It would be her luck to see this dark day come to pass.
Buffy Summers sighed, wincing at the sudden pain in her side as she did so. The blonde Slayer shook her head, pushing back tears of pain and sorrow, knowing that this was not the best time to lose control. She had to be strong, she had been prepared for something like this. She knew before they had gone down into the Hellmouth that many of them would not return.
But it turns out she wasn't as prepared as she would have liked.
She clutched at the necklace in her hands, the amulet that Spike had worn and the one that had cost him his life. His ashes were placed safely in an urn which Dawn hugged to her body like a lifeline and pretty soon they would cast them into the nearest river, sending their comrade off into the sunset and giving him his proper dues.
Just like they would the others.
Buffy swallowed, using all her willpower not to wrinkle her nose at the scent of burning flesh. Her eyes remained facing forward, but the blonde Slayer couldn't really see anything. Yes, the pyres were lined up in front of her, twelve pyres for those they had lost to the fight. Eleven from before and one for Amanda, who had not survived her injuries from battle.
Buffy blinked, taking in deep breaths and shifting uncomfortably at the pain in her side. Taking a sword clear through the stomach didn't do wonders for your health. In fact, had she not been a Slayer, it probably would have killed her. But as it always seemed to be her luck, Buffy pulled through her ordeal.
And found herself in this new world.
Okay, she was trying hard not to think about that too much. The whole situation made her head hurt, and it wasn't like they were getting any real answers out of anyone. Giles stated plainly he didn't know what this dimension was and Willow swore up and down she did not send them here. The inhabitants of this strange little world were no help either. All they could say was that they were found by a bunch of travellers not far from this city, Minas Tirith, and brought in for medical attention. Some people seemed to think they were dangerous, others thought they were just great, and most didn't see what the big deal was.
Her eyes slid to the side, taking in her friends and comrades, all lined up for this multiple funeral. Dawn was at her side, hugging her arm for all it was worth as she stared tearstricken at the pyres before them. The youngest Summers had not sustained major injuries during the battle, but she had a good number of bruises and gashes from the fighting.
Past Dawn stood Giles, leaning heavily on a walking stick with his left arm slung around Vi's shoulder. Vi, the only one of the young Slayers left alive, in this world at least. Buffy remembered the many of the others had managed to clear the site of the Hellmouth before everything was shot to hell. Kennedy had been leading them, and knowing Kennedy, they had most likely made it safely to the city limits.
But that did Vi no good. Her arm was broken but it was her heart that needed mending. All those girls they were cremating, they had been her friends. No, they had been more than that. In the months spent in Buffy's house, they had been sisters, comrades in arms. Their shared destiny had brought them closer than anything else and now she was lying to rest ten of them. It was breaking her heart.
Xander was in no better shape. Buffy felt her own eyes swim with tears as she looked upon her best friends, tightly embracing each other as they cried their hearts out. Willow was mostly supporting Xander, Buffy could tell that much from her spot. He had no energy to keep himself upright, no energy to do anything but cry over the woman he had lost. Xander had loved Anya, with all his heart. And now she was gone, before they could resolve any of their problems.
Willow looked almost helpless as her best friend cried into her shoulder, the former redhead looking at the pyres as if lost. Buffy shook her head, once again shocked at the sudden change in Willow's appearance. The shocking white hair stood out prominently, even more so than her former scarlet locks. It seemed to signify something, a progression of her status and power or something like that. But Willow didn't seem to like it all that much. She had tried using magic to turn it back, and failed miserably. The redheaded witch was no more; the white witch was all that was left.
Past those two were the final members of their company. Buffy watched as Faith did her best to console a hysterical Andrew. It was funny to see Faith even attempt being comforting, but the brunette Slayer was giving it her best shot. She stood next to Andrew, hand squeezing his shoulder reassuringly every now and then. The awkward blonde boy just shook his head, mumbling something to himself as the tears rolled down. No doubt he was berating himself, as he had done once he was fully awake.
Hearing of Anya's death had rattled the poor boy, causing him an overwhelming sense of guilt. Anya had died trying to protect him, and it was something that he just could not forget. He just sat there, knees tucked under his body, watching the pyres burn away with tears rolling down his eyes.
All of them were in shambles, all of them were grieving. They looked worse for wear, shells of the people they had been going into the battle. Was this the group that had saved the world? Was this the group that stopped the First Evil? They looked like nothing, like lost lambs with a wolf right on their heels.
They looked destroyed.
They almost had been.
Buffy sighed, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to banish the dark thoughts from her mind. Thinking like this wasn't going to solve anything. By the end of the day, more than half of their group would still be dead and the ones that survived would still be here, in this strange world. They things to do, they had plans to make.
They just didn't know where to start.
Unwillingly, her eyes travelled to the group of observers standing a few feet off from the Sunnydale group. The people of this land were kind of weird. They dressed in medieval clothing, spoke in some pretty language that not even Giles had heard before, and a lot of them had pointy ears. There was a Star Trek joke just on the tip of her tongue, but Buffy just didn't have the energy to say it. Or to explain it, for surely these people would be clueless as to what she was talking about. Just as they were clueless about what the inhabitants of this world were talking about most of the time.
What the hell was a Value Lore? The pointy-eared people certainly talked about it often enough. And they seemed pretty damn certain that Willow had something to do with it. Well, one of them seemed pretty damn sure that Willow had something to do with the Value Lore thingy, the others were kind undecided. One guy, human as far as she could tell, did not believe Willow had anything at all to do with Value Lore. He was the king of this place, Gondor, and his name was something Buffy usually mispronounced, on purpose of course. King Aragorn did not seem all that pleased with Buffy's butchering of his name, and that's possibly the only reason she kept it up.
You can take the Slayer out of the Hellmouth, but she'll still be as snarky as ever. Hmm, that's a good one. She should copyright it.
"Buffy?"
The soft murmur came from Dawn, stirring the blonde Slayer out of her thoughts. Confused, she looked to her side, seeing her younger sister watching her expectantly.
"Yeah?"
"It's done."
And so it was. People were putting out the lingering few flames here and there, but the deed had been done. Now the ashes could be collected and sent down the nearest river. Damn, they were going to have to ask where the nearest river was.
