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"Chosen Ones"Written By: Dùlin
Archive: This arc is archived on this site with permission. Do not reproduce it anywhere without permission. Disclaimer : I don't own them. Life is not fair. Rating : R to NC-17 for violence Warnings : Crossover GW/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
which means, AU and OOC-ness for the GW characters (since they're
not humans, niark niark !) Pairings : 1x2, 3x4, 6x5, explicit references to past 13x5 Author's note : You need to know quite a bit about
the Buffy universe to understand this fic. If you don’t know
what Buffy is or stopped watching after season two, just take a browse
on the official UPN site to see what the heck this is all about. The greatest thanks to the ever faithful Karina, to Amejisuto and the best beta-reader of the world, Laurence-sama ! Please do not take or reproduce without permission.
"Chosen Ones"
Part 3 - Unite, Ye who will fight Buffy and Giles left the graveyard hastily. Somehow, Giles had thought that staying at less than ten meters of a newly summoned ‘demon’ was not a good idea. As Buffy had agreed, they had gone back to the Magic Box for more research, leaving the six young men alone.
“Please, Quatre, sit, or you’re gonna fall down”. Both Duo and Quatre slid to the floor, sitting cross-legged and leaning on a tombstone. Heero, Wufei and Trowa just stood. They all looked exhausted, but they were feeling complete. Now, they had a chance. Zechs turned to Quatre. “Have you made any progress in locating our contact ?” “Not really. The signal is very dim, and I was lacking energy. It looks like she’s been Called four years ago only. I must admit that it is actually a miracle that she’s alive at all, and she will be easier to locate than if she had been a whole new one.” “Good. We don’t have much time though.” “I’ll do my best.” “I know. What else ?” “We’ve been attacked by humans”, Wufei said. Zechs frowned. “Humans ? Does it mean he is here already ?” “We didn’t detect anything”, Duo said hastily. “If he had come, I would have been be the first to feel it, and for the moment, nada ! It’s quite good news, uh ?” “Yes. But it will not be long now.” Zechs looked again at the five young men. “You all need rest. Do you have a safe place to go to ?” Trowa nodded. “Then let’s go there”, Zechs said. “We can start working tomorrow.” **** “Nothing. This ritual has never been recorded anywhere.” Giles threw another book on the floor. “Are you sure we looked everywhere ?”, Willow asked. “Maybe we overlooked something.” “We didn’t. But that kind of conjuring definitely reminds me of something. I don’t have a clue of what exactly.” Giles rubbed his forehead. A headache was threatening to spread through his head. Buffy sighed heavily. “If I sum up correctly, we don’t know who they are, we don’t know what they want, we don’t know how to kill them … What do we know ?” “That they’re hot ?”, Xander sneered. “You mean it could be the end of the world for real this time ?”, Tara asked. Silence fell. “Sorry”, Tara said, “I didn’t mean it like that.” “You meant it exactly like that and maybe you’re right”, Buffy said. “But it doesn’t mean we won’t fight. I never thought I would say that one day, but I really want to take my finals.” “Whoa, just a minute”, Xander interrupted. “We stop the end of the world and we still get finals ? Injustice !” “Uh, guys ?” Anya’s voice was strained and afraid. “What ?”, Giles asked. “The demons we’re talking about, six of them, five in black, one in white, looking very sexy and all ?” “So what ?”, Buffy asked impatiently. “As an ex-demon, do you know something about that that you would like to share ?” “As a very frightened person, I know that they are right outside.” Everyone froze. It was nighttime. The shop was supposed to be closed, but anyone passing by could see the light. A voice from the back of the shop made them all jump. “What are you all playing at ? The first to move loses ?” They all turned to face Spike. The vampire immediately noticed the alarm on their faces. “What ?” “Remember the boys who beat you up last time ? They’re here.” “WHAT ?” “Let’s stay calm, please”, Giles said. “Everyone, grab a weapon. The door is locked but I’m not sure that will stop them.” “There is only one sane thing to do. Run !”, Anya said. “It’s too late for that”, Buffy said. “They’re probably grumpy because we disturbed their party last time.” Zechs looked at the little shop. “Are you sure she’s here ?”, he asked Quatre. “Positive. The signal is not very strong, but it comes from that place.” “There are a lot of people in here”, Heero said. “Six”, Zechs said. “But we can’t afford to lose anymore time. Please try to control yourself, especially you, Duo. We don’t have a lot of time, and she will want some explanations that I must give her.” “Why do ya guys always assume that I’m the troublemaker around ?”, Duo moaned. “Because last time we had a mission, you summoned poltergeists to create an incredible mayhem ?”, Wufei said. “Oh yeah”, Duo let out a snort of laughter. “That was fun !” “Well this isn’t ‘fun’, Duo. Assuming we can accomplish our mission, you will have all the fun you want. And if you don’t behave”, Zechs added maliciously, “I’ll ask Quatre to put you under control until we’re finished.” “You wouldn’t do that, Cat ?” Quatre shrugged and smiled evilly. “If I have to. It’s not like it’s the first time.” “Okay, if you’re teaming up against me, I give up !” “Let’s get inside”, Zechs said. And with a wave of his hand, the door opened.
