I want you to be clear on this. So far this Exaltation has proven useless to me. Its memories make its hosts rebellious, regardless of their original motives. Yet to purge them more thoroughly would ruin its best attribute.

Willow wondered how long she had to digest all this. Her body was lying crumpled on the courthouse steps, the thorn that had pierced her chest jostled free.

Time is effectively halted. Consider as long as you like. I ask nothing of you. Do as you like. Give free reign to your desires.

You wouldn't tell me that unless you were sure I was serving your interests. Willow wasn't the best at judging people's intent, but she wasn't stupid. You've been watching me! Haven't you?

Why deny it? Yes, I have observed you. You fancy yourself a hero, a defender of life. Perhaps you are. And yet you want the secrets of the greatest weapon ever created.

Willow took a moment to mull that over. Maybe it would be better for me to die, if I'll be that much use to you just existing.

The voice in her head chuckled. Do as you like. I doubt you'll survive the next few minutes. A shame your fate was to die in Yu-Shan, surrounded by the guardians of heaven. The Exaltation will return to me and eventually I'll manage to make it tractable. Someone will prove more loyal than Salina was independent, and I will have a useful agent. In time. As you wish.

Wait! You're sure you aren't going to try and manipulate me? If this being, this "Walker in Darkness", really had no way to control her...well, she did have work to do and people to protect. And she could have the power she wanted.

So far all my attempts with this one have failed. I don't expect you even to survive. Why present you with orders you won't live to carry out?

You get what you want. I get what I want. Sure, why not? It's a deal. She would survive and prove him wrong. Finally she could be the hero.

Chapter 26-War in Heaven

"Oh shit!" Fred started to lunge past Xander, but by the time she saw the thorn launched it was too late. The missile took Willow through the heart, dropping her almost instantly.

Willow's girlfriend wailed aloud and began flinging bolts of energy at the crowd of gods as it surged up the steps. Xander started for the stairs himself, only to halt in midstride. Perhaps Leviathan was telling him it was already too late.

The sun went out. Fred flinched involuntarily before remembering that the sun here was just a projected image and not a real fusion-powered star, then flinched again on realizing that it made even less sense for the disc in the sky to go jet black. Roiling eddies of blood surged through the canals Fred could see in the distance.

Wreathed in a spiral of black text that seeped out of the world around her, Willow rose to her feet. There was nothing natural about the motion; she might well have levitated her body into a standing position. "Uck," she muttered, prodding at her chest wound as black energy sank into her, staining her hair, her eyes, her very veins. "Nasty." She was the essence of power from beyond the world. Fred shivered. Someone had said once that power was the ultimate aphrodisiac. Right now she could believe it. The disc on Willow's forehead was the final, unfathomable black of an event horizon. It made her guts want to empty; it drew her gaze relentlessly.

Then the shouting began.

*****

Xander began to rush forward, only to feel a hand grasp his shoulder. "Think, boy!" Leviathan's unbreakable grip held him fast. "You cannot save her, and this is a trap we have sprung and must endure. Hold fast!"

Behind him, Leviathan began to grow. Around him, more Lunars dropped from his body and from Fred's, taking on their war forms or the shapes of dangerous beasts. The Sage of the Depths. Peleps Kolohi. Anja. Renjin, though for some reason the Changing Moon had become a brightly-colored frog. Raksi? She was here? The baboon-woman crouched, laughing wildly. Others Xander didn't recognize.

The mob of gods broke at the sight of them, milling about in confusion, but the looming bulk of Leviathan's war form must have been an unbearable challenge. Slighter, more human figures arrayed themselves beyond the gods. Sidereals, falling into the forms of their martial arts. Perhaps far more deadly than any Lunar beasts.

"Defend Yu-Shan!" It was the voice of Chejop Kejak. The ancient master stalked forward to the point of the wedge. Leviathan bellowed out a roar of defiance, of denial.

Battle was joined.

*****

"You want out, right?" Iron Siaka's motions were listless, but she was removing the collar from Buffy's neck. "And you want to save your friend, Willow? I'm afraid she's in as great a danger as you now."

Buffy wanted nothing more right now than to stop hurting inside, but that would never happen if Willow died. "What's going on out there?"

