To the Power Born: A Tale of the Slayers

Part 51: One Last Dance….

Jocelyn:

I led the way up. Catherine had told me how to get upstairs, and I went back, found Piper, Joyce, and Ian, and we all went up through the hidden door— which was right behind the console of locks that had opened the big vault door. I felt stupid. (Harry Dresden had vanished a very few moments after I'd finally broken the circle around Catherine Madison, if I had the timing right.)

I went in front, and Catherine came behind me, her hands tied behind her back, with Piper marching her along carefully. We came to a door a ways down that hall, I used the key Catherine had given me, and it opened, and stairs led up. A ways up, I pressed a button on a landing… and more stairs descended from above us. I went up them and came out on the concrete path that had been the magical gate down. The first thing I saw was Buffy, looking sharp and ready to fight— until she saw me.

Then there were people all around us, and hugs, and Graham took Catherine Madison off and cuffed her, and Xander and Buffy were holding onto Joyce and crying, and I saw my dad, and I… held on for a moment, didn't go to him just yet. Soon, yes— but I had one thing to do first, one thing that… well, it might make the hurt of mom dying a little easier to bear.

I found Judith, waved her over, and she came, hugged me, and kissed me. "Are you quite all right, Penobscot?" she asked after we parted.

"I'm… as good as I can be," I said. "I… Warren, he killed…."

"I know," she said. "I know, love, and I'm so damned sorry. I wish… I can't see my mother again, but she's still out there, somewhere. I wish I could… share that comfort with you, I do, Jocelyn."

I smiled a little, wiped my eyes with my arm, and said, "I… Judith. Maybe you can. Maybe… maybe you can."

With that, I took her by the shoulders and turned her around.

Mary Russell-Holmes had done as I'd asked, come out quietly and gotten behind Judith, waited for me to spring the surprise on her— she'd said it was the least she could do in return for bringing her here. (Mycroft Holmes had stayed, because he was an integral part of Britain's intelligence services, and there was a war on. But he had thanked me very courteously for the knowledge that Judith still lived, and for ensuring that she and her mother would be reunited.)

Judith turned, stared, then slowly, carefully pinched herself very hard on the arm, said a mild, "Ow"— and flung herself into her mother's arms, where they clung to each other and cried for a while.

I watched for a second, then went to crawl into my daddy's lap and cry for my mom.

We went home soon after, and the next morning, when I got up, Buffy said that Catherine Madison had died sometime in the night, had taken a slow-acting poison before she ever started her spell, apparently. She'd left a note that said only, "Tell Jocelyn that I said thank you for keeping me from becoming any worse than I am, and that I'm sorry… but I can't live with the things I've done."

I didn't go to her funeral, and I've never been to her grave… but I don't hate her. Not any more. She paid the price for what she did, and she did put some things right before she died.

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That was… almost eleven years ago, now. It's Labor Day of 2029, and I've been working on this off and on for the last year or so.

The aftermath… well. We buried my mom and Giles, and then, a few days after, my family and I took a little away time… in Amber. The mystical realm that, in their worldview, is the center of all realities, and maybe is, for all I know. Corwin stuck around after things were over, as promised, and he… well, he knew some of what Dad and the rest of us were feeling, and we spent some time on another freaking world to take our minds off of our pain, some. It helped, and these days? Well, Corwin comes around three or four times a year, as do Merlin and Coral, the youngest of the Amberites, and Corwin's sister, Fiona. (She's gotten to be great friends with Aunt Dawn and Aunt Sh'rin, and apparently thinks of Kelly Giles as a mother-figure.) And Ghostwheel, Merlin's sentient AI, he helps us out a LOT. He likes us, and Merlin likes us, and King Random thinks we're pretty much okey-dokey, so Ghostwheel acts as a transportation system for us, and our response times are WAY down, thanks to him.

Also… thanks to Ghostwheel, there are more and more worlds where the good and decent people of the lands have lifelong friends… of the winged and scaly variety. There are pseudo dragons all over Amber, all over Colin's home Earth, and a lot of other places. Including the Earth where Harry Dresden, Wizard, married Buffy Summers, refugee from an Earth that no longer had any magic. Harry's dragon friend is one of Ripley's first brood, a boy who named himself Thews, to Harry's vast amusement.

But before that, not long after the birth of my daughter— more on that later— a bunch of us went to space, and there… well, Spider Robinson got to see Aunt Elaine dance in space, live. And he also saw, at the same time, the first company dance ever done in space. He even played guitar along with part of the music. James Tanner wrote the music, of course, and Spider and Judith played with him and the London Symphony Orchestra, Spider on guitar, Judith on cello. The dance itself… well, that was the most fulfilling thing I've ever done that didn't involve saving a life— or bringing one into the world.

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Open, empty space. Into it walked a single figure, gliding on momentum from a brief burst of jets, but making the motions of walking, or perhaps dancing…. Aunt Elaine, in her clear, thin spacesuit, a white top and blue leggings under it, and she turned walking into dancing, as she can't help but do. In the background, slow, yet somehow threatening music, long, sustained notes from the woodwinds of the orchestra.