“Please lower your weapons”, the man in white said. “We are not here to harm you.” Buffy got out of her hiding place. “And you really think we’re gonna believe you just like this ?” “Of course not. But I am saying this for your own security. Your weapons can hurt us, but not kill us. And that could make my friends here angry if you hit them with this ax. As powerful as I am, I am unfortunately not able to control them in that kind of situation.” Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, Giles and Spike got out of their own hiding places, each holding some kind of weapon. The man in white smiled. “You are cautious. I suppose this is normal, considering what you do and see everyday.” “Well, I don’t like to be taken at unawares”, Buffy retorted. “Any particular wishes before we kill you ?” The braided boy chortled. “She really is fun, that one ! She wants to kill us !” “Shut up, baka !”, the one at his side groaned. The braided boy made an outrageous sad face. He banged his head on the wall and pretended to cry. “Hee-chan, your words, sometimes, they hurt, you know !” “Boys !”, the man in white said calmly. This stopped the chattering in his back. “Who are you ? Or maybe the right question is what are you ?”, Buffy said. “Finally an intelligent question. But I think the answer is going to be long and difficult. Still to sum it up, I could say, miss Summers, that I am you.” **** “You are what ?”, Buffy asked, not really sure that she had heard correctly. “If my sources of information are right”, Zechs said, shooting a smile to Quatre who smiled back, “you are Buffy Summers, the latest Slayer to have been Called. I don’t count miss Faith, who is out of the picture for now, and unfortunately, miss Kendra is dead. If things had gone okay, she would have been our contact in this dimension.” “I am the Slayer, that’s right. What does that make you ?” Zechs smiled. “Do you mind if we all sit and try to have a civilized conversation ? Neither I nor them are what you humans would call demons. We do not wish to hurt you. That is not why we have been called here.” Giles came forward, putting down the baseball club he had been holding. “I think we can do that”, he said, “but I hope that you realize that we will defend our lives in any way possible if you try to harm us.” “I understand that quite well. I don’t ask you to trust us right away. I’ll just give you as much explanation as I am allowed to give, and then it will be up to you to decide what your course of action will be. Our mission is not to force humans to cooperate with us.” Giles made a gesture towards the table. Zechs made his way there and sat on a chair, Wufei and Heero sitting at his sides. Duo chose to perch himself on the counter next to the cash register, thus earning a worried look from Anya. Trowa and Quatre went to the back of the shop and sat on the stairs that led to the library of the shop. Buffy noticed that this left the door open for any of them to go away if they felt threatened. She began to relax. Maybe those weren’t bad guys after all. Like a reaction to those movements, Anya, Xander, Tara and Willow came closer to the door and sat on the two stairs leading towards the exit. Spike followed more slowly, shooting a murderous look to Quatre. It was because of that fuckin’ thing looking like a fifteen-year-old ready to be sucked dry that he had been dragged into that crazy story. Quatre smiled brightly to the vamp, winked, and then, placed a long, languorous lick on the side of Trowa’s neck. “Eww !”, Xander exclaimed. “Fuckin’ shit !”, Spike said. “So I get the crap beaten out of me by gay spirits ? Just what I needed for my reputation !” “What do you have against gay spirits ?”, Duo asked. “Ya don’t say anything about your pair of wiccas here”, he said with a motion towards Willow and Tara. “How do you know we are …”, Willow started, but she stopped blushing. “Forget it, I don’t want to know how you know.” Duo shrugged and smiled. “I am not one of them, okay ?”, Spike snapped. “If I am here …” “It’s just because you can’t bite and they feed ya, yeah I know.” This forced Spike to shut up. ‘For now’, he thought. ‘Just gimme a minute outside with the wicked elf and you’ll see what I’ll make of him.’ Zechs’ gaze flickered towards Duo. The braided boy caught the message. “I shut up !”, he said joyfully. “Thanks”, Zechs said. He turned to Giles. “To start this, I’ll need to explain some things about how we came here and why.” Giles nodded. **** “This is going to be a bit complicated, but I trust you to know part of it already”, Zechs said. “We came here through a dimensional portal, which means you probably understood that we are not really ‘from’ this world, and yet in a way, we belong to this world far more than any of you.” No one could find something intelligent to say after that, so Zechs just continued. “As you probably know, there are a lot of dimensions that exist. Zillions. Most of them are parallel to your own world on a horizontal basis. They’re around, but not visible, on an axis that goes through the middle of your dimension. On a vertical basis, however, it is quite different. There is only one dimension beneath, and one dimension above. We come from the one above.” “So you are angels or something ?”, Willow asked timidly. Zechs turned her ice-blue gaze towards her and smiled. “No, we are not angels. We are what are called Holy Spirits.” “I thought that was a legend”, Giles cut in. “Legends often have a basis in fact, Mr Giles, I’m sure this has been proved here quite a few times.” “Yes, but I didn’t find any records of that kind of intervention.” “I’ll explain later. If you don’t mind, I’ll try to clarify for you what we really are.” “Please.” “The people from our dimension did not create your world, but each and everyone of them has a power over something in your world. They have similar abilities within the boundaries of their power in each dimension, but ultimately, your world is the one we are the most attuned to. We are divided in several peoples, each having his abilities, his powers and his leaders. We are under the authority of higher Spirits that we call Powers and we do not like to interfere with other dimensions’ life usually. But when something wrong happens, I am the one who is Called.” “Kind of an inter-dimensional Slayer, if you want”, Duo said, chuckling. Zechs smiled. “I do not call myself a Slayer, this denomination is specific to your world, but this is basically my job. When something or someone, creature, demon or spell, disturbs the balance of one dimension, I am called to restore it.” “You could have given us a hand before, then”, Buffy said. “Miss Summers, I think your and your forerunners were more than able to manage things without our help. That is the reason why Slayers exist. You are responsible for the balance of this world. And you are doing exceedingly well, if I might add this.” “Thanks”, Buffy said, not really sure what to answer. “But that doesn’t say why you’re here.” “As I told you, my dimension is linked to yours through very strong links. Almost all of the creatures and spirits that run free on Earth come from here. But there is another thing that we are connected to. The Hellmouth.” Giles coughed. “If I understand well, the opening of the Hellmouth would destroy our world, and yours with it.” “Exactly. Your dimension is the one who is right between our own and the one beneath. The Hellmouth is in fact a direct door to the dimension beneath.” “And believe me, ya don’t wanna meet the guys that live in here, buddies”, Duo said. “They already met some of them, Duo”, Quatre said quietly. “Oh yeah, I forgot. I really need to update my infos.” “I suppose you have been summoned here because something is going to happen”, Giles said. “Yes. Except that we are not summoned, but sent by the Powers. They assign us some duties, and we fulfill our missions. If we have been sent this time, it is, as you guess, because someone will try to open the Hellmouth in exactly fourteen earth-days.” “I don’t get it”, Tara stepped in. “Buffy here already prevented the Hellmouth from opening quite a few times and killed the demons that tried to open it. Why is it different this time ?” “Because that someone is not a demon, but a Holy Spirit like us. And because he comes from our dimension.” Silence fell. Suddenly, Buffy let out an exasperated sigh. “Why can’t you just have your own Hellmouth to open ? Why do demons from all dimensions have to come here to open ‘my’ Hellmouth ? And why can’t you just wipe all the bad guys from the world so that I can finally try to go to college like a normal girl ?” “My mission is not to get rid of all evil. And actually, it is not your mission either, miss Summers.” “Oh yeah ? That’s what it looks like. Bad people come. I kill them and it’s over.” “Until the next one