"Try telling Iron Siaka to forget us and get back to the fight," the stranger suggested. Buffy did so, and Siaka hurried off, mace at the ready. "Half the city is in a panic, the Incarnae are rubbing their eyes and looking around, and the Lunars are facing off against the Bronze Faction. Good luck to the Lunars; they'll need it."

"So who are you and why are you helping me?" Buffy rubbed her wrists and stretched her back.

"Gold Faction has an interest in keeping both of you safe, if only to repair your Exaltations." The woman pulled Buffy to her feet. "I run the Cult of the Illuminated. Not that you'll remember long, but the name's Shaia."

*****

It was the longest shot that Rupert Giles had ever considered. He was, in the end, just a Watcher. Just a man.

The formula with which he had tipped the bolts was something else again. Of all the compounds used in the Cruciamentum this was the most ancient. It was not a muscle relaxant or an adrenaline suppressor. In truth it was only still used because it was traditional. The scrap of text that survived regarding it said only that it "disrupted the essential mystic force of the Slayer". Giles now believed it was the most critical of the drugs administered, believed it strongly enough to gamble the fate of worlds on. Rather a frightening thought, if he allowed himself to consider it.

He aimed the crossbow. Before he could do more, the aged man at the triangle's point glared and made a sweeping motion with his hand. The crossbow shattered into a million pieces.

Damn.

*****

Tara wanted to burst into tears and never stop. She wasn't as strong as the other Scoobies; she knew that. But she forced herself to hold the emotion inside and take Willow's arm. "Goddess, Will. Why?" She stumbled as she realized that Fred had taken hold of Willow's other hand. What was that about?

"It was worth the risk," Willow said. "Look around us. This world needs help."

Fred's expression was pained. "Abyssals aren't 'help', Willow."

A deafening roar shook the three of them. Willow turned to see a lion dog approaching them and wrenched her hand free of Fred's grasp. She bent low, dipping her hand into the bloody canal, and flicked a handful of droplets at the divine policeman. They shot out like bullets, piercing its hide, and the being howled and backed away, at least for now.

"Not good enough," Willow murmured. She looked around at the vast crowd of rioters and raised her voice. "I told you before to CLEAR OUT! No more warnings!" She raised both hands, and black lightnings crackled from them, searing the chaotic mass of divinities. Red lightnings, weaker but still powerful, roiled back to her from their wounds, draining off the energies from their lives. "Having fun now! I almost don't want you to listen up, but listen up! Clear the damn plaza NOW!"

Willow grinned as if the dispersing deities were her doing alone-and no doubt she was having some effect. Tara saw without the haze of euphoria that had filled Willow's dead-black eyes, though, and two groups of much more powerful Exalts were squaring off as the plaza emptied.

Willow did finally seem to see Xander and strode confidently toward him, Fred and Tara hanging onto her arms. From the look in her eyes, Fred must feel almost as useless as Tara did, and she had so much more power it was laughable. Tara couldn't fathom why Fred suddenly seemed so interested in Willow; Will's blackened features were no deterrent to Tara in themselves, but they weren't exactly conventionally attractive.

Xander backed warily away from Willow, though, and both his collection of Lunars and the Sidereals arranged behind the old man-someone important, Tara thought-lifted weapons or fists as she approached.

"Willow!" Fred shouted in her ear. "You're nowhere near strong enough to take them all on! Stop it now! They'll kill you! I know how it feels, but they are allstronger!"

"Please, Willow." Tara wasn't sure how much of her girlfriend even remained, but if she could be reached now there was a chance of getting through to her in the long run.

That jet gaze swung between them. "Willow doesn't live here any more," she said at last. "But you're right. I need to be stronger first."

For a moment Tara thought the assembled Exalts would join together and attack Willow anyway. Then the moment broke as Leviathan bellowed out a challenge, and vast mystic energies surged between the two gathered hosts, many of the individual currents dwarfing even the terrifying power Willow had manifested.

"Get her away, Tara. Please. I have to help." Fred turned and ran for Xander's side, calling back, "Take care of her!"

As if there were anything Tara could do.

*****

"Buffy!"

