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Chapter 40: ...I'd like to test that theory.
Flashback to Austin's Disappearance:
"Where am I?" I asked, looking around. I was bloody and dusty. I looked around quickly, trying to find anything familiar to me. I couldn't. I searched, and still nothing.
"Hello." A familiar voice said behind me.
I turned and saw my mother, " Mommy?" I asked.
"Mom?" I asked.
My mother walked in front of me and we eyed each other. The white, empty space all around us began to shimmer lightly and suddenly we were in a field of daisies and my father stood in front of me, too, and I felt my breath pick up pace and I breathed in harder.
"Dad?" I asked.
"So, we're so proud. You're almost there." Dad smiled.
"Almost there?" I asked.
"You'll see." Mom smiled.
I sighed, " Ummm, last thing I remember is trying to help my friends, in Wolfram & Hart, and I fell. Where is this place?" I asked, looking around, " What..." I said, looking back around and seeing no one, " That was a helluva trick."
There was an odd feeling and suddenly there was a darkness creeping from everywhere and suddenly I was standing on the last ray of sunlight.
"Hey worm." A female said, walking towards me, " We haven't met, I'm Glory and I'll be sacrificing you today."
"Not now, I'm sure that Alice is just looking for the rabbit." a woman I knew to be Drusilla said quirkly, looking around.
"Ladies, ladies, we can all bathe in his blood," A vampire with a particularly screwed up face and what I can only describe as fruit punch mouth said. I knew him, The Master, " We shall sink into it and..."
"Gross." I sneered.
"I wish only to dissect him." a large, demonoid, robot said.
"Well, heck, even I want a shot at him." the Mayor said chipperly.
I stood in the center of the lighted circle, looking around for help.
"Ha yah!" a voice said and suddenly there was a bunch of women surrounding me and effectively causing demons to disappear, " Hello, my name is Lucy Hanover."
"You're a slayer." I said, looking around, " You all are." I said in shock.
"Yeah." An African American woman said, " You called us."
"Me?" I asked, " Where am I?"
"Dreamscape. Purgatory." a scratchy voice that I knew belonged to the First Slayer said, " You are needed."
"Me? Have you met Buffy?" I asked.
"She is not who is needed, she is dealing with her own demons." A chinese slayer smiled.
"Yuh. We were called to protect you." A jamaican slayer smiled. I had seen her before, " We all fell while on da mission, now we need to save your soul. I am called Kendra."
"The slayer before Faith." I said to myself, " Wait, what's going on?"
"You have been willed here, obviously, but the spell comes at a great price." A teen girl said, " Hi, I'm Annabelle."
"Ok, this is just freaky...slow down. How am I going to help?" I asked.
"A battle is being waged here and we need a leader." Lucy said.
"But there are thousands of you." I frowned.
"Only one prophecized." Kendra pointed out.
"Ok, I was destined to be here?" I asked in shock.
"Are you okay?" Annabelle asked.
"No. My friends need me...Wolfram & Hart are going to kill them." I said angrily, " I really...."
"I'm glad you've come." Micah's voice came from behind me.
I turned to him, " Micah?" I asked, " How's he..."
"All champions are welcomed..." the chinese slayer said clearly, " In death."
"I'm dead?" I asked.
"No." Micah said quickly.
"I thought you were...Were you evil?" I asked.
"You don't know the true story." Micah said, " You met me in the club, we were friends, then I died."
I looked at him slowly, " What's this mean?" I asked.
"It means that you have to save our souls." Micah smiled, " You're a champion."
"A slayer." The other African American Slayer said, " You have questions, right?"
"Does duh cover it?" i asked.
"You help us and we'll help you." she smiled, extending her arm, " I'm Nikki, by the way."
"Nikki Wood?" I asked, shaking her hand, " I know your son."
"I know." she smiled.
"We need to move ourselves to the Sanctuary." Lucy said, and we started away with them.