"Buffy, what are we going to do?"
It was a good question, completely justified. What were they going to do? Could they do anything at all? It's not like this had been planned for. Of all the things Buffy had expected going down into the Hellmouth that day, this was not one of them. Sure, death was easy enough to consider, as was the End of Days. But actually winning and then being transported to another world? She hadn't seen that one coming.
"Buffy?"
"I don't know Dawnie," she finally confessed, not looking at her sister. "I really don't know."
Dawn was silent for a moment. Buffy swept her eyes across the remnants of their group once more, before letting her gaze settle on the setting sun. The sky was turning into several hues of red and orange, setting off the scenery more vividly than she had seen it before. This place was beautiful, there was no doubt about that. Everything from the buildings, to the landscape, to the people-it was all so beautiful.
But it wasn't home. And the crux of the matter was, it was all they had left now.
"We're not going home, are we?"
Dawn was getting pretty damn perceptive lately. Buffy gave her sister a sad smile, not replying to her question. But with her silence, the younger girl got the answer she was looking for. Heaving a sigh, Dawn looked around them carefully, her eyes lingering on the people behind them. She clutched Spike's urn closer to her body, stamping down the confusion and fear she felt at being in this strange world.
Buffy could see this plain as day. And she approved wholeheartedly. It would do them no good to be worried. They had things to do. Made her heart proud to see her younger sister so controlled and serious, to see just how much Dawn had grown in the last few years. It was remarkable, and admirable. Especially considering some of the things Dawn had seen and experienced in her short life.
"Giles and Willow are going to get into the library here," Buffy spoke suddenly, drawing Dawn's attention from their . . . hosts. "From what we've gotten from these people, it seems like some sort of spell was the cause of this."
"But we weren't casting spells down there," Dawn protested. "At least, not spells that could do something like this."
"I know," Buffy replied. "But it's the only chance that we've got. If Giles and Willow can find some sort of answer in this library, then we might have a better idea of what's going on. And why we're here."
"But not enough to send us back," Dawn concluded sullenly. Buffy bit her lip, wrapping an arm around her sister and resting her temple on the side of Dawn's head.
"I think we have to face facts. We're not going home, most likely because we can't. Something happened down there Dawnie, something that I can't even begin to guess at. All I can say is what I feel. And what I feel is we're not going back. We can't. We don't have a place there. Not anymore."
Buffy blinked back tears at her own words, eyes back on the setting sun. The sky was darker now, the reds and oranges fading away into blues and purples. It was a bit colder now and some joints in her body were beginning to ache. They had been out for far too long. She was nowhere near being completely healed from her injuries. It was time to get herself back into the palace and let the healers take care of her.
But she didn't move. She just stood there, with her sister, staring out at the horizon like it held the answers to all her questions. But of course, it didn't. She didn't think anything did.
Whatever happened, it hadn't happened before.
*****
Part Five-Observations All Around
"You know, staring is kind of rude."
Faith smirked, not taking her eyes off the object of her rather obvious observation as she waited for Xander to take a seat across from her. They were in a comfortable little spot, not too far from their rooms and with their personal shadows not too far away. Faith had given up any chance of having real time to herself, so she decided to put up with her security guard. Vi and Dawn had spent about half a day trying to ditch theirs before they also gave up. It was becoming increasingly clear that nobody here was willing to give the folks from Sunnydale too much leeway, which was something Faith could understand. If strange people had shown up out of nowhere back home, she would have treated them with the same amount of suspicion.
"How's B?" she asked, eyes still on the three figures on the grounds below her. This palace really blew her mind sometimes. It had like a bazillion rooms, numerous levels, and a huge amount of balconies, daises, and general sitting areas just scattered about. Despite being made of stone, the benches were surprisingly comfortable, one of the many things that drew Faith to them time and time again. It was almost tranquil, this little spot the brunette Slayer had claimed as her own. Almost, but not quite. No amount of leisure could make her forget the very serious situation she was in.
And the pointy-eared guys running around were also a pretty big reminder that Faith was so not home anymore.
"She's fine," Xander answered, gaze straying to the tall creatures Faith watched like a hawk. "She's putting on a fuss about being confined to her room, but that's not anything new. Buffy hates to be kept in one place, even if it is for her own good."
"Vi with her?"
"Yup."
"That's good."
A silence fell over them as both humans continued to watch the three figures below. Faith hadn't quite come to terms with what the creatures were. Elves. That was a new one.
"Any particular reason why we're staring at them?"
She shrugged, watching as the three Elves conversed amongst themselves. All three had bows in hand, a quiver of arrows on their back. Faith was thinking they had just gotten in from hunting or something, but she couldn't be sure. Firstly, they were too far away for even her Slayer ears to pick up what they were saying. And secondly, they spoke another language.
"They're pretty," she finally replied. Xander tensed, as if trying to decide whether or not she was joking. But Faith wasn't kidding at all. She had been watching these guys for quite some time now and she felt pretty justified in her assessment.
"Pretty?" Xander repeated. "You're watching them because they're pretty?"
Faith sighed, eyes finally leaving the figures of the Elves to spare Xander
a glance. The man looked a little better than before. His face wasn't as pale and most of the bruising was fading away. His ribs still hurt him, she could tell that much by the hesitant way in which he moved. However, the goofy charm that she had long ago started to associate with Xander Harris was gone. It had been gone for some time, ever since they set Anya's pyre ablaze. That gleam he used to get in his eyes, that sardonic tilt of his lips-it was all gone. Xander had taken to looking very lost and very depressed these last few days.
So it was a bit of a comfort to see the obvious confusion on his features at her statement. It wasn't a smile, it wasn't a chuckle, but it was something at least.
"Sorry Harris, but I'm not a gal with a big vocabulary," she replied, flashing him a grin before turning back to the Elves below. "See them there? I bet you Willow, Giles, hell even Buffy could come up with a million different adjectives to describe them. They would probably be very poetic and deep, but me, I don't see the point. Why bother using like ten big fancy words when you can sum up a situation in three? Elves are pretty. Doesn't get any simpler than that."
Xander was silent for a bit, making a slight noise that could have been mistaken for a chuckle when the Elves below turned as one and stared right back at them.
