced only by hurt. "I, we, could have found some way to help you."
Angel shook his head. "You, all of you, have been through a lot lately. You didn't need my problems in addition to your own. Besides, most of the blank spots were from before I got my soul back. I was in no hurry to remember that part of my life.
"But the other night I had a dream and Mara was in it. She came to me in that hell dimension to taunt me but I couldn't remember anything more about her than that. That's why I wanted you to see if Giles could find out anything about her. Stuff people see in their dreams here in Sunnydale have a tendency to pop in the real world, you know."
Giles, Xander, and Buffy nodded in concurrence.
"Last night I…remembered a meditative trick that's good for bringing up lost memories. But you need solitude to perform it. So I went back home and performed the ritual. It worked; everything Giles just told us came flooding back. I was going to tell all of you but Giles beat me to the punch."
"Sure you were," muttered Xander. Buffy shot her friend a glare and Xander backed down. But the look of contempt for Angel never left the girl's face.
Not that in this case the vampire blamed Xander. He hated lying to the others but telling the truth about conjuring up Mara would only make things worse. The memories of his attempt as Angelus to have the Earth sucked into Hell were too fresh. Knowing that Angel was dealing in any way with a demon that had hurt them all on such a personal level would be devastating regardless of his reasons.
Heavy silence again reigned.
It was Giles who broke the somber air. "Well, with that said, I suppose I should finish the story. Knowing the names of the creatures that killed his parents Eric Oystan vowed revenge. However, as he grew to manhood he was forced to accept the fact that he could never get the training needed to kill such powerful beings within his lifetime.
"Instead he devoted himself to occult research in hopes he might find the means for his revenge there. Oystan had a very keen mind and his skills quickly caught the attention of the Watchers. Eventually they recruited him as a researcher. Oystan hoped that someday the information he gathered might be used by the Slayer or someone else to avenge his parents. This wish was carried on by his son, Jan, who, as I said, wrote this book.
"As a matter of fact, it was the Oystans who compiled most of the information the Watchers have on Drusilla, Spike, Darla, and Angel. I even read some of what they wrote to Buffy and the others, Angel, when we first learned about you and when Spike and Drusilla first come to town."
Angel just nodded. "Look, I know this flash back to my bad ol' days is the last thing any of us needed right now. For what its worth I'm sorry. But we have to focus on the task at hand. Namely stopping Mara."
"I hate to say it, but Deadboy's right," said Xander. "As a wise comic book character named Cable often says 'What is, is.' So let's forget Angel's trip down bloody memory lane and get back to find a way to put the slayage to Mara."
Though he didn't like to admit it, Angel felt a small bit of gratitude to Xander. From the start Xander had made it clear that he didn't like Angel. But over the years the teen had learned to at least tolerate the vampire. If Xander was willing to shove this aside Buffy and Giles would as well.
If only he didn't call me by that damned nickname! thought Angel. And why Deadboy of all things!? I hated it enough when Mara called me that.
Giles opened up his mouth to say something but was beaten to the punch.
"Uh, could you excuse us for a second," said Urd as she grabbed her sisters' hands and pulled them towards the door. "We just need a little goddess to goddess to goddess chat. Won't take but a second."
Before anyone could reply the trio were through the door.
After a moment Giles took off his glasses and gave them a quick cleaning. "As long as they're doing that I'd like to have a private word with all of you in my office."
Angel, Xander, and Buffy exchanged surprised looks but quickly followed Giles into his office. The librarian closed and locked the door behind them.
"First of all, I know the three of you might have some objections to what I am about to say but please hear me out," began the Englishman. "I'm sure that since meeting them yesterday you've all been impressed by our new allies and their personalities and abilities. I know I have. However, I must remind you that these women are goddesses. They're beings from another plane that don't conform to the same rules as you and I. We must be careful."
"Hey, whoa, whoa!" exclaimed Xander. "You think they're badguys?! No way! After what Belldandy did for me…No way! I got to know Urd and Skuld last night too and there's no way any of them are evil!"