Now...
Doug and Kelly browsed the A-Magician Express Store, looking for any sign of suspicious customers and odd revelations. the Magic Store was brilliant, there were darks arts sections, light arts, of course, faux magic, kid's magic, and a basement door. Then there was the whole other library upstairs, in the loft and there was an odd air of something, maybe freedom or could it be repression? Maybe both. While Kelly searched through some Charms, Doug pulled a book through a large shelf and through the hole where the book used to be stood Gemma, who looked just as shocked as he was.
"Ummm..." Gemma stammered, looking down quickly. Both rounded the corner and met, " Hey." she smiled.
"Hey." Doug said nervously.
"Last place I'd expect to find you." Gemma said, avoiding his eyes.
Doug shrugged, " Can't stop completely. Just taking baby steps." he said, trying to talk as long as possible without having too many awkward silences.
But there was one. A long one.
"So, what is this? Demons? The oogly boogly?" Gemma asked.
"Sorta." Doug nodded, " More like the big unknown. We don't know what it is, but it's coming hard and fast."
Gemma chuckled.
"The Evil is coming hard and fast." Doug corrected, but slapped his hand to his head.
"I understand." Gemma smirked, " I wan't just raised on puns." she laughed.
"So, what have you been doing lately?" Doug asked.
"Nothing as exciting as facing demons, but I have been doing some pretty interesting spells. There was this one where I turned a bunch of rat into pigeons...backfired. Flying rats aren't cute. Then there was one where transport, or, you know, transfigure things." Gemma smirked.
"Really? How?" Doug asked, listening and thinking about her beautiful black hair with blonde streaks and the way her shirt never quite reached her belly, and that was a good thing because her belly was very tight. And her pants that fit so snuggly around her form and the heels that made her hips that much larger.
Elsewhere in the store...
Kelly had been reading a book on 'Old Ones' or demons that were so old that many predated the written word and their stories were left to be told by those who remembered it. There were pictures and accounts of 'Old Ones' up until the 55 A.D., even some unaccounted, mythical stories dating farther. Legend has it that a lone woman slayed the demons. No word on who she was, but there was also some stories about Gods and Goddesses. This on in particular was pretty out there...
"Glorificus?" Kelly asked herself.
"Yes." A voice said, causing Kelly to turn and see the gorgeous owner of the store standing there, wearing some cute little glasses. He was around twenty six or twenty seven, brunette with piercing green eyes and a swimmer's build. He wore a sweater and slacks. His teeth were white, but not too white. You could always tell when they were fake or whitened, his teeth were natural. No one ever notices teeth until after the body, but that was what she saw first, " Legend has it she was cast out of her home dimension...hell, when the other Gods felt as if she was growing too powerful. There were rumbling of her a few years back, but no evidence was found. Scholars believe that Sunnydale might have been linked to her in some way." he smiled, " But that's only if you believe it."
"I do." Kelly said quickly, " So, she was this powerful ass Hell Goddess and what about the God...s that threw her out? Were they lesser?"
"No. She was just more passionate about her torturing techniques." the guy chuckled.
Kelly chuckled and extended her hand, " I'm Kelly Chase. And you, knowledge guy, would be..." she smiled.
"Cale. Cale Harper." Cale smiled, shaking her hand.
"So, again, how many gods ruled with Glorificus?" Kelly asked.
"Ummm, I'm quite confused, is this going to be on one of your finals?" he joked.
"Huh? No...I just...I..." Kelly stammered.
Before she could say anything, Doug walked up with Gemma.
"Gemma?" Kelly asked.
"Who's your new friend?" Doug smiled.
"Hello Kelly." Gemma smiled nervously.
"Doug, this is Cale Harper, Cale, this is Doug...and Gemma..." Kelly started.
"Oh, I know Cale." Gemma smirked.
"Yes, she's one of my regulars." Cale smiled, then looked at Doug, " Hi, Doug."
