Dark Moon: Pt One - Waxing Moon

Buffy was the first to notice the change in the air. It was like static. The entire group of Vampires migrated to the west end of the room, where, Buffy assumed, Kxynthaion was expected to appear. She also noticed, among the sea of Vampires, a very familiar blonde head. He turned, and flashed his impish grin at her before sauntering over.

“Hey Luv,” he whispered, checking that he wasn’t attracting any unwanted attention, “It looks like you’ve gotten yourself into quite a pickle.”

“That’s one way of putting it, I suppose,” Buffy replied grudgingly, “So what are you going to do about it?”

“Well, I think you know how I feel about letting Demons destroy this world. Besides, I have no God. I am my own God.”

“A little full you ourselves, aren’t we,” said Faith, managing a slight grin, “How about you letting us go.”

“That was always the plan,” he replied with a similar smile, “Heavens knows, should I actually let them kill you, I would have to deal with a new Slayer. To be honest, Buffy, I like you. I like your Mum too. And I think I even like your new friend.”

“My name is Faith. I’d shake your hand, but...”

“Understood, and enchanted nonetheless.”

Faith was positively beaming, despite the predicament they were in. In the few minutes she had seen him, Faith seemed to become quite smitten with the blonde Vampire. Spike quickly freed them from their shackles while the entire group of Vampires was transfixed on how the west wall of the room began to ripple and slowly lose its solidity.

The two Slayers almost shrank back in horror at what began to emerge from the newly formed portal. With cloven hooves matted with hair for both hands and feet, and standing almost nine feet tall, Kxynthaion bore the facial features that Buffy had become so familiar with during her career as a Slayer. He stepped through the portal, and stretched the leathery wings that protruded from the back of his humanoid body.

He was repulsive.

And suddenly Buffy felt a burning upon her brow.

It hurt, but not an unbearable pain. More of a familiar pain. And Buffy felt strong, possessed by a supernatural force. She turned to Faith, her mouth opening to ask her if she felt the same sensations, and saw that Faith’s eyes had glazed over, and the crescent moon symbol was quickly reappearing on her forehead as well.

Faith stepped forth, the crescent moon on her brow glowing brightly. “I challenge you in the name of Agrotera!” she bellowed, in a loud guttural voice so unlike her own, “Halt at once, or suffer the fate of your minions!”

She walked forth with strong convictions, revealing a stake hidden in her boot in one quick motion. One, two, three Vampires she slayed, marching towards Kxynthaion as though he were little of a challenge.

“I am the Huntress, and you shall be my prey!”

“Bloody hell!” Spike exclaimed under his breath, “The girl’s gone mad!”

She leaped forward, stake ready. But Faith, in her newly possessed form greatly underestimated the ancient Demon, and was flung into the wall with one swift movement of his cloven arm. She hit the wall with a solid thud, and her broken body remained motionless.

As when Ciorstaidh had touched her brow earlier, Buffy once more felt and heard words emerge from her lips that did not originate in her subconscious. A great force surged through her, and suddenly she knew.

She knew exactly what had to be done.

“I, Hekate, demand to know the meaning of this, lowly Demon. How dare you emerge from Tartarus without my permission?!”

Kxynthaion focused directly on Buffy, his wicked black eyes peering deep into her soul. His voice was low and rumbling.

“I come of my own accord, mortal. The voices of my children beckon, and to them I reply.”

“Depart, at once, or suffer the consequences!”

Kxynthaion only laughed, then said, “You dare stop me, mortal? You have no power against me. I shall walk free on the surface once more!”

“It was I who placed you in Tartarus in the first place,” Buffy heard the voice from within growl, “And it shall be I that sends you back!”

She lifted her hands above her head, and felt a warmth radiate up her arms and into her fingers. Between her outstretched hands formed a crimson ball of light, which grew larger until it exploded into the room.

“Skeelos!” she shouted as the light scattered, and watched as the Vampires closest to her began transforming into cowering dogs.

“No!” yelled C’Patra, leaping forward and knocking Buffy to the floor. With that, no further Vampires were transformed into hounds, although the previous eighteen transformations remained. The Vampiress metamorphosed into her Demon state immediately, and bared her fangs.

“You will not prevent our God from re-entering our world,” she hissed, as she prepared to sink her teeth into Buffy’s tender throat.

“I don’t think so, Bitch!” Buffy grunted as she shoved C’Patra off her. A moment later, the possessing force was back in control of Buffy, and she attacked C’Patra, her skills far superior to the ones she possessed in her mundane state.

Buffy dodged a blow that the Vampire intended to land, and instead punched her twice in the face, and once in the stomach. The Vampiress doubled over momentarily, then righted herself, furious with the attack of the Slayer.

From the corner of her eye, Buffy saw Faith pull herself off the floor, put her fingers to her lips, and issue an ear-splitting whistle. The eighteen hounds who cowered in the furthest corner immediately pricked up their ears, and look beseechingly towards Faith, as though waiting for her to give a command.