Very suddenly, a hulking figure seemed to drop on her from above, as though from nowhere. It came down, reaching, as the music roared— and it missed, as Aunt Elaine, visibly laughing, dove away, tucking and rolling as though on the ground, not in space. She recovered, and the monster— an indistinct form in gray, save for the face, that of a handsome man, distorted by the bumps, brow ridges, and yellow eyes of a vampire— came after her. The battle was short, and the monster "died," and was flung out of the picture. Aunt Elaine turned to go… and more monsters appeared, another "vampire" accompanied by a "classic" demon and a female vampire (who had brown hair and whose body bent in places and ways that few living beings could). They fought, and for a moment, things looked grim for the slayer… until the music swelled, and she "jumped" up above the group as they charged her. Her hand went up, the camera and a discreet spotlight followed—

—and she grabbed the scythe, even as the light hit it and reflected every which way, lit up three more girls, each dressed in what looked like a t-shirt and jeans under her spacesuit. One girl was small, delicate looking, and red-haired, another was almost as small, almost as delicate, and had thick, almost black hair, and the last… she had long, kinky, blond hair and violet eyes.

The music EXPLODED into fanfare, borrowed heavily from Also sprach Zarathustra (from 2001: A Space Odyssey), took a bit from David Bowie's Space Oddity, and deliberately evoked pretty much everything John Williams ever wrote for movies about heroes.

As the music exploded, Aunt Rose, Joyce and I joined in the battle. Aunt Elaine started with the scythe, passed it to Aunt Rose when she was flagging, who sent it to Joyce when she needed the boost, who passed it to me when the "monster" I was fighting got the better of me. In very short order, we "destroyed" those monsters, and for a few minutes, we just "sparred," danced with and around each other while we "trained," and the music shifted to something that was a peculiar-but-brilliant mix of playful as hell, but somehow urgent and important.

Then there were more monsters, six of them this time, and we fought them off, were tired out and wounded by our battle… and again, light hit the scythe, and more girls were "called" to the battle, though they mostly just danced around the edges, did the simple and repetitive things that were the space-dancing equivalent of being in the chorus line.

The cycle repeated, became more complex with each battle, and always, we won, though we paid a price. Aunt Rose "died," and was mourned, was replaced by Aunt Dawn, Aunt Elaine "died," and was mourned, was replaced by Autumn Innes, and we fought on.

At the end, there were four of us fighting a dozen monsters, and we won… and we celebrated, and we went our separate ways, "spread out across the world," as it were. The camera followed Aunt Dawn as she danced off, then Autumn, then Joyce, and finally, it focused on me. I had the scythe (the others had insisted on that during the choreography), and I slung it up on my right shoulder like a baseball bat as I "walked" away from the camera— and just at the last point where you could clearly see my face, I looked back at the camera… and jerked my chin in a gesture that plainly said, "come on, let's go." I kept "walking," climbed an invisible hill… and at the top, I "leapt into the air" and thrust the scythe into the air in a gesture that was part triumph, part exuberance— and pure, unadulterated JOY.

Then I faded out, and the title faded in: Chosen!

Just like that, exclamation point and all. And then, the credits:

Elaine Marshall as First Slayer

Ballard Innes as The Vampire, A Vampire and Other Monsters

Piper Benjamin as Female Vampire(s) the Tentacle Monster and Other Monsters

Colin Riley as The Demon and Other Monsters

Rose Killian as Second Slayer

Joyce Harris as Third Slayer

Dawn Innes as Fifth Slayer

Autumn Innes as Sixth Slayer

Stephen Penobscot as A Vampire and A Werewolf

Nathaniel Innes as Several Monsters

Riley Giles as Several Monsters and A Watcher

Brianne Penobscot as An Imp

Danielle Penobscot as An Imp

And Jocelyn Penobscot as the Prime Slayer.

Scythe mock-up by Xander Harris

Choreography by Elaine Marshall, Joyce Harris and Jocelyn Penobscot

All dancers trained by Elaine Marshall

Musical score by James Tanner, who wishes to acknowledge the works of Richard Strauss, David Bowie, and the collected works of John Williams, all of whom informed this score.

Music performed by James Tanner (synthesizer), the London Symphony Orchestra, Spider Robinson (guitar) and Judith Holmes (cello)

Cinematography by Ballard Innes and Elaine Marshall

Directed by Ballard Innes

Cameras and cameramen supplied by Asimov Station

(Of course that was a mock-up scythe! You really, REALLY don't want to go swinging around and tossing back and forth something that sharp while you're in space suits, okay!?)

We knocked that one out of the park. No six stars on a five-star scale, like Aunt Elaine got for Souls, Like Scattered Stars, but lots of five star reviews, and lots and lots of money. And Aunt Elaine has had all of us work with her since, too. But Chosen! is the only time I've ever helped choreograph anything, and will probably remain the only time I do so. It's the only thing I ever really needed to say with dance, I guess….