"I'm not saying they're evil, Xander," refuted Giles. "There is a sense of goodness coming from them that is almost palatable. What I am saying is that though they're good we must not forget that they are extremely ancient and powerful beings."
"The Norns were said to control fate itself," reminded Angel. "I still don't get all this 'a computer runs the universe' stuff, but I've run across some goddesses in my time and from what I sense Giles is on the money about how old and powerful they are."
"Indeed," nodded the Englishman. "Xander, Buffy, I know you may feel a sisterly sort of bond to our guests, but I just want both of you to remember to be careful around them."
"Since neither Xander or I have a sister I'm sure we'll be fine," said Buffy. "I really think you're overreacting on this one, Giles."
"You may be right," sighed Giles. "But good or not their presence means we are dealing with beings and powers on a level we've never encountered before. I just want all of you to be safe."
"Okay, okay, Giles," grumbled Xander. "We get the message. Now stop beating that dead horse before it gets up and tries to bite your head off."
"And on that lovely image let us go back to the library and try and come up with a plan while we wait for our guests to finish their conversation," said Giles.
With that, the four returned to the library.
~*~
Outside the library the goddesses gathered, Urd looking unusually grim.
"Urd, what is so important that we had to come out here to talk?" asked Belldandy. "I think barging out like that was a bit rude."
"The main reason I did it was because we need to talk. All of us," replied Urd. "Talk about how you were acting in there."
"Belldandy wasn't doing anything wrong in there!" flared Skuld.
"Wrong," retorted Urd as she looked at Belldandy. "Sis, I saw the look on you face in there when they were talking about killing Mara. It was taking everything you had not to yell out at them about how wrong that would be."
Belldandy was silent and turned her head from Urd. Her sisters looked at her intently. Eventually the goddess nodded.
"Its true. I understand that destroying demons is sometimes necessary. Killing them may seem like the only thing to ever do with demons for Buffy and her friends. What with being the Slayer and living on the Hellmouth I don't begrudge her and the others for feeling that way.
"But I do not think that's the way to solve this! Urd, you know Mara much better than even I do. I know that you believe she still has some good in her. Let us try and appeal to that part of her. If we succeed then we can end all this without anyone getting hurt."
Skuld and Belldandy looked at Urd expectantly. After several long moments the eldest goddess simply shook her head. "I wish I could believe that, sis. By the Almighty, I wish I could. But we all saw Mara last night. In all the time I've known her she's never been that vicious and cruel. Skuld might have been right on this one. Mara may finally have crossed that line where there is no coming back from true evil. If that's the case and she's mucking with the Hellmouth we may have no choice but to stop her. Permanently."
"Urd, you can't mean that!" gasped Belldandy.
"The hell I don't mean it!" snapped Urd. "The universe was almost destroyed by the Lord of Terror partly because of me. I'll be damned before I let something like that happen again!
"We're all bound by our oaths as goddesses to defend the Almighty's creation no matter the cost and I swear that's what I'll do! Even if it means killing the person who was the best friend I've ever had."
As she finished speaking Urd slammed her fist sideways into a wall in frustration. The concrete cracked slightly and again silence reigned over the goddesses.
After what seemed like an eternity Urd took a deep breath and brushed some hair from in front of her face. "Sorry I went off on you two like that. You didn't deserve that. I guess I'm not as over that Lord of Terror thing as I thought. I was out of line."
Skuld opened her mouth to try and comfort her sister but I was Belldandy who spoke first.
"No, you're right."
Urd and Skuld turned to look at their sister. Belldandy's face was now strong and solid with strength and resolve.
An iron fist in a velvet glove, thought Urd.