"I think they heard you," he commented dryly. Faith frowned, looking at the distance between them and the Elves, wondering how on earth they could have heard anything. She was a Slayer and she couldn't hear a sound of what they were saying before.
"Must be the ears," Xander shrugged, answering her unspoken question. If Faith hadn't been sure that the Elves could in fact hear them, she was sure now. Xander's last comment caused all three male Elves to turn their eyes to him and frown deeply, in an almost disapproving manner.
“I think the ears are a sensitive issue,” Faith smirked. The Elves below were looking distinctively unhappy by now and one turned and stalked away.
“Touchy guys, aren’t they?” Xander mused, pointing to the blonde Elf of the pair. “Is that the one who thinks Willow is all that?”
“I think they all think that,” Faith shrugged, finally boring of her observation and leaning back on the bench. The brunette dropped her hands to her lap, picking at a few loose threads around the cuffs of her dress. A frown touched her lips as she took in her attire for the third time this day. Not that she was ungrateful for the loan or anything, but she really wanted to know what these people had done with her jeans. She liked her jeans, way more than she liked this dress anyway.
“And all because she somehow magically dyed her hair,” Xander continued to murmur, frowning over the rail down at the Elves. “What kind of basis is that? I mean, if they want to make judgements on that, they would have worshipped Spike and all his peroxide.”
“I don’t think it’s just the hair,” Faith giggled. “I think that it’s the fact that she’s a witch, and for some reason they know that. They’re all hyped up on Willow’s power, not just her hair. But I think the fact that her hair is white when it used to be red means something really important here.”
“That King guy isn’t all that hyped up on any of us,” Xander objected. “He’s damn suspicious of us. Hell, we’re not allowed to bathe without our shadows keeping a close eye on us.”
“We would be the same way if it was the situation was reversed,” Faith sighed, closing her eyes and rubbing at her forehead in a tired fashion. “Hell, even the Elves are all suspicious of us, no matter what they think of Willow. It’s just too weird, us being here. And add the fact that no one seems to know how we ended up here . . .well, it’s just odd. People really do fear what they don’t understand, you know.”
Xander nodded but added nothing. He also had given up his vigilance of the Elves and was just sitting there, staring at some point beyond her head. He raised his hand, shifting his eye patch just a bit, never once dropping the thoughtful expression on his face. Faith narrowed her eyes, looking him over head-to-toe before nudging his foot with her own.
“How you doing?”
“Crappy,” he answered in an instant. “Completely and utterly crappy. And I plan on feeling like that for some time. How about you?”
“Same thing,” she admitted, drawing her legs up to her chest and hugging her knees. She didn’t care that it probably wasn’t the best thing to do while wearing a dress such as hers, only knowing that if she wasn’t flashing anybody there would be no real problems. Faith rested her chin on her knees, looking at Xander with some curiosity.
“We’re not going back, are we?”
Her question hung in the air, causing Xander to shift uncomfortably for a moment. His gaze went to the two men standing not far off, armed guards who followed them everywhere. One thing she had to appreciate about these guys is that they never pretended about their job. They were meant to spy on them, so they made a point to listen in on everything, not bashful or secretive in the least. The complete imposition on her privacy sucked, but at least they were upfront about it.
“No,” Xander finally replied, turning back to look at her with a serious gleam in his eye. “I don’t think we’re going back. This looks like a one-way trip.”
Faith nodded silently, she had suspected as much. It wasn’t something that she could prove, but like Xander, she just felt it. And she knew that the others felt it too. She also knew that not everyone was ready to accept that just yet.
“When do you think they’ll give up on the library?” she asked softly. Xander shrugged, turning his head to look out at the city beyond the palace gates.
“If you’re talking about going back, I think they’ll come to same conclusion we have pretty soon,” he answered. “But as for giving up the research, don’t bet on it. Whether we can go back or not is not Giles’s main concern right now. He just wants to know why we ended up here in the first place.”
Faith nodded and then wrinkled her nose in mild distaste.
“They’ll be in that damn library forever then.”
~*~
“I think I found it-no wait. Never mind.”
Willow slowly took her eyes off the book in front of her, turning her gaze to Dawn, gazing at the subdued teenager with mild interest. The brunette girl was frowning immensely at the book before her, a look of frustration crossing her face. Dawn’s sudden outburst hadn’t caused much excitement among her fellow researchers and for good reason. They had been at research for hours and had absolutely nothing to show for it.
“What is it?” the redhead asked, deliberately delaying her return to the book before her. Goddess above, she had never sifted through such complex texts before in her life. Her head was starting to pound as she manoeuvred her way through the materials they were provided with. She was getting a pretty extensive knowledge of this world, Middle Earth, but nothing that was at all helpful to their current predicament.
“I just thought . . .” Dawn trailed off, pushing her book across the table so Willow could have a look. The witch leaned in, eyes skimming over the large illustration of a gigantic armoured man-like creature standing amid a field of bodies. The creature had a sword withdrawn and held out, but the picture was filled in such a way as to draw attention to the gold band it wore on its right hand. Willow frowned at the picture, turning to Dawn for an explanation.
“He’s like some big bad named Sauron,” Dawn quickly informed her. “I thought that maybe he was the one who called us here, because he’s all big on the evil and black magic. But it says later on that he’s been defeated not once, but twice.”
“If they had to defeat him twice, how can we be sure he’s gone now?”
Willow nodded only slightly at Andrew’s insertion, her eyes seeking out Giles’s across the room. The elder man sat at the head of their table, books and scrolls piled around him. Giles caught her eye and merely shrugged, taking the moment to remove his glasses and give them a good clean.
“It just says he’s gone for good now,” Dawn insisted, jabbing at some point on the page opposite the illustration. “He got most of his power from this ring-dealie, but that was destroyed and poof!-Sauron’s gone for good. Therefore, I concluded that he is not the one who brought us here.”
“Are we even sure someone in particular brought us here?” Andrew countered once again. “I mean, I don’t know if you guys remember, but the ground underneath us just opened up and gobbled us whole. And since we were in the Hellmouth, that wasn’t any ordinary ground at all. Maybe this wasn’t an act of divine intervention, but just a logical progression from one dimension to another. Kind of like ‘Sliders’ but also not because there‘s no wormhole.”