arrive”, Zechs said. “Why is there always a next one ? Can’t we humans have a rest ?” “Evil is the necessary counterpart to good, miss Summers. The world is meant to be a controlled chaos. What is important is to preserve the balance between good and evil. This battle is endless, and it will last forever.” “Very nice ! And I was hoping to retire soon !” Zechs smiled again. “You are actually very gifted, far more than the other Slayers I had the privilege to meet. But it doesn’t matter. You can contribute to the balance of the world, but not change it. Every time you win, evil finds another way to attack.” “Yeah, I’ve noticed that ! That’s very encouraging for future career prospects !”, Buffy said bitterly. “If you don’t mind me asking, how come your interventions are not mentioned in any record or chronicle ?”, Giles asked eagerly. “We are eternal, Mr Giles, and we work in all dimensions. Your dimension is one of the most balanced, thanks to the action of a lot of witches and wizards, and of course of the Slayers. We were sent here only twice in human history. The first one was in what you call Antiquity, in Egypt. The second one happened in your year 1431, in France. The only manuscripts that ever mentioned those interventions have been carelessly destroyed.” “I see. May I ask what powers exactly you possess, and what you intend to do about the present situation ?” “What I intend to do with the situation is very simple. I want to prevent that spirit from opening the Hellmouth, and I need your help.” “You need our help ?”, Buffy asked incredulously. “Why ?” “Because this is your world and you know it better than us. We are linked to the essence of this world, but we haven’t been visiting very often, except Quatre. This is your territory, and I don’t want to step into your fight to accomplish mine.” “That’s very decent of you”, Giles admitted. “But how can we help ?” “This spirit is very powerful. He is my equivalent in our hierarchy, but he has chosen the wrong path, if I may say so. He is a master of manipulation, and can convince demons and even humans to fight for him.” “And how do we come into the plan ?”, Buffy asked, becoming more and more interested. “We were sent here to fight this spirit, and any spirit from our world that will have chosen to follow him. But the demons and humans he will drive away to his own purposes will probably need to be fought also. That’s where we need you. We have the power to fight those demons but that will waste us of our energy to fight him afterwards. That’s what he’s counting on.” “So you just need backup to kill the little cronies ?”, Spike sneered. “Good job for the Scoobies ! Have fun, guys!” “Quatre”, Zechs said on a pleasant tone, “would
you please teach to Mr Spike the meaning of the word ‘silence’?” “Thank you”, Giles said. “Is there any way you can teach me how to do that ? Because silencing Spike is one of my great challenges.” Spike said something indignantly that no one heard, and sat on the floor, a miserable expression on his face. “Let me sum it up and see if I understand”, Buffy said. “The big bad is your ex-buddy who has decided to destroy our world and yours in the same time. He will try to make the demons of our world fight against you so that you can’t prevent him from opening the Hellmouth. You need us to help you fight his little friends so that you can stop his Armageddon.” “That’s it”, Zechs admitted. “What will it change, if you guys are so powerful ?” “Our enemy has a flaw. He thinks humans are unable to fight evil. I doubt he even knows what a Slayer is. We are not that proud. In fact, we know one thing for sure. If we don’t cooperate, we will all die.” Silence fell once again. “Just explain me one thing”, Xander said. “Aren’t you supposed to be immortal ? I mean you (he gestured towards Quatre) were shot in the chest and you look fine.” “We are not exactly immortal, Mr Harris. We possess a form that is made of the essence of this world, and as such it can be harmed, or even destroyed. Not by humans, though. The worst your weapons and spells can do to us is incapacitate us temporarily. But other spirits like ourselves can actually annihilate us. If the Hellmouth is opened, it will give enough negative energy to our enemy to get rid of us all in the twinkling of an eye.” Giles coughed. “Maybe we should come to the main topic. Who is
our enemy, and how are we going to fight him ?” ~ * ~ |