"When we were having our final battle with the Lord of Terror there was a moment when I hesitated. That hesitation almost cost us the universe. I won't let that happen again," said Belldandy
"What you said is harsh but correct, Urd. We have a duty as goddesses to protect this world. If that duty means killing someone who would bring destruction to this plane then so be it. If Mara does become the sort of threat to the universe that the Lord of Terror was, we will have no choice but to…"
The goddess hesitated. But only for a moment.
Determination grew stronger on Belldandy's face. "…no choice but to end her existence!"
Again there was only silence.
Then Urd held her right arm out and down at a slight angle, her palm flat. "All right then, let's make this official. On our oaths as goddesses let's swear that we'll stop Mara no matter the cost."
Belldandy gave a grim nod, an incredibly rare site for the face of one such as her, and placed her right hand on top of Urd's. "No matter the cost."
The elder Norns then looked at Skuld who was hesitating, the shock of the recent conversation still rolling through her mind.
"Look, kiddo, I know this is some pretty intense stuff," said Urd. "But you're old enough to know that being a goddess isn't all peaches and cream. We couldn't have stopped the Lord of Terror without you and we may need you again on this one."
"If we fight this threat together as sisters we can't lose," added Belldandy.
Skuld looked back and nodded. She then placed her right hand atop Belldandy's. "No matter the cost," nodded the littlest goddess.
"Now let's begin the oath," said Urd. "By the Nine Worlds, the Realm Eternal and Heaven itself, I, Urd, Eldest of the Norns and Goddess of the Past, do hereby swear to defend the Almighty's creation no matter the cost for all time."
Then it was Belldandy's turn. "By the Nine Worlds, the Realm Eternal and Heaven itself, I, Verdandi, Middle of the Norns and Goddess of the Present, do hereby swear to defend the Almighty's creation no matter the cost for all time."
Finally Skuld spoke. "By the Nine Worlds, the Realm Eternal and Heaven itself, I, Skuld, Youngest of the Norns and Goddess of the Future, do hereby swear to defend the Almighty's creation no matter the cost for all time."
"Amen!" chorused the goddesses as them gave their touching hands a pump.
Steeled for whatever lay ahead the goddesses returned to the library.
"Is everything all right?" asked Giles.
"Just dandy," replied Urd brusquely. "So what's out next move?"
"At this point our two main priorities must be to figure out what Mara's plan is and her location," said Giles.
"On that first one I'm going to go with the idea that's always popular with new demons in town," said Xander. "Namely, trying to kill Buffy."
Urd shook her head. "Not Mara's style."
"I think Urd's right," added Buffy. "If I was Mara's target she'd have tried to finish me off last night. Plus, she was ranting about the whole world feeling her wrath or some other standard supervillain junk. I'm guessing she's out to destroy the world or something really unoriginal like that."
"Also not Mara's style," said Urd. "But whatever she's up to, I'd say worldwide repercussion are a real possibility."
"There are two other possibilities that we've been able to come up with," informed Giles. "One, objects of great mystical power have the annoying habit of turning up in Sunnydale with disturbing regularity. It's possible such a object is currently in the area and Mara is after it."
"That seems reasonable," mused Belldandy. "Mara did get her hands on the Urn of Mao Za Haxon recently. The results were…chaotic to say the least."
Giles boggled. "Did you…you say the…the Urn of Mao Za Haxon? Good Lord! That urn is supposed to…"
"Giles!" interrupted Buffy. "Save the rejects from the demon version of Antiques Roadshow for later."
Giles shook off his shock. "Ah, yes, quit right. The other possibility is that since many demons come to Sunnydale that Mara is here to make an alliance of some sort with one of them."
Urd scratched her chin and looked thoughtful. "Mara's normally a loner, but she's got a few flunkies she sometimes uses to help her pull stuff off. I suppose it is possible."
"At this point our main problem is a severe lack of information," said Giles. "If we're to have any hope of stopping Mara we must discover what she's after."
"I know a lot of the underlife types here in Sunnydale," said Angel. "I'll see if there are any new players in town besides Mara. Or if any of the old players have been up to anything unusual in the past day or so."