“Do not bring sci-fi into this,” Dawn warned him, slamming her book shut. Willow turned out the ensuing little squabble, turning her attention once more to Giles. The former Watcher seemed very lost and very unhappy. Soon, he abandoned the materials before him, getting to his feet and starting to pace. Giles had recovered quite a bit from his injury, though his slight limp was a strong indicator that he was not at one hundred percent. Willow watched him pace to and fro, concern for her old mentor growing with each passing second.
“We’re never going to get anywhere like this,” Giles finally muttered. Dawn and Andrew immediately quieted once Giles spoke, exchanging worried looks before turning expectantly to face the pacing figure.
“They’re only giving us a certain kind of material,” Giles griped. “That King Aragorn fellow does not want us to have full access to the library. He’s only giving us things he feels will not be harmful.”
“Can you blame him?” Willow asked quietly.
“No,” Giles admitted. “But I can’t help but be frustrated by it. There’s no guarantee that our answers lie in these books or that we would even recognize the answer once we saw it. I . . . I, um-”
“Giles?” Dawn ventured when the man cut himself off. Giles just shook his head and took his seat once more, a defeated look crossing his features. He locked eyes with Willow once more, a look of helplessness crossing his face that Willow could not remember ever seeing on his face before.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what to do.”
*****
Part Six-Half-Baked Theories And Real Concerns
Vi was starting to become nervous.
Fidgeting slightly in her chair in the corner of Buffy's room, she watched as the veteran Slayer conversed with one of the Healers. The healer seemed to be obsessed with Buffy's wound, nor ever-increasing lack thereof. That good old Slayer healing was kicking in full force and pretty soon there would be no reason to keep Buffy in this room.
And that's what made Vi nervous.
The Healers were very suspicious-and very observant. They watched all of them, all of the time. And that meant they knew how each of them were healing. Xander, Giles, Willow were the most injured of the lot, and even though everyone thought Willow was some sort of super-goddess or whatever, it couldn't be denied that she was healing along normal human rates. Same for the rest of them, Giles still with a prominent limp and Xander's rib still pretty tender. But that was to be expected, that was normal.
Vi, Faith, and Buffy-definitely not of the normal.
The Healers already knew, throwing them incredulous and even suspicious looks all the time. Faith was just fine, at least 99% recovered from her injuries. Buffy was well on her way and Vi's arm wouldn't take much longer than two weeks to heal properly. They were Slayers, and they were healing as fast as they usually would. But none of the Healers had been told of their special status and as they recorded this miraclous recovery-fear and distrust flickered in their eyes.
Vi was not feeling all too great about that.
The redhead bit her lip, watching as Buffy played complacent and obedient patient with her healer, though it was a fruitless attempt. The healer was looking at Buffy like she was some sort of a monster-or strange creature at the very least. Buffy just smiled and shrugged off her questions about the rate her body healed, blue eyes taking on a wide-eyed innocent expression when she asked:
"You mean it's not how everyone heals?"
Vi would have laughed if she wasn't so worried.
The healer was scampering out the door, throwing both girls fearful looks before stepping out into the hallway and shutting the door behind her. Vi let out a sigh of relief at the woman's departure, jumping up and racing to Buffy's side as soon as the coast was clear.
"They know," she told Buffy, a certain amount of fear in her voice.
"They suspect," Buffy corrected her, patting Vi on the shoulder in a comforting manner. "I don't think they could ever know what we are just by this alone. We're pretty unfathomable Vi."
"They'll come back," Vi insisted, shifting her injured arm gingerly. "And they'll bring that King guy with them and he'll have questions too. What if they decide we're dangerous and lock us up?"
"We'd break out," Buffy shrugged.
"And if they decide to kill us?"
"They'd have a tough time doing that."
"What if-"
"What if you work yourself up into such a frenzy over this that you give yourself an ulcer?" Buffy interjected with a firm tone. "Don't worry Vi. They're just as curious about us as we are about them."
"That King guy doesn't like us," Vi countered, giving Buffy a look. "And you certainly don't help."
"What did I do?" Buffy demanded, though there was a sparkle of mischief in her eyes that led Vi to believe that she knew exactly what she had done.
"Oh, I don't know," Vi wrinkled her nose, giving Buffy a little smile. "How about the fact that you call him King Air-Is-Gone? He hates that you know. It's really disrespectful."
"Serves him right for having such a weird name," Buffy waved off. "Him and all those Elves, especially that Lego-blocks guy. Weird, weird names-the whole lot of them."
"Said the Slayer named Buffy."
"Hey now," Buffy grinned, poking Vi lightly in the shoulder. "None of that. Besides, Buffy is totally pronounceable."
"So is Aragorn," Vi retorted, drawing out the sound of the king's name. "And Legolas. And Arwen. And-"
"Vi, weren't you in a panic about something?"
Vi gave a chuckle at Buffy's abrupt change of subject, sobering quickly when she realized what the conversation had been about.
"We should be ready for something," Vi murmured softly, eyes on the closed door. "I don't think these guys are just going to let us wander about, especially if they decide we're dangerous. I-I just wish we could go home."
Buffy sighed, the smile and mischief finally dropping from her face as she draped a comforting arm around the younger Slayer's shoulders.
"I'm not sure we're meant to go back Vi. And whatever we're here for, that's an even bigger mystery. But at least we're together."
Vi nodded, resting her head on Buffy's offered shoulder.
"At least we're together."
~*~
"I'm telling you, it's a total possibility!"
Faith exchanged a look with Xander, who merely shrugged before proceeding to settle into a chair near Willow. The white-haired witch turned at his arrival giving him and Faith a weak smile before turning back to the belligerent Andrew.
"What's going on?" Faith asked as she took the empty seat near Dawn. The younger Summers girl rolled her eyes, shooting Andrew an exasperated look before answering.
"Andrew's into his sci-fi again," she muttered as a response. Faith arched an eyebrow as Andrew sputtered, turning to speak with Giles.
"Got anything?" she asked. The older man sighed and shook his head, rubbing his temple in aggravation.
"I haven't come across anything remotely helpful," he admitted. "And I don't think we will. These are mostly history books-not many magical tomes among them."