"Hi." Doug said quickly.
Again there was an awkward silence.
"So, umm, we've gotta be getting back to the thing..." Kelly started.
"Oh yeah, the thing! Ummm, yeah. I just got some helpful info from Gemma about the orb and that one thing." Doug said, trying not to be obvious.
"Me too, but from Cale," She turned to Cale, " Umm, we've gotta be going."
"So...are you taking the books?" Cale asked.
"Sure." Kelly said, pulling her money out and sliding it to him, " So, you're gonna be working here for a while, right?"
"I hope so, my parents own the store." Cale smirked.
"K." Kelly said, leaving with Doug.
Flashback to Austin's disappearance:
Sanctuary was a castle. Not mansion, full on castle. Hogwarts, eat your heart out. The inside was lavishly furnished and despite its age, it had been kept up nicely and th room where I stayed had a balcony, overlooking what had once been all white, which was now a forrest. The landscaped was green and watery to a certain point. At that point, I could tell that nothing good lived past it. The perfect metaphor for my life. Nothing good past a certain point. I was there. I thought about my friends and my mind paused, asking did they get out of Wolfram & Hart? Then my mind wandered to Micah. He had been there, just now. My parents. All the slayers, too, but where had my parents gone?
"You'll have to lead us." Micah said at the door.
I looked at him, " Why me?" I asked.
Micah walked to the bed and stood by me, " Why not you?" he asked.
"Because I'm new. Because I'm probably the youngest one here. Because I'm..." I panicked.
"...really the only qualified person." Micah said quickly, " You just proved that you'll do what you need to win. You and the gang just stormed Wolfram and Hart. You marched into one of the biggest, evilest places without question. You inspired a group of people, without next to nothing in common, to be the best that they can be and they followed you willingly to what could have been their deaths." micah said, " You were their leader."
"Were?" I asked.
Micah smiled and looked out over the forrest, " It's getting nearer." he said.
I looked at him, " I don't know if I have it in me to command this army." I said slowly.
"Have you been listening?" Micah asked.
"Yes. I'm al open-eared and receptive, but..." I started.
"Look, before creepy guy killed me, I really liked you. Borderline love and I didn't even know you long enough. I'm a really good judge of character and I know youc an do this." Micah said nervously.
"What's it like, being dead?" I asked.
"It was great." Micah said dreamily, " Then evil got a big boost somehow and our souls were called back. A champion's work is never done."
"You were a champion?" I asked
"A guide, but Champion sounds so much better on the resume." Micah joked.
"Why not Buffy? Or even Faith?" I asked.
"Buffy's going to get her chance. Hell, she's started already. And Faith, well, I could say the same for her." Micah said.
"So that leaves me?" I asked.
"Yup." Micah replied.
"My friends? What will they do?" I asked.
"Survive." Micah smiled and looked at me, then put a hand up to my face, " I miss your face."
I felt myself go red in the face, " The feeling is mutual." I smiled. Then there was a boom that rocked everything and I looked down to see an army not far from us, " It's go time!"
"Be careful." Micah said quickly.
I ran downstairs to the landing to find the slayers standing by the giant doors. They all turned to look at me.
"What do we do?" Someone called out.
"Everyone got a weapon?" I asked.
They all nodded in agreement.
"Ummm, ok. I have these dreams. And in these dreams, I'm you." They al looked around at each other, " I fight what you fought. I did the great things you did. I made the same mistakes that got you killed. I don't really get this whole 'Dreamland' thing, but frankly, I don't care. The only thing I care about is saving your souls. I've seen what a slayer can do. We change the world, daily, and do you want to lose that?" I asked, " They're demons. But who cares? It's not about winning, it's about fighting for what's right."
They all roared and the doors opened and outside were all kinds of demons and creatures, even dragons. At the front of the gang was a woman. She looked like a model, high heels and...high heels? Or Highels?! She was leading them? Or...