Urd nodded toward Angel. "Good plan. I've got some contacts of my own that I can speak to. I tried two of them with no luck before I came here last night. But maybe I'll get lucky."
"I can also do some checking," reported Belldandy. "While they don't move in the same circles as Urd's contacts, I do know some people as well who might be able to help. All of them are well informed."
"I could check HEAVENet for info on Mara. I could also use it to see if anything super magickal is in the area," suggested Skuld."
"Skuld, you know the rules about sharing information like that with humans," warned Belldandy.
"I won't break the rules," assured the little goddess. "Just maybe stretch them a bit. All I really need to call up is Mara's rap sheet and profile and a magickal activities report. That's all pretty low-level stuff."
Belldandy hesitated. "Well…"
"Sis, we're running low on time," reminded Urd. "Skuld's right. That's all low clearance stuff. If there's a problem we can explain ourselves to the Almighty later."
"Uh, question," piped in Xander. "If you guys know the, um, Almighty why not get on the horn and have 'em give Mara a good Old Testament style smiting?"
Urd shook her head. "No dice. All we know is that Mara's in town and up to no good. So is every other demon in this burg. We've got to have proof that we're looking at a catastrophe of universal proportions if we want the Almighty to intervene."
"Hey, Xander, if you want you can help me go over the info I'll get from HEAVENet," said Skuld.
Xander nodded. "Okay, since Willow isn't here we can both fill the role of Research Gal."
"I'll continue to search my books," informed Giles. "There are still several volumes that may be of assistance that I've not had a chance to look at yet."
"Which leaves me to try and track down Faith and fill her in," supplied Buffy. "When we finally pin down Mara I'm thinking an extra Slayer would be really handy."
"Now that we all know what we're to do I suggest we get to it," said Giles. "At this point all we know for certain is that time grows short."
The others all nodded. Without another word Urd and Belldandy vanished. Buffy and Angel looked at each other and headed for the library door together. Once they were gone Giles headed toward the stacks while Skuld and Xander huddled up around a computer.
Time was indeed growing very short.
~*~
Meanwhile, in the former lair of the Master, Mara sat upon the slain vampire's throne holding court. Sydney and the other vamps knelt before the throne each on one knee.
"Good work, my minions," cackled Mara as she casually tossed a small, blue glowing orb up and down in her hand. "Thanks to your little raid I now have all the supplies I need to perform the ritual to unleash the Chaos Burst on the world."
"We're glad you're pleased, mistress," groveled Sydney.
"Of course you are," responded the demon as she suddenly hopped out of the throne. "And since you've all been such good little servants I'm going to show you a little secret about this place. One that, now that the Master is gone, I'd say has been totally forgotten."
The vampire's looked at each other with surprise and anticipation. Though the Slayer had destroyed him almost two years ago, the Master's name and legacy still held a degree of awe to some of Sunnydale's vampires.
"All right, kids, follow me," ordered Mara as she turned and headed into the far recesses of the Master's lair. "Remember, stay in line, don't forget who your buddy is so you don't get lost, and absolutely no flash photography."
As they walked Mara smirked to herself. "Since the Master was a big name in these parts for a long time I'm sure most of you have heard about him. But for the benefit of those of you who may be new to town I'll recap.
"Roughly sixty-two years ago in a church he'd taken over, most likely as a show of irony, the Master tried to perform a ritual that would open the Hellmouth and bring the Great Old Ones back to the Earth. But, in a lucky break for humanity, just as he was in the middle of things an earthquake hit right under Sunnydale. The ground swallowed the Master, the church he was in, and a good part of the city whole.
"Now as anyone can tell you magick is a tricky thing. So I'm sure that you can understand that having a quake hit in the middle of a spell of that magnitude is going to result in something unpleasant."
Mara turned to her henchmen to see if they'd been following what she'd been saying. After a few nods of confirmation Mara continued.
