Chapter Twenty Seven: Inner Demons
Following a discussion between Faith and the sisters the witches had used magic to try to find Daniel or Glory or both, but without success. So much magic and so many magic users had been in the area that it interfered with their attempts at scrying. Either that or Glory had done something to hide herself and Daniel from any magical search. Rather than draw attention to themselves by going back to town and asking questions Prue had suggested that she stake out the dungeon in case Glory used it for another meeting.
"But she'll know you're there," Paige had objected. "Like she did before. And she might not be so friendly this time."
"I won't actually be there," said Prue. "Not in body anyway. I'm hoping she won't be able to detect my astral form. Especially if I get there before she does, so she won't feel me arrive."
"But you won't be able to do anything against Glory in your astral form," said Piper.
"I don't think we should be doing anything against Glory anyway," said Prue. "We've discussed all this. We mustn't interfere with what's going to happen."
"So how do you suggest we get Daniel back then?" asked Faith.
"We might not have to," said Prue. "Remember, we have the automatic return part of the time travel spell in force. All we really have to do is make sure nothing happens to Daniel up until it takes effect."
"Something might have happened to him already," said Faith. "He was unconscious when I last saw him."
"And we've got to make sure he isn't made to talk about the future," said Piper. "Although it might be too late for that. I expect Glory knows all about truth spells. It's a good job he doesn't know anything about what Glory did back on Earth."
"If the Goa'uld get hold of him they might put one of those Goa'uld parasites inside him," said Paige. "We don't want a Goa'uld Daniel going back to the future."
Some hours later Prue Halliwell was once again watching from the shadows. Once again she was standing in the dark listening to Glory have a conversation with the Goa'uld Ninurta. She now knew about Glory's proposal to exchange Daniel for Lissie, whoever that was. After watching the Goa'uld leave she saw Glory go over to Daniel and teleport the two of them away.
Back in the woods Prue opened her eyes. She quickly told her sisters and Faith what she had heard and witnessed.
"So we've got to be at this meeting and grab Daniel before the Goa'uld takes him away," said Piper. "We can't let Daniel be taken by the Goa'uld. That would ruin everything."
"Or we wait until the exchange has taken place and then rescue Daniel from the Goa'uld," suggested Faith. "That'll be a lot easier if Glory's out of the way first."
"But if we snatch Daniel from Ninurta won't he think Glory's double crossed him? asked Piper. "Especially as we'll probably have to use witchcraft. That could make a big difference to the timeline. It might break up his deal with Glory."
"But snatching Daniel before Ninurta arrives means we've got to find some way of getting in and out of the dungeon without letting Glory know we're there," said Paige. "Unless we can somehow find out where she's keeping him."
"What is it Prue?" asked Piper. Prue had not really taken any notice of what the others had been saying. She was deep in thought.
"I was thinking about this Lissie," said Prue. "I would guess the Goa'uld have her as some sort of hostage. She's obviously connected to Glory in some way, maybe a relative. But before we got here Glory didn't have anybody to exchange for her. We've changed things. We haven't just got to rescue Daniel, we've got to stop Glory getting Lissie back."
"You don't know that," said Faith. "Glory might have got this Lissie back some other way. You're just guessing."
"We can't afford to guess and get it wrong Prue," said Paige.
"It's about now that a vision from Phoebe would be a big help," said Piper with a sigh. "After this is over I'm swearing off any more time travel. It makes my brain hurt."
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Buffy reached the door to the Control Center to find it shut, something that surprised nobody. It was not a door which could easily be forced even by somebody of Buffy's strength. Unlike many of the doors found aboard the ship this was a metal reinforced drop down door, designed to be air tight if necessary and meant to be resistant to anything short of the application of explosives. Of course at the moment, with gravity reversed, it was a drop up door.
Before trying any sort of assault on the door Buffy turned to Jack: "Do you know anything about opening doors like this?" she asked. "Or should I start just battering away at it?"
"Isn't your red headed friend meant to be opening all the doors for us via the computer?" asked Jack as he looked at the blank, shut door. "Perhaps we should call her," he added pulling out his radio.
"She said she'd try to open all the doors," said Xander. "Try. But I expect she's busy at the moment. She can't do everything. You military guys have got to pull your weight some time."
Jack raised his eyebrows but said nothing in response. Guess I must have touched a nerve. Don't criticise my girlfriend? But Sam's sure Willow and Tara are an item. Maybe Xander's just got issues with the military?
"I expect she's busy with the gravity business," said Buffy to Xander. "Is there anything you could try that might work without us having to bother Willow?" she added to Jack.
Jack was examining the sides of the door and at last found what he was looking for. "Well I've got some explosives but they won't work now. But there maybe something I can do. First I need to work open this panel," he said looking at an almost invisible square on the wall which he knew was a panel which covered some of the control wiring.
The panel was a little above head height for Jack now that everything was upside down. As he pondered and rummaged in his pockets for a suitable tool to use to prise open the panel Buffy, anxious to keep moving, jumped up in the air and hammered her fist into the panel. The crumpled panel fell to the floor.
