Authors Notes 2: good news people, I have a set story-arc in my head which will take this story to it's completion. It may not seem like it's getting anywhere near to being complete, but it is. The events in the near future will still occur as I had been planning them out, except they are now apart of a much larger story arc. I am expecting this story to be 200,000+ by the end tho, so the ending is over the horizon a bit, but we're getting closer.
Chapter 46 Awakening Part 1
Somewhere in England
By the time Illyria and Inanna were satisfied, eighteen human bodies were laying outside the entrance to the Deeper Well, the location where the souls of the rest of their race lay slumbering. All of the human bodies were in perfect condition, as seen to by Inanna and Illyria, but were all in an artificial coma as induced by the pair. When Inanna had returned from her original expedition to the nearby human settlement, returning with a number of bodies, it had been decided by Illyria and Inanna that more bodies were needed. Illyria had lain the foundations of the magicks throughout the surrounding rock and through the barrier preventing them from entering the Deeper Well. All that it would need was the input of a large amount of energy, from either Illyria or Inanna and the invisible magickal tendrils that had been lain by Illyria would tighten and crush the surrounding rock and the barrier itself, much like a snake crushing it's prey with it's body. Inanna thought that it was silly of the Powers that Be, Wolfram and Hart and all other bodies which were now on a higher plane to think that anything they could put up would stop an Old One, a let alone two of the most powerful Old Ones which existed across a multitude of dimensions long ago. They would get through eventually. The only thing that any of the now higher powers could do was to determine the amount of time it took for them to overcome the obstacle. Inanna looked to Illyria, and without speaking, they knew that it was time. Inanna watched as Illyria closed her eyes and moments later, she could detect a wave of invisible energy pulse out from Illyria in the direction of the barrier. Inanna looked to the barrier and could see that it was fluctuating and pulsing in rhythmic motions. Moments passed, which turned into minutes; the barrier slowly getting weaker and weaker as it was literally overpowered and outmatched. The barrier eventually collapsed, leaving both Illyria and Inanna free to enter the Deeper Well.
As Inanna entered the Deeper Well, she opened her senses and could feel the power of magicks of old, the magicks used when her race ruled this earth, permeating throughout the walls, ebbing and pulsing and keeping the rest of the Old Ones in their deep slumber. She closed her eyes and let the power wash over her, each ebb of power taking her mind back to times before she was bound to this corpse, floating through universes and sowing the seeds of evolution among the lesser beings, toying with what she could create. To some races, she was the creator being, responsible for the entire universe, as so the belief of early human civilization. She was known as the mother goddess, Inanna, Gaia, and many more names that the humans had given to her. It was as she was lost in her thoughts when she sensed it, a distinct presence within the very air around her. She opened her eyes and looked around, only to see the walls of the entrance of the Deeper Well and Illyria, looking around much like she was.
"The First watches us from afar," Inanna said to Illyria, only voicing the fact known by both beings.
"Show yourself. We are aware of your presence," Illyria said to the ether around her. Inanna turned around as she sensed the presence around them slightly shift in it's energies and concentrate behind her. She saw an image of Caelecae standing before them.
"This plan of yours will not work. You do not have time to properly resurrect your people," The First commented to them. "My followers have almost overrun this island nation, and they are all heading to The Deeper Well at this moment, to destroy it and all of your slumbering, helpless brethren," The First said.
"This world is ours," Inanna replied. "An ethereal being such as yourself is not meant to have corporeal form. They are the rules of the universe, which cannot be changed by any being, including yourself," Inanna replied.
"We will raise our brethren and seek you out, where we will pulverise your shell into a useless pile of sludge," Illyria said to The First. "We will then drive you out of this existence."
"You had better hurry. Your time is waning," The First replied to them before its image shimmered out of existence. Inanna just looked at Illyria, alarmed at what The First had just said. The First was attempting to wipe out their entire race, and they had opened The Deeper Well so its followers could do so.