"Once the dust had settled from the quake the Master quickly realized that he was in some trouble. Some quirk of the magick had caused him to become trapped between the two worlds here in this cavern. Kinda like a cork in a bottle."
At this point Mara stopped before a dead end wall and turned to face the group of vampires. "Now, class, who can tell me what the Master did next?"
"I can," spoke up Sydney. "He was forced to wait sixty years until the stars would be in the right alignment for the Harvest, a ritual that could free him. I hear he spent part of that time sleeping in some big pool of blood or something like that, but I don't know the details on that part."
"Wrong!" shouted Mara. "You think a vampire like the Master is just going to throw up his hands and go 'Oh well, guess I'll wait sixty years. Until then I'll just hang out down here and practice being sinister.'?"
The vamps started to exchange looks amongst themselves. They'd never really thought of things that way.
"Now I'll show that secret I mentioned before," said Mara. "I'll show you what the Master was up to for a good part of the time he was stuck down here."
With that, Mara closed her eyes and began to chant in a tongue none of the vampires had ever heard before. The words of the chant were harsh and clipped and seemed to have a crackle like fire to them.
As Mara chanted the bare wall behind her began to glow a murky shade of purple. After glowing for what seemed like several minutes there was a great purple flash that caused the vampires to cover themselves instinctively. While the flash was happening a great whooshing of air could also be heard.
When the light faded the vamps look up to see Mara standing exactly where she was before. Only now there was a stone archway leading into a pitch black room where there had only been solid wall before. The stones that made up the archway all had foreboding looking runes carved on them. A variety of fetid smells emanated from the new room.
"Welcome to the Master's secret playroom, kids," grinned Mara. "Shall we see what's inside?" Without waiting for reply Mara stepped into the darkness.
The other vamps hesitated. After a moment Sydney gave a deep growl. "Come on, we're about to get to the good stuff!" With that bit of prodding the vamps headed through the archways.
Once the last of the vampires was through the portal they heard Mara say a word in yet another strange language. Light filled the room as a row of torches that had snaked the darkened room burst to life.
Now lit by the torchlight it could clearly be seen that the room was large and dome-shaped. Along the western wall was a row of ten shackles, several of which had human skeletons still chained within them. Skulls and other bones from at least a few other individuals were also scattered along the ground.
But it was what was in the center of the room that grabbed everyone's attention. There lay a huge pentagram made of the same stones that had built the entrance to the room. Splotches of dried blood could still be seen on parts of the stonework.
"Pay attention, leeches. We're at the important part," said Mara once the vamps had been given a chance to take in their surroundings. "As soon as he realized he was trapped the Master started looking for a way other than the Harvest to escape. He discovered that only yards from where he'd fallen in was a spot where the energy from the Hellmouth was particularly strong. That point being where that pentagram currently is, of course.
"So he had his minions dig to that area and construct this room. Here, where the Hellmouth's energy was extra potent, the Master hoped he could work a spell that would grant him freedom.
'For years the guy tried every spell he could think of, no matter how much of a longshot it was. Or how much blood was needed for the ritual. But it was all to no avail. Nothing less than the Harvest could undo the power of the magick that had trapped him here.
"So the Master cast a combination illusion and sealing spell on this room. Most likely he was just tired of looking at the place and having it remind him of all those failures. That spell worked even better that he could have ever expected. After all, it keep the Slayer and her pals from finding it."
Mara turned to her henchmen as she grinned her most wicked grin. "It will be here at midnight that I'll perform the spell to unleash the Chaos Burst upon the world. Both the goddesses and the Slayer will be crushed by their knowledge of how they failed to defeat me and the pain that failure caused the world."
Mara's face was a model of satisfaction. "Do I know how to have fun or what?"
Most of the vampires nodded and smiled dark smiles of their own. In their minds Mara was truly a great demon.
Sydney, however, looked almost bored. "Are you done pontificating yet?"
Mara gave the female vampire a look that could have melted steel. "What did you say!?"