Like I said, that was a while ago, now. I'm almost twenty-six, and… things have changed. And if you're observant, you probably saw something in the bit before I described Chosen! that you're curious about. I'll get to it, don't worry.

Daddy and Gwen are actually married now, and I have a little brother named Owen Whitelaw. They have a girlfriend… Sara Lamont is their third, lives here, now. Chelsea Yoder… she died when she lost her Slayer powers in the middle of a fight with a half a dozen vampires. Sara needed to get out of Australia after that, moved here, worked with us, and about fifteen months after Mom died, she and Dad and Gwen started dating, very cautiously. It got less cautious very quickly, and a month or so after their first date, Sara moved in with them. She had a little girl five years ago, and my sister Michelle Chelsea is a doll.

Buffy and Xander are still here, and Buffy's still training girls. Xander runs the Watcher's council, and I've never heard anyone say a bad word about how he does it. A month after the Second Battle of Bloomington, Buffy turned up pregnant, and their son, Will Giles Harris is a good kid. Joyce practically dotes on him, but no one really minds. The boy is sharp— he's skipped a grade in school already, will probably skip another soon.

Kelly is still here, her and Riley both, though Riley's only visiting right now. He's in START, and he's just been promoted to the rank of Captain and given his own platoon, based in upstate New York. He reports for the change of command next Saturday. Kelly still goes into the field now and again, and never mind that she's almost sixty. She's still fit, still dangerous… and still cool as all get out.

Uncle Ballard and his wives, my many aunts, are still awesome, still active in the fight. And their kids are all involved in some way… even Michael Killian II, who plays assistant Watcher for his dad a lot. After all, he can't be a fireman— which he still wants to do very much— until he's twenty-one, and he has a couple of years, yet.

Mary Russell-Holmes— just Mary, to me and my lovers, these days— is a Watcher, and ye gods and little fishes, she just plain owns the job. Even Buffy sometimes calls her "Giles, Mark Two," and Mary understand that it's an honor, treats it as such.

Buffy still trains girls, like I said… but she passed me the Leader Hat the day I turned twenty-one. I'm the Prime Slayer, the lady in charge, now, and I… don't hate it. I used the years between the Second Battle of Bloomington and that day well— I learned everything I could, and I turned an eye specifically to "big picture" stuff, strategy as well as tactics. Buffy guided my curriculum, taught a good part of it, and the Watchers and Graham— all of START, really, but under Graham's direction— helped, too. I even did a six-month stint of working directly with a START platoon, and that helped a TON.

In February of 2025, I got put on the spot for the first time. Some freaking genius swiped an idea from a novel (that had been based on a little-known tabletop role-playing game), and he managed to deliberately get himself bitten by a werewolf… and then steal a real-live moon rock from a display at a national science fair. Actually touching a piece of the moon made him a Super-Werewolf, and he spread the joy around, made himself a pack and gave each of them a piece of the moon rock. They tried to take over New Orleans, and they got a scary level of close, and killed a lot of people. Team Slayer stopped them, but it was a long, hard fight, and we lost good people. Not many… but I remember every single one of them every single day, you know?

If not for the love and support of my family, I couldn't do this job. As it is… they make it possible, they keep me sane.

My family is… uh, a little larger than it was back then. Joyce and Ian broke up around the time she was fifteen, when he decided he needed to spend some time wandering the world, and a year or so later, she ended up kissing the hell out of me at a picnic. Which led to there being five of us in the relationship, now, and you know, Buffy and Xander have never once given so much as the tiniest hint that they object in any way. Which is good, because Joyce is pregnant, due in April.

Piper doesn't want kids of her own, but she's helpful with mine, and plans to be the same way with Joyce's baby, when he or she arrives. But Piper's terrified that Otto Octavius might have left some sort of genetic trap in her makeup that could result in a defective child, and frankly… well, the family comic fans say she's probably right. So, she's "Piper-mom" to my little girl, will be the same to Joyce's baby.

Judith says she'll have a child someday, but not before she turns thirty. That's fine with all of us. In the meantime, she splits her time between slaying and making music, which no one minds at all.

My little girl… she came along about nine months after the Second Battle of Bloomington, in late June of the next year. Something— very possibly the loss and recovery of Slayer power and the weirdness of the time I spent inside the scythe— caused my birth control to fail, and I came up pregnant in October. I wanted the baby, though, and Colin was okay with that, so that next summer, Avalon Chantelle Riley was born, and my world got made pretty much perfect.

Someday, she'll be old enough to be Chosen, and if that happens, great… but if not? I'm not worried about her feeling inadequate in any way (let alone having a meltdown over it, like I did), because I know she'll be able to help in the fight that her father and I have made a part of our lives. Because she takes after her father in a lot of ways. You see….

My little girl can fly!

The End