"And we're thinking that King Elessar wants to keep all magical books away from little old me," Willow added in helpfully. Faith frowned, tapping on the table with her fingernails.
"Isn't the king's name Aragorn or something?"
"He has several names, apparently," Giles offered tiredly.
"One to go with every personality, perhaps?" Xander suggested with a cheeky smile. Faith snickered, glad to see that Xander's sarcasm and joking nature was finally starting to break through once more.
"Xander," Willow admonished, though her heart didn't seem to be in it. "Anyway, we're no closer to the answer than before-"
"Will you all just listen to me!"
The shout from Andrew was startling, since the small man was not known for raising his voice very often. Faith gave him a measuring look, seeing the fierce determination in his eyes and decided what could it hurt to let him espouse his sci-fi ramblings. After all, being in a world far away from Star Trek episodes must be very difficult for him.
"All right Andrew," Faith replied, ignoring the squeak of protest from Dawn. "Let's hear it."
Andrew gave a triumphant smile, gathering several books and laying them side by side to one another in a line parallel to him.
"Okay, in Sliders-"
Dawn gave a loud groan and was promptly hushed by Faith. Andrew spared the teenager a glare before clearing his throat and beginning again.
"In Sliders, this people are able to jump from world to world through use of a device," he began slowly. "And these worlds are all the same world but different in some way."
"Parallel dimensions," Willow nodded.
"Exactly!" Andrew pounced, gesturing to the books arranged before him. "Now, the show never says this, but this is my best guess about how the system works. The worlds are kind of laid out like this, next to each but not touching because they aren't the same ones. Notice the horizontal nature of the arrangement."
"Ooh," Xander intoned, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Willow poked him and gave him a small frown before turning back to Andrew.
"Of course, that makes no sense to our current situation, so-" Andrew paused, picking up the books and stacking them upon one another. "I've made another theory, using a vertical analogy. Each of these books represents a world. Each world is surrounded by their own alternate dimensions, like heaven, hell, demon worlds, etc. Say, for argument's sake, our world was this world right on the top."
All eyes went to the top of the pile, Andrew's hand resting on the book cover. He moved his other hand, pointing to the book directly underneath.
"And this world is the world we're in now," he continued, lifting the top book up about an inch from the next and placing his hand there. "We were in the Hellmouth, the bottom dimension of the top world. But while we were in there, we destroyed it. Or, Spike destroyed it with his big diamond thing. Either way, totally alienated that dimension. Problem: we were still there after we destroyed it."
"And?" Dawn prompted, her face actually curious now. Andrew grinned, puffing out his chest proudly at the attention he was receiving before waggling the fingers on the hand between the books.
"Anyone else remember when the floor gave way?" he asked rhetorically. "We were here, in the Hellmouth, before we alienated it and cleared it out. We made that hell dimension null and void, and then it collapsed on itself. We went through the floor-"
Andrew emphasized his point by dropping his hand quickly and smacking the top of the second book.
"And then we ended up in some strange world. If my theory about the worlds model holds true, we weren't moved by any outside force. We were existing beings in a dimension that was being cleaned out of existence. And when the floor gave way, it took us to the nearest world that could sustain our lifeforces. Here, Middle Earth or whatever. We were dropped from one world to the other."
There was silence all over the table, five numb faces looking at him. Dawn broke the silence, giving Andrew a look.
"That's ridiculous!" she protested.
"But kind of interesting," Xander jumped in, turning to Giles. "What says the G-Man?"
Giles cleared his throat, eyes trained uncertainly on the book pile before Andrew.
"I don't think it is exactly how Andrew describes it, but I can't very well say the boy is all wrong," Giles admitted, ignoring the triumphant look Andrew shot Dawn. "Andrew raises a good point. We may not have been brought here by any otherworldly power. It may have all been a fluke. His theory about us being transported to the nearest world that could sustain our lifeforms, that has quite some value to it."
"But what about the others?" Faith interjected. "What about the ones we lost? The way those bodies were preserved-Giles, they weren't decaying in the least."
"Another mystery," Giles assented, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But something that can be explained in Andrew's theory. If our comrades died before the ground gave way, they were already in heaven-our Heaven. Perhaps their bodies were preserved because there was no need to sustain their life and so their bodies were sustained instead. Amanda's body was reacting normally after she departed-"
"And I don't want to talk about this any more," Willow interrupted, rising from the table suddenly. "I don't want to talk about bodies and lost comrades any more. We aren't getting any answers from these books Giles, and I don't want to waste any more time. I think it's time to seek
out King Elessar and ask him for some help."
"Like that will work," Faith snorted. Willow shrugged.
"We don't have a choice," the witch reminded her. "We need to talk to some other people. Witches, mystics, someone with magic or power that could help us find out what brought us here. Running around in circles and forming theories that we can't prove isn't going to help us any bit."
"And what makes you think that someone from this world can?" Andrew demanded, obviously miffed at the lack of credit being given his idea. Again, Willow merely shrugged, her face tired and listless.
"What can it hurt to try?"
*****
Part Seven: Look Who's Come For Dinner
"I'm bored."
"I'm hungry."
"I'm horny."
"Faith!"
The brunette Slayer raised her eyes to meet those of Giles, noting the irritation there.
"I thought we were sharing," she replied plainly. Giles huffed and rolled his eyes, turning away to pinch his nose and no doubt curse the day that he was born. He had been doing a lot of that lately, cursing that is. Even more so than Faith herself. It was a bit unnerving, to see Giles slowly come undone like this. The former Watcher was so far out of his element, and with none of his trusty books around to give him the answers that he so desperately wanted.
"Leave him alone Faith," came the warning from Buffy, the blonde Slayer currently stretched on a bench in the middle of the very nice courtyard that the group had stumbled some time ago. "He's all anxious and stuff. Air-Is-Gone-"
"Aragorn," Vi interjected in a pained voice.
"-told us that he already called in some experts before we even thought to ask," Buffy continued as if she hadn't been interrupted. "He's just all cranky because he doesn't know what kind of conferences Kingie boy is having about us and our fate, so best to leave him be."
"Buffy, do refrain from referring to our host as 'Kingie boy'," Giles reprimanded her tightly. "We really do not need to antagonize these people. They are all that we have."