"I asked if you were done shooting off your mouth yet," replied Sydney, clearly unimpressed by Mara's glare.
"Oh, someone is looking for a up close and personal encounter with a DustBuster," growled Mara as she moved toward the female vamp. "I'll be only to happy to oblige."
The other vampires skittered out of Mara's way. They didn't know what had come over Sydney, but they knew for sure that they wanted no part of it or Mara's wrath.
Black magick energy cracked around Mara in an aura as she closed in on the one who'd insulted her. "Get ready for pain, you little bitch!"
"I was going to say the same thing," said Sydney with a smirk as nasty as any Mara had ever worn.
Just as the demon was ready to let loss a magickal volley that she was sure would obliterate the vampire red energy flared in Sydney's eyes. Before Mara could react the crimson energy roared from Sydney's eyes and hit her full in the chest.
Mara was tossed halfway across the room and landed hard. Though burning pain racked her body the demon found the strength to quickly stand.
The other vamps had decided to cower in a corner until what was going on became clear.
"What…how…How the hell did you do that?" demanded Mara, her face now sporting several scrapes and a split lip.
"I'm no lowly vampire, demon," replied Sydney in an arrogant voice. "Shall I show you who and what I truly am?"
"Get on with it, dammit!" snapped Mara. The demon burned with the desire to attack, but knew that would be foolish given the facts that her opponent was clearly very strong and that Mara really didn't know who or what she was dealing with.
Sydney made an amused noise. "Very well. I was getting damn tired of groveling to you anyway."
With that the red energy flared again in Sydney's eyes. But this time it grew to cover her entire body. Mara watched for several seconds until she let out a huge gasp.
"You!"
"Yes, me."
"But…There's no way…you're supposed to be…" stuttered Mara.
"Yes, I know. But I was able to find a way out of that situation for the time being. Now, Mara, I want to make you an offer."
"An offer?"
"Yes. Though we are very different there is one thing we have in common. A desire we both share. Am I not right?"
Mara nodded. "Yeah, I guess there is one thing we'd both like to see happen. But that isn't supposed to--"
"Such things be dammed! This goal is as dear to my heart as I am sure it is to yours. Of all the beings in creation I'm sure only you can come close to knowing how I feel. Let us unite and get back that which was cruelly taken from us so very long ago."
The demon hesitated. "Do you really think we can do this?" asked Mara.
"I have been planning this for more time than I can count. With your help this plan can be achieved. The universe itself will shake with the repercussions."
"And the gods themselves will know dread!" sneered Mara.
Mara's conversation partner smiled. At last, the final stages of my plan are coming to fruition.
Mara then let loose a cackle that echoed loudly through the Master's former lair. Underneath the cackling a far fainter, but just as malevolent, laugh could also be heard.
To Be Continued
Author's Notes: Aren't I a jerk to leave you hanging like that? Heh, heh…
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed some of the things that came to light in this chapter. Don't worry, I still have many more surprises in store.
Now for some story ruminations. For whatever reason some people like reading stuff like that. So who am I to deny them?
I guess that if I had to describe this chapter in one word it would be 'hardcore'. The main example of this being the goddesses' vow in regards to Mara. Now I want to make it totally clear that none of them want to kill Mara. They are, however, willing to do that if all else fails and it looks like the world might be in true danger.
For anyone who thinks the goddesses' wold never kill just look at the Terrible Master Urd trade. When Keiichi is possessed by the Lord of Terror and about to destroy the universe Urd yells to Belldandy "We have to kill him! We have to!"
Luckily, Belldandy finds a way to free Keiichi, but I doubt the goddesses expect to get so lucky should they find themselves in a similar situation.
Also, I seem to recall an OMG story where Belldandy cheerfully lectures Skuld on the proper etiquette to use during a duel to the death. It was really funny in terms of that story, but it also showed a slightly darker side in the OMG world that I found intriguing.
