A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed: dan(), KoraDec(), Iceflame55(who also reviewed my other story *shameless self-promotion*), evil manda
DragonKatGirl: Yea, It does seem awfully quick for her to forget everything, doesn't it? And there is a very good reason why, which I would tell you but it would spoil the later part of the story. But there is a reason!
Chains forged in Hellfire
Chapter 2: Broken Bonds
Faith sat on the steps of the library, staring blankly ahead. Around her, the Scooby gang poured over books – Willow surfing the net – trying to find a clue to the whereabouts of the missing slayer.
Giles phoned the Watcher Council in hopes of a lead, or even a crumb, but so far had only turned up dead ends. It had only been last night, twelve hours ago, that Buffy disappeared … no, whas taken … but the gang was already feeling the loss.
Being action-girl rather than study-girl, Faith was at a loss. She replayed the moment Buffy was taken over and over in her mind. If only I hadn't been careless, Buffy would never have had to sacrifice herself to save me. Every time she replayed the memory, she found several different ways she could have saved Buffy.
But no matter what she could have done it didn't change what had happened.
Buffy was gone.
A crash came from the office, and the teenagers turned to see an excited Giles exit the office waving a sheet of paper.
"Willow, I need you to use that…" pointing vaguely at the computer, "infernal contraption and bring up this site," he said, handing Willow the piece of paper.
Willow's fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing up an online chatroom 'the Archive'. The teenagers turned to Giles for an explanation.
"There is a group of record keepers that have been keeping detailed records of all knowledge pertaining to hell dimensions for millennia. Normally, one would have to travel to Rom to talk with any of the members, being a shy lot, but their young recruits have decided to take the Archive online."
"I've passed the information about Buffy's disappearance on to a Malcolm Donachelli, who I've been told will be able to answer our questions and should be …ah … online."
WIKAGURL: IS MALCOLM DONACHELLI ON
M_DON: YES IS THIS MR GILES
WIKAGURL: YES DO YOU HAVE INFO
M_DON: YOU SAID THE DEMONS APPEARED HUMAN BUT WITH A DEMONIC PRESENCE
M_DON: AND THERE WERE 4 WARRIORS
WIKAGURL: YES
M_DON: DID THEY WEAR ANY INSIGNIA OR CREST
Faith thought back, trying to remember anything. She could remember all of their weapons down to the last detail, but was at a loss to describe their clothing. Anything she tried to remembered was overshadowed by the image of Buffy being struck by the demon's sword. The sword…
Faith bolted upright.
"They weren't wearing anything like a uniform, but all of them had swords with the same symbol on the hilt. It looked like a person chained up or something."
WIKAGURL: ON THE HILT OF THE SWORD WAS A PERSON IN CHAINS
M_DON: AS I SUSPECTED THOSE WERE THE ELITE
M_DON: A SPECIAL HALF-DEMON WARRIOR GROUP BELONGING TO THE DEMON LORD CALIGULA
M_DON: HE RULES SEVERAL DIMENSIONS BUT IS BASED OUT OF THE CEREBUS DIMENSION
M_DON: IT IS MOST LIKELY YOUR SLAYER WAS TAKEN THERE
Faith gestured towards the computer saying, "Ask geekboy for stats on this Caly demon so I can find it and kill it."
WIKAGURL: WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THIS DEMON
M_DON: HE HAS RULED FOR SEVERAL CENTURIES OUr TIME
M_DON: HE USES HALF-DEMONS TO FIGHT WHICH IS UNUSUAL BUT MAY BE THE REASON FOR HIS LONGEVITY
M_DON: HIS SYMBOL IS THAT OF A CHAINED/TORTURED INDIVIDUAL BECAUSE HE IS REPUTED TO HAVE THE BEST TORTURES IN ANY DIMENSION
M_DON: THEY ARE SAID TO HAVE NEVER ALLOWED AN INDIVIDUAL TO DIE DURING TORTURE UNTIL THEY HAVE TOLD THEM EVERYTHING THEY KNOW
In a quiet voice, Giles asked Willow to find out about the time differential between their dimension and Caligula's. There was a long pause before Donachelli answered.
M_DON: ROUGHLY FOR EVERY DAY THAT PASSES HERE TWO YEARS PASS THERE
M_DON: BY NOW YOUR SLAYER IS EITHER DEAD OR HAS TOLD CALIGULA EVERYTHING SHE KNOWS
Giles reached over Willow's shaking shoulders to type.
WIKAGURL: IS THIS DIMENSION IN DANGER
M_DON: NO
M_DON: UNLESS SOMEONE ATTEMPTS TO OPEN A PORTAL FROM OUR DIMENSION TO THEIRS
M_DON: SINCE HELL DIMENSIONS SHIFT IN RELATION TO EACH OTHER
M_DON: THEY WOULD EITHER HAVE TO BE VERY LUCKY
M_DON: OR USE AN INCOMING PORTAL AS A BEACON
WIKAGURL: THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE
Giles reached over and shut off the monitor. Silence pervaded the library as four people sat in shock as their hopes shattered into pieces.
TBC
A/N: Remember, they have no way of knowing if Buffy is alive or dead because the Slayer line no longer runs through her so another slayer would not be called after her death
This chapter is kinda short, but this was a good place to leave off so expect the next chapter tomorrow
Not that I'll be in any hurry to post it if you don't REVIEW winks