The Slayer raised her exhausted gaze at the sound and saw it running at her. The thing that had raped her mind, made her fight the invincible, and brought her here to be corrupted. Shaia kept moving, heading for a group still emerging from a nearby building, but Buffy turned to face the thing that had called itself her sister.

Dawn flung her arms out in a lying embrace, and Buffy pretended to return the gesture-then spun and clotheslined her, dropping her to the ground.

"Buffy? What are-?" She rolled frantically aside as Buffy's fist slammed into the pavement.

"What am I doing? I'm doing what I should've done the first time I laid eyes on you!" A second punch cracked the stone next to Dawn. "You are not my sister. There is nothing good or clean in you!" The third punch connected, breaking the thing's arm. "You can't feel anything real! You're nothing to me!" Mock fear and despair welled up in the pretend-girl's eyes.

A blow from behind sent Buffy flying. "You get off her!" Buffy picked herself up off the ground, expecting Xander or Fred or Anya to meet her gaze.

Dawn's rescuer was Glory. The hellgoddess hoisted Dawn up by her intact arm. "Don't try to fight the Exalted," Glory warned. "You're not up to it yet. I'm a specialist."

With one last terrified look at Buffy, Dawn turned and fled. Buffy let them go.

The thing that had pretended to be her sister and the thing that had tried to end the world deserved each other.

Shaia came running up, flanked by a group of other Sidereals, including the one who'd called himself Crimson Banner Executioner. "Help the Lunars!" Shaia shouted. "Buffy, we have to get-"

Buffy stalked toward the battle. She had seen a real friend.

*****

Anya was torn. The Sidereals, even Kejak, had been good to her. Even if this audit was their doing, it wasn't anything personal. Only now they were preparing to kill Xander, something they had only discussed before.

He was dangerous. But then, all of them were dangerous. Gunn had beaten down a leech god with no superpowers at all. Tara, for all her peaceful ways, could kill you with an idle gesture. Xander himself had slammed Glory with a wrecking ball, hurting her as much as any of them till the very end. Who was an ex-demon to judge when Xander was too dangerous to live?

Damn it all. She was. She was an Ending now. And she chose "not yet". Maybe she was wrong. Anyone could be, though. Even Chejop Kejak.

She strode up behind Xander. She had prepared for this during the trial, after all. At least a little.

Anya assumed Throne Shadow Form.

*****

Compared to most of the Sidereals here, Xander was a child. He had been a Solar only months. But he was still a Solar. And he had spent the last five years of his life fighting enemies far stronger than he was. This wasn't so different.

Well, maybe it was. The Sidereal he was fighting flickered aside from his strongest blows as if he'd never been there. There were ways, if he could just remember them. Nelumbo had been right not to let him rely too much on Wavecleaver; they'd all had to leave their weapons behind.

Anya gestured emphatically, and she and Fred moved into position around their foe. Her kick missed, as did Fred's punch, but Xander's blow connected with the Sidereal's jaw, knocking him down.

"Good show, Anh!" His girl beamed at him and together, the three of them moved on to the next enemy.

*****

Giles was just glad that after destroying the crossbow the aged Exalt had ignored him and Wesley. From the looks of it he could have taken out the whole group of Scoobies, perhaps minus their Exalted, with one flick of his finger.

He almost called out as Buffy came racing up, but she silenced him with a finger to her lips. She reached him, hugged him tightly, and picked up the shattered bolt.

"Cruciamentum," he murmured. The Exalted might hear him even over the roar of battle, but with a little luck they couldn't guess at the implications. Buffy began to jerk away, then glanced up at the fighting and understood. She picked up a handful of bolts and began to slip closer.

*****

Another contingent of Sidereals was forming up around the black-haired abomination. Chejop Kejak snarled under his breath. Gold Faction had betrayed them for the last time. There would be an end to the coddling of traitors to Creation.

To his dismay, Anya had joined her fiance among the Lunars. What a pity it would be to lose her. Stronger methods would be in order after the battle. Perhaps there would have to be a re-education program for all of Gold Faction, though he had always resisted such drastic measures. Desperate times, however. Anya was not wrong that unity and reform were needed.