“Epithesee!”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“I think I know where they are,” said Angel, approaching Giles and the Scooby Gang as they emerged from Giles’ condo. He was restraining an extremely upset Drusilla, who was wailing miserably. The sun had only been down for a short time, but apparently Angel had wasted no time in locating Drusilla.

He knew he would use her to find Buffy, then he would kill her.

Like he should have done before she had the chance to hurt Ciorstaidh.

Of course, Dru never would have had the chance to hurt Ciorstaidh in the first place had he not attempted to feed from her, and transform her into a Vampire.

Xander broke through Angel’s thoughts when he suddenly said, “I was always taught that it was wrong to strike a woman.”

He clenched his fist, and thrust it towards Drusilla, striking her hard in the jaw. She wailed even louder as a thin trickle of blood began to run from her injured lips.

“But no one ever told me whether is was wrong to punch a Demon,” he finished, then turned away and cradled his fist in his other hand.

“Why does is always look so painless in the movies?” he whispered to Giles, trying to hide the physical pain he felt.

“It might have something to do with the fact that they’re actors,” Giles replied distractedly.

“So where are they?” asked Willow, worry creeping into her voice.

“Sunnydale High,” replied Angel.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The dogs moved in a pack, weaving through the Vampires that had formed a barrier between the Slayers and Kxynthaion. They stopped at his cloven feet, and growled menacingly.

“Epithesee!” Faith repeated, causing the dogs to leap into action, leaping onto and biting Kxynthaion. He flung them off repeatedly, stepping on them and crushing them, but the dogs repeatedly rose to their feet and resumed their attack.

Like their previous Vampire form, the hounds were nearly indestructible. The Vampires nearest to Kxynthaion desperately attempted to ward the dogs away from their new-found God, but found that not only did the dogs turn on them, but also that Faith had resumed her efficient slaying of whatever Vampire dared be in her way.

With the number of Vampires quickly dwindling and Kxynthaion bellowing in rage, most of the last several dozen Vampires fled, knowing that defeat was in their future. With that distraction gone, Faith turned to assist Buffy, allowing the dogs to continue tormenting the large Demon behind her.

“So you’re Cleopatra, huh,” Faith said, spelling Buffy off so that she could try and deal with Kxynthaion. She blocked several of the Vampire’s well-aimed blows and took a defensive position, rather than her usual offensive stance.

“I heard a rumour that they taught history in your pathetic American schools,” the Vampire spit vehemently, “So I guess it is true.”

“They taught us you killed yourself with an asp,” Faith countered, “Was that the product of our lousy teachers?”

“You could say that perhaps that type of knowledge was the result of a mis-translated hieroglyph,” C’Patra replied, letting the Demon’s features disappear from her pretty face, “Being killed by an asp is the perfect cover story, and the Queen of Egypt is now so much more than just a queen. I am a Goddess myself!”

“Really?” asked Faith, feeling the urge to move into an offensive course of action, “You should be careful touting such claims in the presence of two Goddesses that ruled in your own time.”

“You are delusional,” C’Patra said as she smiled in a patronising sort of way.

“Am I?” asked Faith, feeling a surge of the Goddess’s anger flow through her. The anger built, until Faith could no longer contain it, and lashed out violently, striking the Vampire repeatedly around her face with her closed fists.

C’Patra’s face distorted once more as she became angered and the Demon rose to the surface.

“Insolent child!” she shrieked, landing a few blows of her own. She grabbed Faith by her shoulders and pushed her to the floor, preparing to pierce her flesh with her fangs.

Spike stepped in at just the right moment, grabbing C’Patra by her hair, and pulling her away.

“I don’t care how old or how powerful you are,” Spike whispered in her ear, “There are some people you don’t taste. Got it?”

C’Patra extracted herself from Spike’s grasp and turned on him, dropping him with a knee to his groin. As he bent over, gasping in pain, she kicked him across the face, causing to sprawl onto the ground. He slowly gathered himself to his feet, and growled, let his own Demon surface.

He wouldn’t be playing nice anymore. And Faith stood at his side, ready to fight with him.

Kxynthaion was doing his best to remove the dogs from his body, but his hooves made rather lousy hands, and he was forced to rely on the aid of the few Vampires that lingered behind.

Buffy stood before him, looking up into his hideous face. He glared at her in return, as he continued to brush the attacking dogs from him. Blood seeped from the numerous superficial wounds he had attained, and although not seriously injured, he was extremely aggravated at the disturbance the two Slayers and their Vampire friend were causing.

He reached forward and swept Buffy up into his arms before she could react. He leaned forward, intend on ripping the flesh from her bones, when for no apparent reason he stopped. He inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring.

“You,” he growled in surprise, “You are of my line!”

“And you,” Buffy growled back, “Are going back to where you came from!”

