The Varos Triad Part 12
Disclaimers: -
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all the characters belong to Joss
Whedon, Warner Brothers and anyone else who own them - and that does
not include me. I am making no profit from this - I'm just borrowing
them to write a story and entertain.
Author: Steff
Pairing: Faith/Cordelia
Rating: PG-13 I think - but if anyone thinks it should be higher
let me know.
Feedback: yes please: - rebelgirl_uk@yahoo.co.uk
Archive: CordySlash, Disco Inferno, Passion and Perfection and ~Miss
K~'s sites are all welcome. Anyone else, please ask.
Summary: - Faith returns to Sunnydale in pursuit of a demon, but is
not well received by Buffy and the Scoobs. However, it appears they
have to join forces with Faith and the LA gang when they discover the
history of the artefacts. In order to defeat the demon, they must
summon it before banishing it. As the recitation nears completion,
Faith runs towards Cordelia, brandishing a sword...
______________________________________________________
Buffy found herself flying through the air and realised that she had
lost count of how many times that had happened since she had engaged
Varos in the fight. She could feel her muscles and bones protest at
the rough landing, and they objected once again as she picked herself
up and ran back towards the demon. Nothing she had done appeared to
have harmed him at all. She felt like she had been put through a
mincemeat grinder. There wasn't a single part of her that didn't
feel crushed or bruised. Varos looked as fresh as when he had first
risen.
As she launched herself at the blue skinned enemy once again, she saw
Angel fly to one side and land in a crumpled heap. If she had the
time, she would have winced for him but she was too busy trying to
avoid the energy bolts Varos had decided to aim at her.
The last time Buffy had seen Faith; the brunette slayer had dived out
of the way from one of Varos' energy bolts. She hadn't been quite
fast enough and caught a glancing blow to the side of her head. As
the younger slayer got to her feet, she had staggered drunkenly
before looking back to where the witches and Cordelia were stationed.
Buffy saw her suddenly start to sprint towards the chanting girls and
her stomach lurched. Perhaps Cordelia's vision was going to come
true. However, before the blonde girl had an opportunity to try and
stop Faith, she found herself fighting for her life against Varos'
massive scimitar. Within seconds, she had forgotten about Faith's
departure, parrying blows from Varos with her own sword and hoping
that it and she could hold out under the barrage. Fortunately, Angel
distracted Varos just enough to give the blonde slayer a few seconds
breathing space and between them, the vampire and his ex-lover
alternated attacks, prolonging the defence of the witches for as long
as possible.
Xander was sweating. The demons he was fending off were some of the
toughest fighters he'd ever faced. He chanced a quick look to where
Buffy and Angel were fighting and realised that he would get no help
from the slayer or vampire. Gunn and Wesley had stood side-by-side,
defending each other's blind spot as well as attacking the demons
methodically and clinically. Xander had been surprised at the change
in Wesley. The nervous, stuttering ex-watcher had all but
disappeared and in his place was a focused and skilled fighter.
However, with the two colleagues from Los Angeles looking out for
each other, Xander was left with no one to guard him and he was
beginning to struggle under the onslaught. The dark-haired
construction worker could feel himself back up and lose ground to the
demons, closing the gap between them and the cauldron where Willow
and the others continued to chant. What was worse was that the
demons could sense that he was the weak link in the defence and were
beginning to concentrate their attack on him and began to ignore
Wesley and Gunn, despite their aggressive attacks.
Something to one side caught his attention and he glanced round to
see Anya making her way towards him, a short sword in hand and a look
of grim determination on her face. "It won't take much longer. Just
keep hitting them," she advised, swinging wildly at an unsuspecting
demon and managing to sever a vital part of its blood supply in its
head. The demon spun off to the side, hissing in pain as it began to
melt, its fate already decided.
Xander swallowed and then grit his teeth. Fighting for his own
cowardly hide was bad enough, but there was no way he would let Anya
get hurt. Following up the ex-vengeance demon's initial attack, he
incapacitated the demon behind the dying one and then turned to take
on the next foe, glad that he had his girlfriend to back him up.