"Well that works I guess," said Jack who proceeded to start work on the wiring. Must remember not to make a pass at any of these chicks he thought. Shut up O'Neill he said to himself. Most of them are much too young for you anyway. I wonder if they're all naturally beautiful or if that's another benefit of knowing about magic. I always thought it funny that powerful witches were meant to be ugly crones. If the women I've known had known about magic I know the first thing they'd have used it for.
"Now the last time we were on a Goa'uld ship I think Carter joined these two wires together and that opened the door," said Jack as he worked away. "The Goa'uld never were set up to deal with burglars."
Abruptly the door began to open. Since everything was upside down the door began to sink into a slot in what was now the floor. Determined to take advantage of any surprise they might still have Buffy leapt over the descending door as soon as the gap was wide enough and disappeared inside. Jack and Xander followed quickly after, leaping over the still falling door.
Inside the room a fight was already in progress. Sam Carter was struggling with another woman on the floor up against the far wall while Angel was busy with a group of Jaffa to the right. Jack rushed over to Carter and took out the unknown woman with the butt of his gun. Meanwhile Buffy started towards the Jaffa but changed her mind almost immediately because into the room from the left came a seven foot tall armoured...something.
It wasn't clear whether the giant figure was a human in some sort of armoured suit or a robot. The figure said nothing and gave no indication either way. Whatever it was it headed straight for Angel. But it didn't get that far because Buffy intervened.
To start with Buffy went for the legs. Diving low she used her legs to trip the figure by slamming a brutal kick into the back of one knee. She succeeded in unbalancing the figure and sending it tottering across the room, crashing into the wall. The wall however enabled the figure to remain on its feet. It turned back at once only to receive a high powered slayer kick to the head from a leaping Buffy. This once again sent it crashing back into the wall.
While Buffy kept the armoured figure busy Xander joined Angel in confronting the group of Jaffa. He hit his first opponent with the Zat gun that was still in his hand. The Jaffa fell towards Angel who took advantage by knocking the man unconscious.
As the fighting continued Jack helped Sam to her feet. "The controls are through there," she gasped and pointed towards the open door from where the robot figure had come. Jack started off in that direction but Sam grabbed his arm. "But so are Marduk and a group of witches."
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Working her way into the controls of the spaceship was a lot more difficult for Willow than it had been the last time she was on the ship. The last time there had been no magical defences, no witches working against her. Now things were different.
The witches working for Marduk had obviously learned something from what Willow had done before and they'd taken steps to try to prevent Willow from accessing the ship's systems again. So far they had been only partially successful.
Willow had not been able to take control of all of the main workings of the ship because so far she could not break into the main computer. She had however successfully isolated three decks of the ship from enemy control. Those decks, including the hanger deck with the Stargate, were now occupied by the attacking forces and were transmitting no information to Marduk and his forces. They were therefore 'blind' as far as knowing what was going on in the areas that had been taken over.
Willow's control of the ship's systems was now sufficient to maintain normal air and gravity in the areas controlled. The non-violence spell did not depend on any of the ship's systems and was still being maintained throughout the ship by three of the Kallistien witches working together. They had so far rebuffed all attempts to break that spell by the defending witches.
"Some of them should have reached the Control Centre by now," said Giles. "We should soon hear how they've got on, one way or another."
"I think I'll know when they get there," said Willow. "I'm hoping they'll distract the enemy witches and that'll let me get past their defences and into the main computer."
A young woman dressed as a Kallistian witch now ran into the room. She was nearly out of breath. "It's Phoebe," said Tara.
"I thought you were going to stay on the other side of the Stargate," said Willow to Phoebe. "Make sure we kept a line of retreat open?"
"Change of plan," gasped Phoebe who had run all the way from the Stargate on the hanger deck. The deck had now been secured by the Kallistien troops accompanying Teal'c and Drusilla plus the reinforcements that had come through the Gate from the SGC.
"I received a warning, one of my visions," said Phoebe. "We don't have much time, as usual."
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The three women leapt from the carriage just before it stopped and raced into the witch HQ. As she ran up the steps to the entrance behind Kennedy and Gwen, Cordelia checked out the wards protecting the building. They all seemed to be in order, each of them shone brightly as she pointed her wand at the various focus points.
There should be no possibility of a Goa'uld attack penetrating this building thought Cordelia. Not unless the attackers have got a lot of magic power themselves. Could the Goa'uld really have that many witches? Nobody who had been taken over by a Goa'uld parasite should be able to enter the building and all modern weapons should be prevented from working inside the premises.
The wards on the building had been updated following Lord Shumi's attempted coup. There were witches on duty at all times to maintain those wards. Even an attack by enemy witches would be very difficult unless something happened to the duty witches inside the building.
Inside everything was quiet, business as usual as far as they could tell. They had been recognised by the guards on the door and allowed to enter. There were several people in the entrance hall talking quietly and two people at the reception desk.