I also got the same feeling when I watched Ah! My Goddess: The Movie. There we got to see the goddesses doing combat for the fate of the universe and again, a slightly darker picture of the OMG world.
Lastly, while Kosuke Fujishima never really does anything in regards to this in the manga, I think it is important to remember that the Norns come from the war-like Norse culture. Myth says that the Norns were neutral in all things, but the OMG world doesn't follow the myths much. I tried to bring the goddesses back to those Norse roots somewhat in this story, but I too prefer to gloss over the historical neutrality idea.
I like the idea that the goddesses can kick some ass if they want to. Just look at how they beat the Lord of Terror. I really think that a bit of a warrior side really adds something very cool to the characters.
I also wanted to use this part of the story to drive home the way different ways the Scoobies and the goddesses deal with demons. Buffy and co. simply kill them. The goddesses, usually Belldandy, try to understand their adversaries and appeal to the good within them. The clash between these differing views adds some nice tension to things, IMO.
One thing I realized as I was writing this chapter was that I'd explained how I came up with the story's title, but not the story itself. So for anyone who cares this is how it happened.
This all got started when I read Chibi-Dave's fanfic "Akane the Vampire Slayer". By the title I'm sure you can guess part of what happens. The story in brief is that Faith dies from the wounds she got while fighting Buffy and Akane is called as the next Slayer. But all is not well in Nerima. Mousse and Shampoo have become vampires. After reeking some havoc that not all of the Ranma ½ crew survive, they head to Sunnydale to set themselves up as the next Big Bad. Ranma, Akane and her Watcher, Dr. Tofu, follow and they end up working with Buffy and company to put an end to things.
A lot of other really cool things happen in the story but I won't say anyone more. Go read it for yourself. The story is on Fanfiction.net or you can just use your favorite search engine to find it.
Anyway, the main thing about that fic was that it showed me that you could mix Buffy and anime and have it work. So I started ticking off some anime shows that I liked to see if anything clicked.
Ranma ½? It had already been done and done well. No point in going there.
Sailor Moon? There were elements from the shows that did click. Mostly the idea of a teenage girl trying to deal with her destiny and lots of monsters with some help from her friends.
But to me magical girls and Slayers just don't mix. There's also the language barrier to get past. I really hate fanfics where Japanese characters end up in America and somehow speak perfect English. IIRC, Sailor Venus is the only one of the Inner Senshi fluent in English. Though I'm sure Mercury could get by just fine.
As for the Outer Senshi, well, you never really know anything with them. I'd say speaking English is a strong maybe with Neptune and Uranus, a most likely with Pluto, and not likely with Saturn. I'm also pretty sure Tuxedo Mask spoke decent English. In the fifth season he was supposed to go and study in America for a time, IIRC.
Anyway, while there were some elements of the shows that I thought could mix I decided to just forget it. There were already way too many bad Buffy/Sailor Moon crossovers out there and I didn't feel like going and messing around in that swamp.
Plus, while Sailor Moon is the show that got me into anime, watching it just doesn't give me the same kick as it used to. Though the show remains special to me, my tastes as a fan have grown away from that area. I just didn't think I could go back and write good Sailor Moon.
BTW, for the record, my favorite Senshi are Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus and Pluto in that order.
Next, Slayers come to mind. I actually have some ideas on that one that I like. Consider Buffy/Slayers on my To Write Someday list.
And then I hit Oh My Goddess!. When that crossed my mind something clicked. I remember thinking something like "Hey, the Hellmouth attracts demons. And Mara's a demon. What if the power of the Hellmouth drew Mara to Sunnydale?"
My first idea for the story was just the Scoobies Vs Mara with the goddesses not being in the story much at all. I tossed that idea out pretty quick. If I only used Mara it really wouldn't be much of a crossover, would it?
So then it became the goddesses and the Scoobies trying to stop Mara from messing up Sunnydale. But then I realized that the goddesses had handled Mara fine by themselves lots of times. Why would they suddenly need help?