"And since they're nice enough to feed, clothe, and shelter us even though they fear us, it just seems like the polite thing to do," Andrew added. "I just wished they'd let us explore or something. They hardly ever let us out of close proximity to the Healing House or the library. I think we should be allowed to go down to the market or something."
"What would we do at the market?" Vi asked him incredulously. "Whatever kind of money system they have here, we're completely out of the loop. Heck, we don't even have any of our own money, so buying things would be out of the question."
"But we could be better exposed to their culture," Andrew argued. "And I think we should learn more about that now that we're stuck here-"
"We are not stuck here," Giles spat out suddenly. "We may not be able to go back home, but I most certainly will not spend the rest of my life locked up in place or confined anywhere. We have and always will make our own decisions, not have them handed to us."
"Maybe you should tell our babysitters about that," Faith suggested in a bored voice, waving her hand in the general direction behind her. "Maybe they'll pass the message along to the King."
"Where's Xander?" Buffy asked before Giles could respond. "I haven't seen him in a few hours."
"He's off in his room," Faith answered in the same kind of voice. "Moping, as per usual. I joined him for a bit, but then I kind of got the feeling that he wanted to be alone, so I left. He'll come out when he's ready."
"Certainly turning out to be the expert on Xander, aren't you Faith?" Buffy commented neutrally, though there was a strange look in her eyes. Faith merely shrugged again, picking one of the flowers nearby and pulling the petals off idly.
"We didn't have anyone else to talk to for awhile," she replied nonchalantly. "You were all boarded up by the Healers and the rest were all clamouring for the books-and you know how well Xander and I love the books. So we hung out for a bit, traded jokes about the Elves, and generally sulked."
"Sulking seems to be a great idea," Vi muttered unhappily, shifting her bound arm a bit and squinting at some point far into the horizon.
"Not a terribly productive one though," Giles pointed out with a sigh.
"But what else do we have to do?" Andrew asked. "Like we've already said fifteen million times before: we don't know a darn thing about what happened to us. And our only clue seems to be Willow's new hair colour, but we're not getting too far with that."
"Where is the White Witch anyhow?" Faith asked, still pulling the petals off her flower.
"Her and Dawn went for a walk," Buffy replied, getting to her feet and pacing around her bench. "And I'm still bored."
"And I'm still hungry," Andrew whined. "When's lunch again?"
"Don't even say it," Giles warned Faith as she opened her mouth. "We're all well aware of how you're feeling Faith. Just try to be more tactful about it."
"I don't think she knows the meaning of the word," Buffy laughed softly. Faith grinned good-naturedly, waggling her eyebrows at Giles.
"I may not know that, but I do know plenty about-"
"Let go!"
Faith got to her feet in a flash at the sounds of Dawn's cries. Buffy moved to join Faith and both Slayers tried to push forward past their guards to where they could hear Dawn shouting. The guards pushed them back and Buffy let out a low growl, eyes showing her intention to shove these guys out of her way when they parted and Dawn was thrown their way. The younger girl squealed unhappily, catching herself in her sister's arms and turning back around to shout at her own bodyguard.
"You big turd!" Dawn blasted him. "You don't have to be so mean!"
"What is going on here?" Buffy demanded, shooting angry glares to the ever silent guards in front of them. "Who gave you the right to manhandle my sister?"
"Dawn, where's Willow?" was Faith's question. Dawn scowled at that, pointing her finger accusingly the way of the guards.
"They took her!" she shrilled. "We were walking and some of them came up and said Lord Cerebro wanted to see her and then just took her!"
"Lord Celeborn," came the correction from one of the guards.
"I don't care what the bloody hell his name is!" Giles interrupted, his face flushed red with anger. "Where did you take our friend?"
"That is not of your concern-"
"Oh, that is it!" Faith swore, levelling the guards with a murderous look. "No more Miss-Nice-Slayer. Buffy, what do you say to an ass-kicking?"
Buffy shot the guards a dark look of her own, pushing her sister behind her into Giles's arm and taking a defensive stance next to Faith, Vi standing behind both of them with an equally fierce look on her face. Giles failed to utter one word of restraint and Buffy took that to be her cue, turning back to the line of guards with a malicious smile on her face.
"I think it's high time we let these boys know who they're dealing with."
~*~
Willow was starting to feel just a bit frightened.
Keeping her eyes on her toes, the white-haired witch waited nervously for the Elf in front of her to speak. She had been quite shocked, and a little angry, when her guard had all but dragged her here, far away from her friends to meet with this Lord. But once she had laid eyes on him, all her words of protest died in her throat.
The Elf seemed to glow, even more so than the others that she had met. His hair was long and almost as stark white as hers, his blue eyes wise and ancient. He had quite a bit of power, she could just feel it radiating off his body. It took all her resolve not to sink to her knees before this man with her head lowered. As it was she couldn't even bring herself to look into his face for long. He was old, quite possibly the oldest living thing she had seen other than Glory. But while Glory had practically reeked of darkness, this Elf was all light.
"King Elessar told me of your situation," he was saying and she tried hard to focus on his words. "He told me of you specifically and asked me my opinion. But I had nothing to tell him until now. Laying my eyes upon you clears up matters quite a bit. Have you any idea what has befallen you my dear?"
Willow shook her head and kept her mouth shut. Her eyes were still locked on her feet and she wasn't about to take them away. The Elf in front of her heaved a sigh and suddenly a hand appeared in her line of vision.
"Come child," he beckoned. "Let us walk and discuss this. I am not here to harm you or to put you into any danger. But there are things that I need to tell you."
Willow bit her lip and hesitantly took the offered hand, allowing her arm to be slid into his and led further down the walkway. She looked around her, noticing for the first time the large white tree in the centre of the courtyard. She frowned and looked around, wondering exactly where the guard had brought her. They had gone up some levels, on horseback to make the ride go faster. Willow wasn't planning on using that method to get back down to her friends. Her stomach was still all topsy-turvy from the first trip.
She dared one look up at her companion, taking in the stern but kind profile he presented, before reverting her eyes again. The witch flexed her fingers nervously, eyes darting over the empty courtyard while she waited for Celeborn to begin.