Kennedy wasn't one to take chances, nor was she one to make polite inquiries at a reception desk when there was danger pending. "Sound the alarm!" she shouted from the middle of the entrance hall. "Action stations! Red alert or whatever you people do. There's an attack coming in from the Goa'uld. We've received a warning..."
But at that moment things changed. An official, a tall grey haired man in a green robe, had walked calmly up to the three Earth women as if to ask what they wanted and what all the shouting was about. As he arrived in front of them he suddenly morphed into a large green demon. The demon snarled and leapt towards Kennedy.
It was only Kennedy's slayer reflexes that saved her from being injured by the demon's sharp pointed teeth as she jumped sharply backwards and to one side. Before the demon could properly turn on her she felled him with a fast right hook. The fallen demon immediately leapt back to its feet but was not fast enough to avoid the follow up kick to the head from the slayer. It fell back to the ground and Kennedy moved in for the kill.
"Don't kill it!" shouted Cordelia. "We might be able to change it back."
Kennedy stopped her blow and contented herself with keeping a careful watch on the unconscious demon to make sure it didn't show signs of reviving any time soon.
"This isn't what your vision showed is it?" asked Gwen. "I thought you said it was Jaffa, magic portals and all that sort of thing. You didn't say anything about demons."
"There weren't any demons in the vision," said Cordelia who began to get the feeling something was very wrong. "But I never get the whole picture. We'd better find the senior witches. They might be able to figure it all out."
Cordelia still had her wand in her hand and decided to see if she could break the spell that had changed the man into a demon. She had barely started to focus the wand when there was a scream from behind. The three women turned to see another demon, presumably also somebody who had just changed. Kennedy didn't hesitate, she ran across the room to do battle with the new demon.
"They're applying some sort of transformation spell to this place," said Cordelia to Gwen. "But how have they managed to get past all of the magical defences? This sort of magic shouldn't be possible in here."
"You're the magic expert but I think we've got to get back outside," said Gwen. "Or we might be changed as well. Whoever's doing this must be close by. We've got to get them before anything else happens."
Gwen stopped talking and staggered back. She had now begun to change. Cordelia aimed her wand at her friend and concentrated her power through it but it made no difference because the transformation continued. Cordelia was now faced with a demon in front of her, the demon who used to be Gwen and it now attacked. Cordelia ducked the large clawed hand that attempted to take her head off and fell to the floor. She noticed as she fell that there were now several demons in the room and most of the remaining humans seemed to be screaming and running away in all directions.
Cordelia rolled away from demon Gwen, desperately holding tightly to her magic wand and trying to aim it at Gwen to stop her attack and hopefully change her back. As she rolled she realised that she needed to work fast before she was changed into a demon herself. Before Cordelia could properly aim her wand it looked as if demon Gwen would grab her but suddenly the demon fell to the floor in a heap, struck from behind by Kennedy.
"Can't you stop this?" yelled Kennedy. "Because if you don't we'll all be..." Kennedy stopped talking and staggered away as she began to morph herself. Her transformation complete, demon Kennedy turned back towards Cordelia but Cordelia was no longer there. The room was now filled with nothing but demons.
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"The sooner these people have cell phones the better," said Kennedy.
"Oh yeah," said Cordelia. "Here we go again, haring across town at the last minute, hoping to arrive just in time. Reminds me of old times back in LA. Now if I could only get a little more advance warning in future?" The last was added in a loud voice with a look up to the heavens.
As if in response to her plea a figure now materialised in front of her, a very familiar figure indeed; a second Cordelia.
"What, who," said the first Cordelia, completely taken aback.
Kennedy stepped forward and confronted the new Cordelia. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded.
"I''m Cordelia," said the newcomer.
"No you're not," said the first Cordelia. "I am."
"Of course you are," said the second Cordelia. "And so am I. I've just come from a few minutes in the future. Now listen carefully, we've all been had. Things are not what they seem."
"You think?" said Gwen.
"No interruptions," said the second Cordelia. "I'll probably disappear as soon as I've changed the timeline. You're all about to dash off to the witch HQ to stop an attack from the Jaffa. That might still happen, I don't know. But you've got to sort out something else first because you're infected with a demon transformation spell, or at least I am."
"Infected?" said the first Cordelia stepping back. Kennedy and Gwen also stepped back away from the second Cordelia and on second thoughts they stepped away from the first Cordelia and each other as well.
The second Cordelia explained what had happened when the three of them had arrived at the witch HQ.
"As far as I'm concerned demons mean Wolfram and Hart," said the second Cordelia. "The people in the HQ changed because we took some infection, some magic spell, probably from that Wolfram and Hart book, in past the defences. That's why those people changed and why it happened soon after we got there."
"So how do you suggest we deal...," began the first Cordelia but even as she spoke the second Cordelia began to fade away.
"Don't use the wand," were final words the words the three women were able to hear as the second Cordelia completely disappeared.