Gunn saw Faith sprint towards Cordelia and the two witches. His
stomach lurched as he realised that he might have to come good on his
promise to kill the Bostonian should she attack Cordelia. The young
man wouldn't renege on the deal though. He respected Faith far too
much for that to happen. Unfortunately, Varos' minions currently
hemmed him in and he wasn't sure if he could get past them and up to
Cordelia in time to save her. He looked round anxiously for a weak
spot in the hoard and then yelled at his fighting partner. "Wes, we
have to get to Cordelia. Looks like her vision was true. Let's
drive a wedge through these bastards."
The young watcher looked towards the witches and saw Faith running
towards them. And then he noticed something else that made him pause
for a moment. "Oh my God," he whispered softly, before hacking at
the demons with a determined ferocity.
Cordelia felt like she had been punched in the stomach. She frowned
and looked down, and realised that it was the blade that had caused
the pain. She was surprised. She had always thought that being
stabbed would feel different. More like, well more like a stabbing
pain. But this felt solid and bruising. Fascinated, she continued
to stare at the blade as it moved further into her abdomen and
surprised herself by continuing the incantation she had memorised so
thoroughly, though she could hear her voice starting to waver as the
pain started to overwhelm her.
Suddenly, the blade disappeared and with it, for a moment at least,
the bruising pain. Realising what had occurred, the Seer looked up
to see who had tackled her attacker, all the while continuing to
chant the words she had learnt.
There was a tangled mass of limbs on the floor, each fighter
struggling for supremacy. It was only when they separated and broke
free of each other's grasp that they could be recognised. It was
then that Cordelia faltered in her recitation. The person who had
stopped Faith was Faith?
Faith rolled to her feet and put every ounce of strength she
possessed into a vicious right hook knocking the sunglasses off her
doppelganger. She stared for a moment at the cold grey eyes peering
so incongruously from her mirror image and then grinned. "It's
payback time, bitch."
The shape-shifter snarled angrily and then launched herself at
Faith. Once again, the two combatants ended up rolling on the ground
exchanging punches and blows from elbows, knees and feet as they
grappled.
Cordelia stood dumbfounded, watching the fight anxiously. Suddenly
she heard Giles yell at her and the tall brunette turned to face him,
frowning in confusion.
"Complete the recitation NOW!" Giles shouted, ducking to avoid
another blow from one of Varos' soldiers before pointing towards
Buffy and Angel.
Cordelia looked where Varos stood and saw the blonde slayer and Angel
desperately try to fend the huge blue demon off. It was obvious that
they were not going to hold him back for long and that their only
chance was for the incantation to be completed.
The Seer spun round and looked at the cauldron worriedly. The
ingredients were beginning to die down and she caught the look from
the two witches who had hesitated to continue when Cordelia had
halted.
Nodding that she was ready to continue, the three girls began again,
speaking rapidly in an effort to finish the incantation.
The wind continued to build up around the fighters, lashing the rain
over them in painful waves. Faith ducked yet another blow from the
shape-shifter and swept its legs away quickly. As her double landed
on the floor, the Southie landed a crunching elbow into its face,
grinning in satisfaction as she felt bone break under the strength of
the blow.
Instantly, she was thrown off and her eyes widened as the demon
morphed into a slightly smaller version of Varos himself. The shape-
shifter sprang to its feet and then made use of its increased reach,
landing a blow square onto Faith's right temple and sending her
spinning towards the witches.
She looked up at the three women and noticed Cordelia hesitate a
second time, obviously worried at Faith's dazed state.
The Bostonian shook her head in an effort to clear it and then looked
directly at Cordelia. "Finish the fucking spell, C." She ordered,
lashing out instinctively with a back kick that caught the demon high
in the chest, sending it back gasping for breath. The younger slayer
shrugged in confusion. "Damn, I always thought demons didn't need to
breathe," she commented conversationally before hefting a steel-toe
capped boot into its chest again.
The beast grunted but managed to catch Faith's foot as it rolled
back, sending the brunette slayer back onto the floor where once
again they rolled in a tangled mess, each fighter trying to land a
significant blow to the other.
Willow could feel the power start to resonate through her body as the
spell neared its completion. She looked at Cordelia and Tara as they
continued to chant, all three of them unconsciously speeding up the
recitation as they saw the fighting that continued around them. The
red-haired witch saw Buffy and Angel attack Varos together, and then
saw them both get swatted away. It wouldn't be long before he
defeated the two of them and came after the witches. She could also
see Faith and the shape-shifter exchanging blows.