"Your power has changed," he began suddenly, his words causing Willow to start with surprise. "You've noticed it already, haven't you?"
She gave a silent nod, a frown crossing her face as she thought about her inability to do a simple glamour spell.
"It would seem to you that you have become weaker," he continued. "But that is definitely not the case my child. You have in fact gained more power than before. It hovers around you like a second skin. I can almost see it, almost touch it, the power is so potent."
"But, that can't be," she stuttered in confusion. "If my power has grown, why can't I do the simple little spells that I used to do with no effort before?"
"It is as I said before, your power has changed," Celeborn replied, his voice even and kind in spite of her interruption. Willow blushed under his gaze, eyes going back to her feet as they continued to walk. She noticed with interest that they were heading for the white tree she had seen before.
"The source of your power has changed, the transition from your world to this one has transformed the very nature of your magic," Celeborn revealed. "You attempt to do magic as you have done in the past and are astounded to find yourself unable to do so. That is because you are not drawing on the proper source of your magic. The way you perform your magic must change in accordance to the change in your power."
"I don't know how to do that," she admitted in a tiny whisper.
"I know you do not child, I know," the Elf sighed and patted her hand slightly. "But you will learn when the time comes."
Willow frowned. "What time?"
Celeborn looked at her, his blue eyes seemingly piercing her right through to her soul. Willow felt her breath catch in her throat and try as she might, this time she could not tear her eyes away.
"The time for your task."
Great, more cryptic answers. Willow wrinkled her nose and tried not to feel too cheated, but man was she getting tired of vague answers. Couldn't anyone just tell her what had to be done and how to do it? Just think of all the time it would save.
"Do not worry," Celeborn spoke again, a smile curving his lips. "Your task will become more clear as time goes on. But for now, you and your friends have other skills to master."
Willow knew her face had to be red at this point. How was it that this guy could know what she was thinking just by looking at her?
"What kind of skills?" she asked instead.
Whatever answer he had for her was cut off by the sound of another voice.
"Oh bollocks! Now where am I?"
Willow felt her eyes widen and she looked at Celeborn in disbelief. The Elven lord merely smiled again, taking her by the shoulders and turning her around to see who was there.
And he was there, standing just on the other side of the white tree. He looked the same as ever, though seeing him in broad daylight was a shock to the system. Of course, just seeing him, walking and swearing up a storm, was a shock to the system. Especially considering how they had sent his ashes down the river with the others.
"Spike!"
~*~
Part Eight: Heartbreakingly In Between
He was starting to get very annoyed.
It was bad enough that everyone had died down in the Hellmouth, himself included, but the fact that he seemed bound to follow the Great Big Poof around for the rest of eternity really pushed his buttons. During those first few weeks after he had shown up in Angel's office, the idea of haunting his grandsire had been appealing. But after awhile, even tormenting Angel started to feel mundane.
And that whole bout with the Reaper and almost going to Hell didn't help matters much either.
Though, once the crazy doctor had been retaken corporeal form and stuck in the freezer until the end of time, the threatening presence of Hell had drifted away. He had mastered some skills, the best being his ability to pick up teacups which was so utterly pathetic that even Angel felt sorry for him. It was rotten, boring, and really pointless, and he had no where to go. His only consolation was that the pull of Hell had seemed to fade. He hadn't disappeared into thin air for two weeks now, and Fred certainly seemed to think that was a great improvement. He disagreed. The only improvement he would acknowledge would be the day that he was flesh once more.
Fred was working on that. And meanwhile, he got to hang around the office all day with absolutely nothing to do. Other than spook Gunn in the bathroom and startle Wesley while he was immersed in some of his books. It was a sad, sad existence, what it was better than Hell.
So when he felt a tug that morning, he immediately began to swear up a storm. Fred had tried to help, but there had been nothing for her to do other than to watch him slowly fade out of her vision. For Spike, the experience was no different from the other times he had vanished. The chilling feeling down in his centre, the complete and utter static that assailed all of his senses, and the feeling of weightlessness that was harsh enough to make him weep.
But when he materialized again, he wasn't anywhere in the office, he wasn't straddling that line between life and Hell. In fact, he ended up in a rather nice place, green and lush with a huge castle structure before him. He found himself in what seemed to be a courtyard, grass surrounding several marble pathways and a large white tree in the middle of it all.
"Oh bollocks! Now where am I?"
And even as he swore and stomped his feet at the utter unfairness of it all, he very slowly realized that he was not in Hell. This place seemed to be the exact opposite of everything he had associated with Hell. Spike paused in his swearing and took a good, cautious look around.
Was he in Heaven?
"Spike!"
He spun around, eyes searching for the source of the cry. The voice had sounded familiar, too familiar. He knew who that voice belonged to, and if it turned out to be her, then maybe he really had ended up in Heaven after all.
She came rushing around the white tree and for a second he didn't recognize her with all the white hair flying about her head. But then he got a good look at her face and he saw that it was her.
"Willow?"
She was grinning like crazy, picking up the long skirt of her white dress and scrambling over to him. Spike saw a tall man following her at a much slower pace. He was also dressed all in white with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. For some reason Spike thought that his skin seemed to glow, though he forgot about that in the second he saw the man's ears. They were pointed. What the fuck?
"Spike!" Willow shouted again, though by this time she was much closer than before. He shook his head at her and smiled back, thinking that yes, he was indeed in Heaven and Willow had come to greet him. After all, she and the others had died in the Hellmouth, their bodies never recovered from the massive crater that Sunnydale had become. Kennedy and the few Slayers that had managed to escape the chaos confirmed that the others had still been down there when everything came down. Spike himself didn't remember much after he was burnt alive, but he had remembered enough to know that there wasn't any way for the others to have gotten out. Besides, Angel and Lorne had pulled strings and were able to confirm that those who had been in the Hellmouth when it collapsed where no longer walking the Earth. And there was only one place for dead heroes like them, and that was in Heaven. Spike was sure of it, he was ready to bet his soul on it.
But when Willow went to hug him and ended up going right through him, Spike realized that perhaps he was wrong about his whole Heaven thesis. He looked down in shock, seeing Willow imbedded in his shoulder. The white-haired witch turned her eyes up to met his, shock and confusion written all over her face as she took a hesitant step back. Almost fearfully, she reached out to poke him, her finger finding no solid body to connect with and therefore passed right into his jacket.
