Shaddyr's Eclectic Collection > Buffy Fanfiction > Alternity:The Warden
Alternity: The Warden - Part 2
by Kelly Meding
2001
Buffy arched her back, stretching tired muscles. Two hours of pouring over books was starting to drive her crazy. Research was better left to others. She was the Slayer, after all. She tracked. She fought. She didn't do books. She wondered if Giles would mind if she took a half-hour to punch around in the training room. Something to get her blood flowing.
"Arantaf!" Anya announced triumphantly.
She looked up from her book, turning it around for everyone to see. There was a pencil sketch of a robed man, with sharp, angular facial features. Buffy stared at the picture. All she could think was that the guy looked like Spike.
"Very good," Giles said, joining them at the table. "Arantaf was once a member of the royal court of Prussia. He was expelled from the country for consorting with a witch coven. Arantaf professed his innocence to deaf ears. In retaliation he found a warlock who forged an amulet of gold and precious stones. Arantaf was told the amulet could be used as he saw fit."
Giles paused to turn the page in the book, then kept reading to his captive audience. "Arantaf moved his family to England, still unsure of his revenge. In 1132, his wife and three daughters were killed by a mysterious plague ravaging the city of London."
"Vampires," Buffy said, pointing to a small sketch on the page. It showed someone's neck, with two tiny puncture wounds. "Hundreds of years ago, people blamed vampire deaths on plagues, especially when they happened in large numbers."
Buffy discovered everyone staring at her. "What?" she said defensively. "Sometimes I actually listen to the things Giles says, you know."
"Thank you, Buffy," Giles said. He looked back down at the page to finish the last paragraph of the entry. "Arantaf sent his son to live with friends out in Wiltshire to protect him. After Arantaf's death in 1149, the amulet, now called the Warden, was delivered to his son. It is supposed to have stayed within the family."
"Does it say what happens to the son?" Buffy asked.
"The entry stops there," Giles said.
"So now we know who this Arantaf guy is," Xander said. "But we still don't know what the Warden does. Or why Black Goo Guy wanted it."
"It has power," Buffy said. She reached for the amulet, careful to handle only the chain it was on. The stones flashed as it caught bits of light. "I felt it when I kicked Black Goo Guy. We just don't know what kind."
"Which means more research," Giles said.
Buffy bit back a groan.
"I'm still working on translating the writing," Willow said, typing something into her laptop.
Buffy stood up. "I'm going to exercise some," she announced. "Get some blood flowing to my head, help me think and all."
Before anyone could protest, Buffy bounced out the back door to the training room.
~*~*~
2152
Ensign Derek Harris turned the medallion over and over in his hands. It was magnificent craftsmanship, that much was certain. He was also certain it was several centuries old. He would almost hazard a guess of a millennia. He had taken over a small corner of Sickbay, around the corner from the main room where he had computer access and quiet. He scratched at the short brown hair at the base of his neck, a gesture reserved for moments of quiet frustration.
This was one of those moments.
Harris scanned a picture of the medallion and fed it into the computer. Hopefully the United States Archeology Database could come up with something for him. As he waited for the results of the search, he stared at the necklace.
The metal was warm to the touch, even after it hadn't been handled. The gemstone was constantly changing color, from red to sparkling purple, to a deep silver shade. It seemed to be alive and liquid beneath its shell, yet it never moved. And the writing was no language he was familiar with. He quickly typed the letters into the Universal Translator, hoping for a quick match. Ensign Sato had been asked to join him in the research. She should be there at any time.
Harris wasn't disappointed in the language angle. The computer beeped a match at him in less than thirty seconds. He brought up the screen.
POWER IN BLOOD, KNOWLEDGE IN POWER, WIELD BOTH
He stared at the translation, unsure what to make of it. It was a dialect of Medieval Prussian, one he wasn't familiar with. Harris swiveled in his chair, once again fixing his dark eyes on the medallion in his hand.
"Power in blood," he said softly. But what did that mean?