Chejop faced his only possible equal now. He faced Leviathan and knew himself the Admiral's better. If only. If only they had tried to recruit the Lunars. If only they had died on Calibration. If only their Exaltations could have been caught as well. If only. Leviathan brought down a massive fist, and Chejop blocked it with the merest flick of his staff. He could do this all day. His powers over Fate informed him of the slightest dangers. His doom might be drawing near, but it would never come from a mere Lunar, not even the Admiral. Perhaps he would die in bed tomorrow.

A dozen sharp points scratched his back. Chejop spun. The Summers girl. What a fool. He flicked his fingers at her and flung her away. She could be dealt with later. She was barely a flea, outside Fate or not.

Leviathan swung a massive tail at him, and Chejop leapt up and over. Strange. He felt winded, and his caste mark flared brightly. How was he digging so deep already? He rubbed his back. A poison? Well, he merely needed to purge it from his system.

The raging whale-man's kick sent him flying.

*****

"Dzhesus," Shaia gasped as Chejop Kejak crashed against a building. Willow stared at her. "Sorry. Some kind of slang term going around the Bureau. Willow, it's not safe for you here right now. Come with me and Buffy. We can train you."

Willow sneered at her even as she considered the point. Better than serving Deathlords, an unfamiliar part of her pointed out. Watch out for them to manipulate us too, though. "Get us out of here with Tara, and I'll go."

"With Tara." Shaia shook her head-in puzzlement, not rejection. "You strangers know so little. As you like."

Willow flung more of the strange black bolts. Not electricity, not really. "Not leaving without her."

"Then come on."

*****

The immense whale-man stomped again on the man who had tried to kill Xander. Buffy stood back and let him. Chejop deserved it for what he'd done. To her friends. To this world. And ultimately to her, apparently. "I could've been a hero," she murmured.

Shaia took her by the shoulder. The Sidereal had Willow's hand, and Willow Tara's. "Come with me if you want to live," she said.

Buffy hesitated. "Lytek," she began.

"In a few weeks, maybe." Shaia sighed. "Heaven will be in chaos at least that long. You're not safe here even in his custody till things settle."

Buffy hung her head. "I'm not sure I do."

"Then give yourself the benefit of the doubt." Shaia seized her hand. "The main gates are guarded, but there are secret ways out."

Buffy glanced at Willow, who shrugged. "She's not wrong. They hate us here." Tara just looked terrified.

"Can we get back to my place?" Buffy had no intention of abandoning Gem if she could avoid it. Either Mnemon would take it for the Realm or a truly malicious Infernal would take over, wearing her face perhaps. She had just wanted to free herself from the Yozis.

"As soon as possible," Shaia agreed. "Move!"

Buffy moved.

*****

The battle was not yet over, not truly. But Chejop Kejak, secret lord of Creation, was down. "Why?" he begged Anya, who stood over him. "Why?" His body was broken. It would heal, of course. If there were time. But months would be required. Months he no longer had.

Anya's tears seemed genuine enough. "All things end," she said quietly. "Even empires. You did your best. But it's been fifteen hundred years. It's time for something new."

Perhaps she was right. He had preserved Creation for another Age. Chejop lifted a mangled hand to her face. "I'm sorry," he said, "that I never had the chance to teach you Sidereal martial arts."

"I have time," she said gently.

"Yes," he agreed. "But I truly wanted...to watch you learn." She would need to master a Celestial art first. Throne Shadow? No. Let the Gold Star enjoy an irony.

With his last breath, he released Wood Dragon style into her heart.

*****

Ayesha Ura bowed herself low. "Leviathan. Welcome back to Heaven. I regret many things, not least that we discounted the Lunars. But in the end our goals are compatible, I should think."

"Hmm." Leviathan tilted his great head. "Perhaps. Let us see. Where are the profanations?"

"Shaia took them," Ayesha said. "Perhaps Lytek can cure them."

Leviathan growled deep in his throat. "You had best hope so. Still...I suppose their Exaltations were not first to be broken. You wish to bow, Ayesha?" She nodded. "Then bow yourself to Alexander Harris the Zenith, Admiral of Luthe."

Ayesha swallowed a deep breath of air. Alexander was a mere boy. So young. But then, she considered...older than the Age.

She bowed lower still.