“Never!” he bellowed, dropping Buffy to the ground, where the dogs gathered at her feet, keeping the few remaining Vampires from attacking her.

Buffy rose to her feet slowly and calmly. “Your time in this realm has passed. Be gone, and never return, for if you do, I shall not be so lenient with you.”

“Creature,” he called Buffy imploringly, “How can it be that you carry my blood in your veins, yet you insist on killing those who are not unlike you. Why is it that they call for me, and welcome me, yet you do not?”

“This ‘Creature’ has a name; Buffy, and I’m a Slayer. It’s my job to fight them, and you. That was the reason I was born into this realm, and the reason I continue to live. And right now, there’s a Goddess who is getting extremely agitated that you still remain here.”

Buffy lifted her hands above her head once more, and felt the power surge through her body again. Cusped in her hands, a ball of blue light began to form. Directing it at Kxynthaion, she watched it shoot over to him and push him back against the wall. The wall lost its shape once more, and the dogs at her feet charged Kxynthaion, falling through the portal as it formed once more. Kxynthaion bellowed in anger as he and the eighteen dogs began to vanish from the realm that Buffy called her home.

C’Patra saw what was happening as she fought Faith and Spike, and paused to scream in distress as what she had waited for since the dawn of the current era slowly disappeared. Spike took the opportunity to grab her in a head lock, and Faith brandished her stake once more.

Just as she was about to thrust it forward into C’Patra’s heart, a hand grabbed her from behind, stopping her. Faith turned and found herself face to face with one of C’Patra’s minions, stepping forward at the last minute to save his mistress. Faith reacted quickly, and staked him for his troubles, reducing him to dust. She turned back to C’Patra, and found that Spike had lost his grip, and C’Patra was rapidly leaving, followed by the last three Vampires.

“You are going to regret this!” she yelled as she departed.

Spike just shrugged, and said, “It happens.”

Near the wall where the portal had been, Buffy lay in a crumpled heap, with the possession of Hekate having passed with the exit of Kxynthaion. At that point, Faith felt the same power leave her body as well, and within moments, she found herself sitting on the ground, weak and disoriented.

Spike quickly pulled Buffy to her feet, checking that she was still alive. When he found that she was breathing and semi-conscious, he smiled to himself and said, “I know you might hate me for this, Slayer, but I can’t damn well stand to see you moping all the time.”

With this, he carefully revealed the tender flesh of her wrist and placed his lips over the throbbing artery. Within moments, he was removing the very fluid that gave her life, and could see in her large watery eyes that perhaps it was what she wanted after all.

When she fell unconscious, he stopped, and placed his own bleeding wrist to her lips, let the flow freely into her mouth until she regained consciousness to a point where she drank on her own.

Then it was done.

“Spike...” Buffy said hoarsely, “Thanks.” The she lapsed into unconsciousness once more.

“Anytime, Luv.”

Faith finally regained the strength to rise her feet, and unsteadily walked over to where Spike held Buffy’s petite frame in his arms.

“Is she ok?” Faith asked uncertainly.

“She’ll be just fine,” Spike replied, hiding the evidence of what had just transpired, “Let’s get you two out of here.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

It didn’t take long for Angel to locate the entrance into the underground passage. All it had taken to get Drusilla reveal the location was a little bit of arm twisting and light torture. As the group descended within, the were pushed violently aside when four Vampires rushed by them in haste to escape.

That pushed Angel’s apprehension up several notches. He passed the snivelling Drusilla over to Giles and Oz, as he, Willow and Xander rushed deeper into the depths of the dark and gloomy tunnel.

They had not travelled very far when they ran into Faith and Spike carrying a limp and unconscious Buffy. Angel swept Buffy up into his arms and was relieved to see the regular rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. He kissed her on her forehead as he whispered a silent ‘thank-you’ to whatever Gods had looked after and brought her back alive. Willow and Xander exchanged a glance, then embraced Faith in a tight hug, thankful that she was unhurt.

“It was close,” Faith said to Angel, “But we won. We wouldn’t have had a chance, though, if Spike hadn’t been there.”

“Really?” asked Angel, lifting his eyes from Buffy.

“Buffy and I were surrounded and shackled. Spike got us free again.”

Willow then wrapped Spike in a tight hug, and said, “Thank-you,” before quickly letting go and backing up a safe distance. Spike just smiled at her nervousness, and noted how Xander echoed her thanks, yet wasn’t willing to step any closer.

“Thanks,” Angel told the younger Vampire, “I appreciate you watching over Buffy and Faith for me. If there’s anything I can ever do for you...”

“I think you know what I want.”

“Dru...”

Spike nodded in affirmation. “Release her to me,” he said, “And I’ll do my best to keep her from returning to Sunnydale again.”

Angel pondered it for a moment, and then said, “Ok, but there’s one condition.”

“Anything.”

“We give her back her soul.”

Spike scrunched his face up in distaste, then said resignedly, “Agreed.”