"We must seal this place with our power, making it impossible for the mortal beings of The First's minions to enter," Inanna said. She saw that Illyria looked at her, seemingly alarmed.
"One of the first rules of combat is that there is always a way to accomplish your objective. The followers of The First will find a way to enter this place, even if we do seal it," Illyria replied. "Hurry, we must use the body of The Slayer we abducted from the Hellmouth. The first of us to be resurrected must use its body, it will be the strongest shell of any of us," Illyria said. Inanna immediately went outside to retrieve the body of the slayer they had abducted from the humans in the town they called Sunnydale. She picked up the body of the Slayer and returned inside The Deeper Well, where she found Illyria standing in front of Neptune's sarcophagus.
"I will start resurrecting the others," Inanna said to Illyria as she placed The Slayers body on top of Neptune's sarcophagus.
"We will need more bodies," Illyria said just as Inanna turned to go. "We must revive our entire race or else they will be destroyed."
"There is surely to be humans within The First's followers on this island. When they come, I and the others which have been resurrected will stand guard outside the Deeper Well and give you the human bodies which we disable," Inanna replied. Inanna knew that it would be a difficult task not to break the human bodies, and she knew that they couldn't use demon's bodies to resurrect the rest of their race, or else some will be more powerful than Illyria and Inanna. Already, if the resurrection was successful, Neptune would be more powerful than both of them because of the stronger shell that Neptune would possess, however it had been deliberately crafted so that Neptune, one of the more placid of their race, would have the stronger shell. Inanna exited the Deeper Well and retrieved another body.
Summers' Base Camp – Sunnydale, California.
They were all packed into Buffy Summers living room and surrounding hallways to listen to the news reports coming from the TV. The military helicopter which had travelled over the base camp hours ago had dropped a large amount of equipment, complete with instructions. One of the pieces of equipment was a military grade satellite dish which they had hooked up to the TV and used to pick up a news station which was still broadcasting. What they were hearing wasn't looking too good.
"Dire times today as the Japanese and French governments both used nuclear weapons on at least one of their cities in order to attempt to curb the threat of these 'vampires'. Both governments have stated that their intelligence showed that the cities were almost completely overrun with demons and vampires and that any civilians within the cities would not have suffered. That puts the total number of cities to receive nuclear blasts to five now, including Liverpool, England; LaBelle, France; Nakasaki, Japan; Frankfurt, Germany; and Edmonton, England. Meanwhile, air strikes have continuted in Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York, Seattle and Fresno today as the military attempts a major push against the sub-terrestrials in the area..." Xander was beginning to wish that they didn't receive the communication equipment. It was better if they didn't know what was going on in the outside world, because then they wouldn't realise how bad it really was.
Somewhere beneath Sunnydale.
As her senses began to come back to her body, she could hear the Earth singing to her softly, taking care of her, nurturing her. Slowly, energy returned back to her body from its intended period of rest. As she began to wake, she could feel tendrils of blackness spreading throughout the earth, feeling and reaching out for something. She hadn't even fully returned to consciousness and she could feel them. They were going throughout the entire planet, creating a network of energy beyond anything she'd ever known. Somewhere deep in her mind, she knew that she needed to get out of her current location: that she needed to wake up and get out of there, as she was buried within the earth that these tendrils were spreading through. Willow had been using the energy of the Earth to revive her body and replenish the energy she expended, however it dawned on her unconscious mind that she could no longer do that; she had been lucky that the tendrils of blackness spreading through the earth had not found her yet. If they had, she would have surely died, or something worse could have happened to her. Her unconscious mind forced her back to consciousness, awaking her body in an instant.