~*~*~
2001
Buffy let go a flying kick, landing easily on the exercise pad on the floor. She wiped a thin line of sweat off her forehead. While she knew she hadn't lost any speed or strength since her.resurrection, she knew her heart wasn't in it. Training had lost some of its punch, so to speak. She stared at the sandbag, wondering if it were worth a few rounds on it. Anything was better than the books.
Instead, she walked over to the small collection of weapons on the wall. She picked up a six-inch hilted blade, deciding a little target practice could be good. A tiny chill snaked across the short hairs on her neck. Immediately tense, Buffy whipped around with the blade. It hit flesh and the intruder yelped. She stepped back, glaring at him.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
Spike stared at the oozing cut on the palm of his left hand, then frowned at her. "Not much of a hello," he said.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "You don't usually sneak around in the sunlight unless you want something," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "I figured why waste time and not skip right to it."
"I had to come," Spike said. He took a towel off a nearby rack and wrapped it around his bleeding hand.
"Gee, that's original," Buffy retorted. She dropped the dagger, spun around and began walking away.
A cold hand clapped over her shoulder, stopping her. Buffy angrily shrugged out of Spike's grip. As she turned again to yell at him, she stopped. There was a glint of desperation in his eyes that she'd never seen before. Not quite fear, but something akin to it.
"Have you ever felt compelled to do something?" Spike asked. His voice reflected the same emotion she saw in his eyes. "And just not know why? That there was something you had to know, had to see. No matter what."
Buffy studied him for a moment, searching for any hint of dishonesty. After the incident with the liquor and kitten poker, she'd grown more wary of the things he told her. But he seemed so genuine about this. If it did turn out to be another hoax, she could just kick his ass later.
"You felt compelled to come here?" she asked, trying to temper the sarcasm from her voice.
"Yeah," Spike said. He almost seemed embarrassed about it. "Listen, don't ask me to explain it. I can't and I bloody well wish I could."
Buffy continued to stare at him. Spike realized she wasn't going to offer up any information. She could almost see his brain switching tactics.
"Heard about a new player in town," Spike said casually. "Big guy, purple eyes. Melts when you injure it, then reforms a few hours later."
"Reforms?" Buffy echoed. She blinked at him. "You know what this demon is?"
"Dalzell Demon," Spike said. "Very rare and damn hard to kill. You think it's dead, but it's just regenerating."
"So that thing is still out there," Buffy said. "And it still wants the Warden."
"Warden?" Spike said. This time it was his turn to stare blankly at her. "Serious? I thought the damn thing was a myth. You've got the Warden?"
"You know what it does?" she asked, getting into his face.
Spike took a step back, still digesting the information. The apprehension was back again and Spike found himself unable to mask it now.
"Only what I've heard," he said quietly.
"And what is that?" Buffy pressed, hoping she wouldn't have to play one of his guessing games.
"I want to see it," Spike said, as if there was to be no discussion.
Buffy arched an eyebrow. "No?"
"If you do have the Warden," Spike growled, his voice deadly low, "You'll need to know what I know about it. And it's nothing you're gonna find in a bloody book, that's for sure."
Buffy sighed. The others weren't going to like this.
~*~*~
2152
One of the small cages nearby rattled, startling Ensign Harris. He looked up from the computer, but the cage didn't move again. Some of the things Phlox kept around Sickbay scared him.
"How's it coming, Derek?" Hoshi Sato asked as she breezed into the alcove.
"I have the language translated, but I'd like your opinion," Derek reported. "Still no idea where or when the medallion is from."
Hoshi bent over the small table, reading the translation on the computer screen. "That's creepy," she said. "And pretty cryptic."
"I noticed," he replied dryly.
"Any progress, Ensigns?" Phlox asked cheerfully as he entered the small alcove. He had a vial of blood in one hand and small bottle in another.
"Sort of," Derek said.
"Could you hold this for me?" Phlox asked, holding the vial of blood toward Hoshi. "I need to feed the Tergellian Lizard, before I analyze this sample of our mystery guest's blood."