"Attack!" I shouted, causing everyone to run out of the castle doors. I was about to run, but I had no weapon! I felt a tap on my shoulder and Micah handed me the double-bladed weapon I had used in the other dimension. I smiled and turned to see the model right in front of me! I could see her clearly. She was a brunette, blue-eyed woman and she was wearing a yellow cloth with high heels.
"Hey kid, name's Sinew." she smiled, punching me in the face and causing me to fly backwards and smash into the wall!
I groaned as I ducked her punch and kicked her in the stomach and grabbed her and as she tried to hit me again, I elbowed her an moved as she hit the wall, causing it to collapse! I hopped out of the way and jumped over her, kicking her in the shin and kicking her in the face. I jumped into the air and brought my fist down onto her face, but she grabbed my arm, yanking me out of the floor and back to the floor!
"Come on, is that all you got? My minions hit harder than th..." she smiled, but I punched her with all my might and she flew backwards and smashed through the wall!
"I hate locals." I said, walking to the hole in the wall. When I got there, I ducked in time to miss her fist and shouted, " Flidape!" and she flew back, but landed on her feet and charged at me. I was ready for her and when she hit, we spilled backwards! I grabbed her head and jammed it into my knee, but she extended my arm back, flipping me to the floor and suddenly, I felt a gust of wind a and we both stopped. We looked up to see that there was a Vortex! I looked at the vortex and back at Sinew, then I puched her and we rolled off the top of the roof and we fell, flying through a vortex!
Now...
I saw the lights coming towards me and I rolled out of the way and rolled again, avoiding another car. I thought I was clear until I saw a truck coming fast and I jumped up and grabbed a light pole and swung to the top. I turned to catch my breath as the memories of the battle at Dreamscape flooded back to me. I turned, still on top of the truck, and felt a fist hit me right in the mouth and I fell to the roof of the truck, looking up at Titan. I kicked him in the shin and swept him off his feet and kicked him again. I was about to punch him, but he caught my hand and threw me off the truck and on the roof of a building. I layed on the roof, panting. He had thrown me at least three stories with ease. What was this guy? I realized where I was, on the roof of the Mayor's office. I stood directly across from Titan now.
"You're going to lose. Did you remember? All those slayer souls captured." Titan smirked, " It didn't have to be like this. There's still time. She's coming."
"Sinew." I said quietly, " She went somewhere else, huh? She's destroying another dimension."
"You can't win." Titan smirked.
I had been quietly eyeing my surroundings. I saw the skylight and knew that we had to fight. There had to be something I could do. I took a step back, " Maybe not. But if I take you with me, then that's better." I said, causing him to run at me. He swung, but I caught him and threw him on the other side of the skylight. He got to his feet and started running, so did I. We both leaped at each other over the skylight! The impact of us hitting each other and falling onto the skylight shattered it and we fell to the ground below! I layed on my back, trying to roll over and get to my feet. I noticed Titan wasn't moving either. I stood and he came around, getting up as quickly as he could.
"Wait!" Kelly's voice shouted as the doors to the mayor's office burst open and she, Oz and Doug marched through it! I looked to them.
"Here, catch!" Oz shouted, throwing me the orb I got at the hospital in Rome.
I caught it and immediately, i felt it pull something from titan and he groaned and struggled, falling to his knees.
"Enough!" My grandfather said, walking from the shadows with my grandmother, " This will stop!"
I looked at them in shock, " What the fu..." I said, but I was cut off by a swirling vortex and suddenly Sinew stepped out and stood in front of us in A skintight yellow dress and knee high boots.
She cracked her neck and surveyed the room, " Hey, it's the kid!" she said, picking up a desk and throwing it! Oz dove in front of me, taking the brunt of the table's impact and I picked hi up and we all scrambled through the opened door.
Thank you for reading. If you want another chapter, I'm really going to need more feedback.