Suddenly, Willow realised that she had a way of getting rid of Faith
forever and at the same time make it appear to be a tragic side-
effect of the spell.
Willow began to channel the excess energy created by the incantation
through her body. It took all of her strength to hold onto the power
and the wiccan began to sweat with the effort. The residual effects
of the recitation were incredibly strong and Willow felt herself draw
on dark powers in order to keep hold of it.
Cordelia was beginning to feel faint as she clutched her stomach with
one hand and the wooden artefact with the other. The Seer shifted
her grip slightly and fresh pain washed through her. Somehow, the
incantation was keeping her conscious and alert. She could feel her
hand become sticky with her own blood and wondered how quickly the
protection from the recitation would wear off and how soon she could
be taken to hospital. More importantly, she wanted to speak with
Faith. How she had ever assumed that anyone wearing the sad fashion
statement that were mirrored sunglasses could possibly be Faith was
beyond her, but it wasn't until she'd seen them both together that
the ex-cheerleader had realised her error.
The Seer looked up at the two witches and nodded as they completed
the incantation. As one, they threw the artefacts into the cauldron,
finding themselves blown back from the cauldron by a powerful blast
of energy that originated from the centre of the cauldron and rippled
out concentrically, washing through the cemetery in an orange-hued
wave.
Buffy felt the energy wave pass through her and saw its visible form
light everyone around in a weird orange tone as it rippled through
the graveyard, turning Varos into a sickly green colour for the time
it illuminated him.
She noticed him hesitate for an instant, a look of confusion on his
face and took advantage of his state, directing another swing at
Varos only for it to go straight through him. Having nothing solid
to stop the blow, the blonde slayer found herself spinning through
the swing and overbalancing, landing in a heap on the ground.
She looked up incredulously at the huge demon and stared as he
writhed in agony, a rictus of pain etched on his features. His mouth
was stretched open as he screamed silently, and then he was gone,
disintegrating almost instantaneously yet anti-climatically with no
lightning bolts or energy waves dissipating through him.
Buffy continued to stare at where Varos had once been standing until
she caught movement with her peripheral vision. Glancing round, she
saw Angel, his face battered and bleeding, with his arm outstretched
to give her a helping hand to her feet. Gratefully accepting, the
blonde struggled to get upright and brushed herself down. "I think I
can say that was the longest two minutes of my life," she commented
dryly.
"I agree, and I have over two hundred years to pick from," Angel
grinned back.
"Could do with some help guys," Xander yelled from where he stood,
swiping at demons wildly as he tried to protect both himself and Anya
from the marauders.
Immediately, Buffy and Angel switched back into fighting mode and
raced over to fight Varos' minions.
However, with the loss of their leader, the demons began to retreat
quickly, realising that they had been defeated.
Tara sat up slowly, trying to get some sort of control over her head
that felt like it was spinning wildly. The incantation had completely
exhausted her, and she had never felt that sort of power they had
channelled before. Immediately, she looked at Willow and noticed that
she was in pretty much the same sort of shape as herself. The blonde
witch's thoughts then turned to Cordelia. Not only had the Seer never
experienced any sort of magic power before, Tara had seen the girl
stabbed by a carbon-copy of Faith and she was extremely concerned
about her.
Cordelia lay on her side, clutching at her abdomen in an effort to
staunch the flow of blood escaping. The wound was now very painful,
and the slightest movement felt like she was tearing her stomach
open, but instinctively, Cordelia knew that the wound was not deeply
penetrating and not nearly as serious as the impalement she had
endured a few years ago. She would survive as long as she could get
to hospital quickly.
Despite the pain she was in though, Cordelia had only one topic on
her mind. And that was Faith's safety. She manoeuvred herself
carefully so that she could see the brunette slayer and watched as
the Southie continued to battle against the shape-shifter.