"Oh bugger."
~*~
"There is a disturbance in the Healing Houses."
Aragorn sighed and followed the panicked guard all the way down to the Healing Houses. Legolas was at his side, as was his Steward. Both were silent as they marched behind the King, neither one saying what they were all thinking.
The strangers were doing something.
The sounds of fighting reached Legolas's ears before the others and he pulled out his bow out of habit. Aragorn noticed this and withdrew his own sword without breaking stride. Faramir also drew his weapon, the sounds of the brawl reaching him by this point. Aragorn broke out into a run at this point, racing down the corridors and around corners at top speed.
The scene they stumbled upon was quite simply the most astonishing one they had ever seen. The small blonde woman, Buffy she called herself, was standing on the second level balcony of the Healing House, dangling the guard Aragorn had assigned to watch her over the edge. Buffy seemed almost bored as she swung the man around by his ankle, shouting to be heard over his cries for aid.
"All I want to is for you to bring back Willow! Is that really too much to ask for?"
"My word," Faramir gasped, looking at the display the small woman was making. "How can she-he is nearly twice her size!"
"I knew they were hiding something," Aragorn practically growled. "They aren't human at all. They're dangerous."
"Perhaps we should do as she demands," Legolas suggested.
"Send someone for Lord Celeborn and the white woman," Aragorn agreed, squaring his shoulders and marching towards the door of the Healing House. Buffy had long since seen his arrival and rather than dragging her guard back to safety, she managed to tied him to the balcony, still hanging upside over the side and shouting while she rather calmly wandered back inside.
Aragorn entered the building to find that all the Healers had long since taken off in fear. His companions followed behind, Faramir disappearing up the stairs to release Buffy's guard from his predicament. Aragorn and Legolas marched on to the courtyard where they could hear the fight still continuing.
Both Man and Elf entered to find the courtyard in utter chaos. The small brunette woman, Faith, was fighting off two of the guards with ease. One of the other girls, the redheaded one with a broken arm, was also fighting, rendering many of the guards unconscious with a few kicks here and there. Buffy was dragging the fallen guards together while the others, all three men and the youngest girl, were tying them up. Aragorn watched this in quiet awe for a minute before his temper flared.
"Enough!" he bellowed, bringing the shouts of his guards to an end. Very slowly, the few guards left standing backed away from the strangers, giving the King a wide berth. The strangers also stopped at his shout, though Buffy did not make any move to release the guards they had tied up. Faramir rejoined them seconds later, the guard he rescued right on his heels.
"What is the meaning of this?" Aragorn demanded. "Release my men at once and explain yourselves!"
"First of all, we want to know what you did with Willow," Buffy shouted back at him. "All we know is that one of your men abducted her and carried her off somewhere. That was not cool man."
"Your friend has come to no harm," Legolas assured them. "She is merely speaking with someone who could help all of you."
"Then why wasn't he brought here?" Faith snarled. "And if he's going to help all of us, why did you only grab Willow? You guys are pretty resolved on keeping us in here and that was fine with us because at least we were together. But separating us by force and trying to lock us down in here without letting us know what you're actually doing with our friend, that just doesn't fly with us."
"We've taken your imprisonment with as much good cheer as we could muster," Giles picked up for them. "You let us stay here and you healed us, for which we are grateful. But as much as you obviously distrust us, we also have no guarantee that you're word is true. You keep things from us purposefully and while we have stomached it before, we will not tolerate strong-arm tactics. We want our companion returned to us now."
"This is my domain," Aragorn reminded him. "I will give the orders here."
"Well I'd hate to break this to you, but we're out of your domain," Xander shot back. "In case you've forgotten, we're not a bunch of your loyal subjects. We don't belong here and you certainly don't have the right to snatch Willow away like you did. You guys are nice enough, I'll give you that. But we are not going to sit around while you kidnap our friends."
"She has not been kidnapped," Faramir insisted. "She was summoned to the presence of Lord Celeborn-"
"Who is he anyway?" Buffy demanded. "And why is he so damn important? You guys have been acting weird about Willow the entire time we've been here. How are we supposed to know that this Celeborn person isn't doing something to her?"
"We want Willow back!" Dawn shouted at them.
"And we're more than prepared to take her back," Faith warned them. Aragorn shook his head, moving his sword up into plain sight.
"I welcome you to try," he declared. Faith scowled and made to move to the King when Willow burst onto the scene, waving her arms and shouting for peace.
"Stop it! That's enough! Just stop!"
Willow shot the King an apologetic look before she was swarmed by her friends, hugs and questions coming from all directions. Aragorn sighed and lowered his sword when Lord Celeborn stepped up beside them.
"They need to learn some discretion," was all the Elf lord had to say.
"They have outlived their welcome in my city," Aragorn replied, sheathing his sword and motioning for his guards to release those still tied together. "I knew they were not to be trusted."
"It is not that they cannot be trusted," Celeborn corrected him. "It is merely that they have not yet learned to trust. Another thing that they must learn before the time comes. We have much work to do with them."
"What sort of work is that?" Aragorn asked the Elven lord, his calm returning to him bit by bit.
"Hard work, Elessar," Celeborn answered with a small smile. "Very hard work. But it will be worth every drop of sweat."
"I'd be more worried about the headaches than the sweat if I were you," interrupted a voice from behind. "These lot are hard on the nerves, if you know what I mean."
"Who are you?" Legolas demanded of the strange man sauntering out into the courtyard. The man flashed him a smug sort of smile before passing on by without answering. Celeborn raised a hand to stay any movements on the part of the King and his friends.
"He is important as well," Celeborn assured them. "But his time here will always be limited. He is needed in more than one place."
"But who is he?" Aragorn repeated Legolas's question. The answer came not from Celeborn, but from the group of strangers just beyond them.
"Spike! How . . . You're dead!"
Spike shook his head and sneered at Xander before taking a seat on a bench behind him, ignoring the shocked looks from the others.
"Really? Glad you told me Chubs, I never would have figured that out on my own. Now, can someone please tell me what the bloody hell is going on?"
~*~