Willow awoke with a large startle, and immediately, she panicked. There was blackness all around her, and she could feel like she was confined in a tight space, a box perhaps. She immediately started to panic and feel around with her hands and her feet, however it only eluded her to her predicament, there wasn't very much space where she was. It was only after a few moments that her plan and come back to her, that she had etched out a cavity in the Earth and safeguarded it as a place for her to recover. She now knew that she had been safe within her cavity, however she still felt very drained but she knew that it would take a while to get back to her proper state. Her plan had only been to recover her body to working order, not perfect working order. As she began to ground her mind and prepare to move herself out of the cavity. It was then that she sensed it, tendrils of blackness sweeping through the earth surrounding her, coming for her. She didn't have time to work out what they were, but Willow knew that she had woken up just in time. With that, she teleported herself out of her cavity to the surface above her.
The Deeper Well
Inanna stared at the sarcophagus in front of her in shock. She knew that this may happen, but had never expected it. Her sister, whom she had traversed through the many worlds for millennia, was dead. Illyria's attempt at resurrecting her had failed, killing both the mortal body and the Old One, both of them lost forever. The other four mortal bodies which they had used in resurrection so far were lying on top of their respective sarcophagi, the Old Ones inside hollowing out the shells and making their residence. It would be soon that they would awake, but the last time Inanna had moved outside The Deeper Well to retrieve a body, she could sense that the agents of The First were getting nearer, and they had only resurrected four out of hundreds. It was lucky for both Illyria and Inanna that the resurrection had not failed with the Slayer's body, killing it. Neptune was successfully being resurrected within the Hellmouth Slayer's body, forming a powerful ally or nemesis; it was yet to be foretold.
Inanna was experiencing sensations she had not felt before. She knew that it was of the human shell, that it was something they called an emotion. Already the human shell was beginning to erode at her being, and she knew that there was no way to change her shell. The feeling was weakening her, making her grieve for her lost sister, distracting her from her task before her.
"…Inanna," she heard Illyria saying to her. It occurred to her that she had been that indeed, distracted. "Do not let the human shell's influence extend beyond the physical limitations of it's body. We need to start again on another and revive as many as we can," Illyria said to her. Inanna snapped out of her daze and looked at Illyria, knowing what needed to be done. She would go outside and retrieve all of the human bodies before the armies of The First arrived.
Inanna walked out of the Deeper Well, and as soon as she exited, she sensed a presence in the woods in front of her. She moved in front of the pile of bodies which they had gathered; fifteen remaining. She stood, watching the wooded area in front of her. After a few moments, a figure in a black cape emerged, seeming to float above the ground. A number of other figures emerged from the woods after it, mostly demons, but a few humans and bringers mixed through the group. Inanna looked to the lead figure, knowing what it was, a Syopher. She could not believe that these pestilent beings were still in existence. It approached her at great speed, and Inanna moved to hit it in the head. Her hand hit nothing but empty air. Not used to dealing with the Syophers on the individual mortal level, she realised that they were extremely fast. Inanna turned around to face it, and memories started flooding her mind without her command, creating visions of her dead sister of millennia. Before Inanna knew what had happened, the Syopher had somehow sunken it's knife into her body, through her seemingly impenetrable skin. She staggered backwards, only to have another knife plunged into her back. The Syophers were a dangerous creature, and, as she had just learned, they were capable of harming her. She controlled the images in her head, and she was surprised to find that once she had done that, they enacted a ferocity within her towards the agents of The First as she had never experienced. It was because of the approaching agents of The First that they had sped through the resurrection process; it was because they sped that the resurrection of her sister had failed; these agents of The First would know bloodshed like they had never seen. She knew that these experiences which she was now feeing were because of her shell, and she knew that the small group of vampires and demons in front of her was dead. With lightning speed and precision, she surged forward and grabbed the head of the Syopher in front of her and snapped its neck. She then ducked below the blow that the other Syopher was attempting to deliver, and broke its bones while letting out a ferocious yell. Blood dripped down her arms as she turned to face the group of mortal beings in front of her.
Next chapter - Awakening part 2
After that - Chapter 48 - Aftermath (1/2 way complete so far).
Have a good one.