Faith chanced a quick look back to where Cordelia and the two wiccans
had been chanting. At first, her heart lurched when she saw all
three girls sprawled on the ground. Then, as she saw each one move
slightly, the Bostonian relaxed slightly, surmising that they were
only suffering the side-effects of the spell and switched her
concentration back to the shape-shifter. The demon was just as tough
to deal with as last time, but Faith was determined to exact her
revenge on the thing for nearly gutting her and leaving her for dead.
Warily the rogue slayer circled the demon again, trying to find a
weak enough opening for her to exploit and perhaps finish the thing
off for good.
Suddenly, the shape-shifter morphed again, turning into a bipedal,
yeti type monster with vicious sword appendages. Once again, the
eyes remained exactly the same, as did the voice that began to taunt
Faith. "What's up slayer? Lost your nerve?"
"Against you, Twinkie? I don't think so. I just haven't decided how
I'm going to end your miserable existence yet."
The shape-shifter snorted. "You'll never get close enough to harm
me," she goaded, the silky tone once again sounding incongruous
coming from the monster's body. She waved her arms in front of Faith
and the brunette's eyes shot open as they turned into long sharp
swords. "Recognise these?" The shape-shifter asked maliciously before
swiping at Faith with them.
The second slayer dodged the attack easily and ducked underneath the
demon's arms before stepping forward. Quickly she grabbed the demon's
shoulders and then used them as leverage as she head-butted the shape-
shifter solidly, grinning as she felt the already damaged face crack
even more.
The demon yelped in pain and leapt back, trying to get some distance
between itself and the Bostonian. It shortened the weapons
dramatically and tried to stab Faith, but once again Faith was too
quick for her and she weaved out of the way of the attack. The duel
continued at a blistering pace.
Willow managed to get to her feet, despite the fact that her head was
swimming and her body felt heavy and lethargic, due both to the
effect the recitation had on her and because of how much energy she
was holding on to. Swaying slightly, she forced her eyes to focus on
her intended target and then searched her mind for the appropriate
spell to direct the energy. As she recalled the words slowly, her
eyes turned black.
Varos' soldiers became quickly disorganised and panicked at the loss
of their leader. Many simply ran away, unwilling to risk destruction
at the hands of the blonde slayer and her helpers. Only the ones
directly fighting anyone put up much of an effort, and that was
principally in order to stay alive.
Buffy quickly dispatched the demon she faced and then assisted Angel
in killing a second. As the two ex-lovers turned round to look for
their next victim, they noticed the hurried and scattered departure
of the marauders. However, Buffy didn't falter in her concentration.
She knew that Faith was still fighting the shape-shifter and now that
Xander and the others were safe, she needed to help the younger
slayer.
Tara could sense the build up of excess energy but for a while, could
not work out why it was present or where it was emanating from. She
surveyed the area carefully, turning in a full circle as she
concentrated on the power source. As soon as she focused on Willow,
the blonde witch knew that she had located the originator of the
stored power but she was at a loss as to why Willow would want to
channel such a vast amount of chaotic power. It was only when the red-
head lifted her arm slowly and point that Tara finally understood and
she stood transfixed in horror.
Willow could feel herself trembling. She could barely hold on to the
power contained within her and knew that she had to release it soon.
Concentrating entirely on the incantation, she started to murmur
words slowly and almost incoherently. Slowly, she raised her arm and
directed the force of power down her arm and through her pointing
finger.
As she finished the spell, things seemed to happen in slow-motion. A
cerulean blue energy bolt shot from the tip of her finger towards the
shape-shifter. It would be unfortunate that the younger slayer would
get caught in the cross-fire but the shape-shifter had to be
eliminated. At least, that was how Willow justified her action to
herself.
Suddenly she was distracted as she heard Tara shout out "NO!"
Her heart lurched as she caught movement to one side. Tara was
running straight towards Faith and would get in the way of the energy
beam before it hit Faith and the demon.
Thinking with a speed that she didn't think possible, Willow chanted
again in a desperate attempt to dissipate the beam before it hit her
lover.
She faltered as blue light bathed Tara, Faith and the shape-shifter
for an instant and seemingly from some distance away, Willow could
hear Cordelia screaming Faith's name in heart-rending anguish.
The blue light turned to a painfully bright white flash before dying
away completely. Willow blinked back the burning spots of energy that
patterned her vision and then looked round frantically.
Tara and Faith had disappeared.
To be continued...