Buffy didn't care about hope anymore.
As she ran through the stone city she and the other slaves had helped build — watching as the Daleks destroyed it and all the people inside it — she felt nothing but instinct. The Slayer inside of her, knowing that she needed to give these people a fighting chance.
And then… she needed to get out of there.
Fast as she could.
Aurentia kept asking her questions. What were the Daleks? Why was Buffy so scared of them? Were they really worse than the Dream Stealers? Aurentia couldn't imagine anyone worse than the Dream Stealers.
Buffy just concentrated on flipping and hurling them both out of the way of the Daleks, so they could get into that fortress.
She had to keep Aurentia safe.
The two Dream Stealers they were following arrived at the front gate. And found the exterminated bodies of two of their colleagues — lying dead, their faces in agony.
The Dream Stealers seemed shocked.
So was Aurentia.
Buffy wasn't.
"This is impossible," said the Dream Stealers. "We cannot die in this way."
"Yeah, but Daleks aren't your average monster," Buffy said, coming out of her hiding place. She clutched Aurentia's hand, tightly. "They're tough. Ruthless. And smart. If there's any way to kill something — trust me, they'll find it."
The Dream Stealers turned.
Noticing Buffy.
And Aurentia.
"The new Dreamer," they said. "She must be protected."
"Yeah, so it's a good thing I'm with her," said Buffy. "Because I'm the only one who knows about Daleks around here. So you better listen to…" She stopped. As what they'd said registered in her brain. "Hang on. 'The new Dreamer'?"
A Dalek emerged from the shadows.
And the Dream Stealers opened the fortress, hurriedly. Ushering Buffy and the other inside. "Protect the new Dreamer," said the Dream Stealers. "Her installation is our only salvation."
"EXTERMINATE!"
The Dream Stealers cried out.
As they surged with energy from the Dalek beam, which zipped through them and made their bodies contract and squeeze in a way that ripped screams of utter agony from their throats…
Buffy yanked Aurentia into the fortress.
And sealed the door behind them.
"That won't hold the Daleks for long," Buffy said. Turning on her heel. "We've got to…!"
Aurentia squeaked.
And Buffy saw that they were now surrounded by Dream Stealers. All looming, threatening them, but none actually attacking.
"The old Dreamer fails," said the Dream Stealers. "The new Dreamer must be installed. Or we will be destroyed."
"You're going to be destroyed anyways!" Buffy insisted. She pointed outside. "You need to give those people something to fight for, or they're never going to fight back! You need to give them dreams, or hope, or—"
She stopped.
Looked down at Aurentia.
"Oh, my God," Buffy breathed. As it suddenly made sense to her. "That's why you let me tell her stories about fighting and stuff. Why you wanted me around her. You haven't been taking away all her dreams — only the dreams you didn't like."
"The old Dreamer dreamt of building and empires," said the Dream Stealers. "The new one thinks of war and battle. That is what we need."
Aurentia squirmed, uncomfortably. "What…?"
"Kids have too many dreams to get rid of them all," Buffy told Aurentia. "You don't know what you want, and it changes all the time anyways. You've got too much imagination, and you think you can do anything when you grow up!"
Aurentia still looked scared.
And confused.
"I always thought it was weird that they didn't just kill you," said Buffy, "since they couldn't ever get rid of all your hopes and dreams. But they weren't eliminating your dreams to make you a hopeless slave — like all the rest of us." She looked down at the child.
Feeling her heart go out to the poor girl.
"They were pruning you… like a tree," said Buffy. "Trying to make you come up with dreams that would be useful to them."
"But… but what do they want with my dreams?" said Aurentia. "I thought dreams were bad!"
"The only hope must be the Dreamer's hope," said the Dream Stealers. "The only ambition the Dreamer's ambition."
Buffy pointed at the Dream Stealers. "Look at them, all talking at the same time and walking in unison and stuff," she said. "I've fought tons of monsters over the years, and I know from experience — these guys are all connected together. Like, in their heads."
"This is true," said the Dream Stealers. "Our thoughts join together. A singularity. To make us strong."
"Yeah, strong but ambitionless," said Buffy. She put one hand on her hip. "You guys don't dream, huh? Then one day, someone who had dreams and goals and ambitions invaded your dimension — probably someone who needed to acquire a huge slave force. They took advantage of how you guys worked, and hooked their own brain up to you. But you stole their dreams, instead, and enslaved that person for yourselves. You've been using their ambitions this whole time!"
The Dream Stealers didn't deny it.
"The old Dreamer fails," said the Dream Stealers. "The new Dreamer must be installed."
They surged forwards, to grab Aurentia away. But Buffy kept hold of the girl, tightly. Wouldn't let her go.
"Hey! No one's getting installed into anywhere, bud!" Buffy shouted. She stepped forwards, eyes narrowed. "Where she goes, I go. And trust me — you don't want to piss off a Slayer."
The sounds of dying grew louder and louder, outside.
And smoke began to waft through the room, as the Daleks started burning their way inside the fortress.
Aurentia squirmed out of Buffy's hands.
And ran towards the Dream Stealers. "If I come with you," Aurentia said, "can I become a hero? Like Buffy? Can I save everyone?"
"Yes," the Dream Stealers said.
Buffy grabbed Aurentia back. "You'll be destroying yourself!" she hissed. "And I'm so not letting a kid kill themselves for some stupid dreamless aliens!"
"I want to be a hero, like you!" Aurentia insisted. A big smile on her face. "I want to beat monsters like the First Evil and the Judge and the vampires. I want to give people back their dreams and let them all go free! I want to dream outside my diary — and I can do that, if I go with them."
"You don't know what you want!" Buffy shouted. "You're just a kid!"
But the Daleks were already half-way through the door.
And she didn't have time to argue.
The Dream Stealers flooded forwards, en masse. Prying the child away from Buffy's grip, Buffy wriggling and struggling to get back to Aurentia and save her from whatever horrible fate awaited her.
But the moment Aurentia was taken from Buffy… she lost hope.
Aurentia was doomed.
This whole hell dimension was doomed. What could Buffy do to change that?
She stopped fighting back. Feeling empty and hollow, once more. As Aurentia and the Dream Stealers faded from sight. Never to be seen again.
Like her daughter had faded from sight.
And now…
What was there left to believe in? What was there left to fight for? Why go on, when Buffy knew that every step she took would be full of evil and hell, and would ultimately lead her nowhere?
The Dream Stealers restraining her felt her hopelessness.
And their grips relaxed.
Then the door fell in.
And the Daleks emerged.
"EXTERMINATE!" they screamed, in tinny metallic voices.
Shooting their gun sticks full blast, striking the Dream Stealers surrounding Buffy, so they cried out and crumbled to the ground, dead.
Buffy stared into the eyestalk of the Daleks.
Then turned and ran.
Fast as she could.
Didn't matter about thoughts or hopes or dreams or anything. This was instinct. Just get away from them. Far away. Fast as she could. Get away and don't ever look back!
The heat from a Dalek gun seared just beside her, but didn't hit her. She spun round a corner, darting through the fortress, never stopping for a single second.
No one left to save but herself.
That was the only thing she had left.