Thus the idea of a behind the scenes villain was born. That also got me working up ratcheting Mara up a few levels as a villain.
And there you have it.
Okay, reference-explaining time! Not really much this time around.
"As a wise comic book character named Cable often says 'What is, is.'
Cable is a character whose book was spun out of the X-Men universe and is published by Marvel Comics. For years Cable was seen as an embodiment of everything that was wrong with comics in the 90s. His origin was the epitome of convoluted X-Men continuity and contained clones, time travel, and alternate futures. Not to mention Cable seemed to be one of the first of many 90s characters who wore absurd amounts of armor, carried a ridiculous amount of weapons, believed that the ends justified the means, and always seemed to be in need of a shave. In short, just about everything that was wrong with the "grim and gritty" trend in 90s comics.
Lucky for Cable in the last few years his book has been handled by several very talented writers who've stripped away all the crap and turned Cable into a book about the coolest, toughest solider ever and his efforts to forge a better future for mankind than the one he grew up in. Give the book a shot sometime.
The persecution of Christians in Japan that Giles mentions is little known in the West, but very real part of Japanese history. I tossed that reference in as a slight homage to the awesome samurai anime Ruroni Kenshin. That show featured a story arc that dealt with the "Hidden Christians", Japanese Christians who hid their faith for fear of reprisal when Japan's ban on the religion. The ban started in 1587 and was lifted in 1873.
The "Christian Saga" as many fans of Ruroni Kenshin call it, while not as good as the Tokyo and Kyoto arcs of the series, is a compelling and interesting look at religion, martyrdom, revenge, faith and what these things mean to people. I think that even people who, like me, aren't religious will find the story thought provoking.
The story of the Oystan family is clearly something I made up. I did it mostly to show and drive home the idea of all the broken lives Angel left behind him when he was evil.
The idea of him having blank spots in his memory after coming back from that demon dimension is something else I made up. I'm actually surprised that no one ever called me on it before. But we all saw how messed up Angel was when we first returned to Earth. This story is set fairly soon after that, so it seemed reasonable to me that he might not be totally healed from his experience. Plus, it gave me a reason for him not to remember who Mara was. ;)
As a matter of fact, it was the Oystan's who complied most of the information the Watchers have on Drusilla, Spike, Darla, and Angel. I even read some of what they wrote to Buffy and the others, Angel, when we first learned about you and Spike.
This is just a little idea that hit me as I was writing. After all, someone had to gather all that info on Angel and that others. You can see Giles doing the reading he mentions in the episodes "Angel" and "School Hard".
"Since neither Xander or I have a sister I'm sure we'll be fine," said Buffy.
Gee, what Buffy character could I possibly be making a (hopefully) ironic reference to here?
The way the goddesses placed their hands on top of each other's and made that vow was a slight homage to part of the origin for the superhero team the Fantastic Four.
Mara did get her hands on the Urn of Mao Za Haxon recently. The results were…chaotic to say the least.
The results were the Lord of Terror taking over Urd and almost destroying the universe. All hail Belldandy, master of understatement!
"Giles!" interrupted Buffy. "Save the rejects from the demon version of Antiques Roadshow for later."
Antiques Roadshow is a popular PBS program where ordinary people brig it junk from around their homes to get it professionally appraised. My grandpa is a big fan of the show so I tossed this in as a little tip of the hat to him.
Mara's story about the Master is once again something I just totally made up. But it does make sense to me that he wouldn't just sit on his butt and wait sixty years until the Harvest. If anything the Master was a doer. Plus, I just really liked the idea that there were still secrets down in the Master's lair that Buffy and the others never knew about. Just what else might be laying around down there? I wonder…
BTW, that whole sleeping in a pool of blood thing that Sydney mentions can be seen in "Welcome to the Hellmouth". I guess the Master was supposed to be sleeping in that thing before his minion, Luke, had him rise up out of it. That whole bit never was explained.
Anyway, stay tuned, people. The best is yet to come!