Hoshi gingerly held the vial between two fingers. She generally tried to hide her squeamish side, but had never been fond of handling blood. Derek watched her, chuckling softly.
Phlox opened his bottle and added food to one of the cages. Derek turned back to the monitor, watching as dozens of pages of historical facts flashed by, searching for a match. He became engrossed in the information.
A sharp squawk from a cage made Hoshi jump. Her fingers twitched and she dropped the vial of blood.
~*~*~
2001
"I think I translated it," Willow said. As she looked up from her computer, the back door of the shop opened. Her triumphant smile faded when Buffy and Spike entered the shop.
Giles, Xander and Anya followed her gaze. Spike didn't seem to notice their un-welcoming glares. His eyes were fixed on the table.
"Spike may know something about the Warden," Buffy explained before anyone could ask.
"We haven't found any additional information," Giles told her. "I suppose, if he knows something."
Spike walked over to the table and very gently picked up the medallion by its chain. He held it up so the Warden was eye level with him. Everyone watched him, as if afraid he'd run away with it. But Spike had no interest in running. All of his attention was on the gold disk in front of him.
Very slowly, Spike lowered the amulet toward his bandaged hand.
~*~*~
2152
The vial of blood hit the desk and shattered. Crimson drops splattered all over the surface, coating the nearby PADD. Several flecks landed on the gold medallion and the front of Hoshi's uniform.
"Oh!" Hoshi cried out. "I'm so sorry, Doctor."
"It's all right," Phlox said. "It can be cleaned after all."
Hoshi nodded, glancing over at Derek. He smiled sympathetically and picked up the medallion to wipe it off. Derek froze in place, staring at his hand. Hoshi looked at the medallion, and her eyebrows shot up. The stone in the center was swirling in a rainbow of colors. Hoshi was aware of a rush of sound, like crashing waves at the ocean shore. She looked up at Phlox and Derek in time to see the room disappear in a flash of too-white light.
~*~*~
2001
"Do you know what it does?" Giles asked impatiently.
Spike didn't speak. Instead, he gently placed the amulet on the palm of his hand. Buffy cringed when the gold touched the bloody bandage and she was about to admonish him. But her eyes were drawn toward the stone in the center of the amulet. It swirled furiously in a bright melody of color.
"What the-?" Buffy said.
Then the Magic Box disappeared in a flash of ultra-white light and a rush of roaring sound.
~*~*~
"Do you think they'll be mad we didn't get them anything?" Dawn asked. She sipped her frozen mocha as she walked, stirring the whipped cream deeper into the chocolate drink.
Tara smiled, blowing through the lid to cool her latte. "I think they'll get over it," she teased. "Actually, I think they're researching, so they'd probably have loved the caffeine."
"Researching what?"
"A medallion, I think." Tara sipped her drink, wrinkling her nose when the hot liquid scorched her tongue.
They turned the corner and the Magic Box came into view. Dawn offered Tara her mocha.
"Cool your tongue?" Dawn asked.
Tara nodded. As she reached for the drink, a glaring flash of white light erupted from the windows of the Magic Box. It was abruptly gone. The girls froze mid-step.
Flash. Magic. Willow.
Those three words played over in Tara's mind as her feet moved forward on their own. She felt, rather than saw, Dawn behind her as they raced across the street. They burst through the door of the Magic Box. Everything appeared as it should be, except for the people there.
Instead of their friends, two men and a woman stood in the center of the store. Tara had a vague thought that one of the men looked like Xander, only older. Then she got a good look at the second man. She didn't see their uniforms or their bewilderment. All she saw was the portly man in a tunic, the ridges on his face, the discolored skin. A demon?
Tara's first instinct was to protect Dawn. She reached toward a shelf and grabbed the first weapon she saw. It was a long-hilted, short-bladed decorative dagger. Tiny, but Tara brandished it like a broad sword at the intruders.
"Who are you?" she demanded, impressed that her voice sounded more commanding than the fear in her heart let her feel.
"Perhaps a more fitting question," said the demon-thing, its voice analytical and friendly, "Is where are we?"