And Then There Was One: 1:An Oracle's Request
by Rowaninfinity
Outskirts of Paris, France
The Slayer stalks her prey, moving out between the shadows of the grave markers. The vampire turns and glares at her, yellow eyes glinting in the moon light. She swallows audibly, her stomach muscles tight in fear, and grips her stake a little tighter. Quick as lightening the vampire races towards her, fangs gleaming, as he lunges for her. She grabs him by the neck, flipping him smoothly over her hip. He looks up at her, startled.
“Slayer!” He hisses and tries to sit up.
With practiced ease, the slayer knocks him back down with a punch. She stands over his chest preparing the final blow. Suddenly, she jerks back, face turned up towards the heavens, her mouth open in a silent scream of pain. She feels something drain out of her body and with a whimper falls into a heap at the side of the vampire.
He stares at her, wild eyed thinking it some kind of trick, but she does not move. He grabs her by the arm, an evil grin sliding across his face and stands up. Her dark rich hair falls forward, covering her face. He laughs and with cruel indifference, snaps her neck in two.
***
Cairo, Egypt
Another slayer stalks her prey, this time through the thin narrow streets twisting through the underbelly of the city. The demon appears in a pool of light just ahead of her. She pauses to check that her fiery red hair is still in its braid and takes a deep breath. Than, she steps forward, raising the battle axe over her head for the killing blow. The demon throws his arms up; covering his head and face, as if that alone would protect him from his fate.
Unexpectedly, the blow does not land, and the demon hears metal clattering to the cobbled ground. Peeking through the dubious protection of his arms, he sees the slayer standing; her face tilted upwards, her mouth an “o” of pain. His red eyes blink in surprise, and then she slumps forward in a dead faint.
He grabs the slayer’s battle axe, and with no thought of mercy, cleanly cleaves her head from her body.
***
All over the world, slowly at first and than gaining speed, one by one the slayers begin to lose their powers. Some have luck on their side and the event occurs while they are in relative safety. But, others are not so lucky and they are killed at the cruel hands of demons and vampires.
And so it begins.
***
“Buffy…”
A voice calls out and Buffy looks around, searching for the source. She squints in the searing light of the sunshine, realizing slowly that she is dreaming. The dream has a hyper real quality to it, as if this place is more concrete than the reality that surrounds her when she is awake.
“Buffy…”, the voice calls again, and a dark figure steps in front of the slayer.
Buffy raises her head and looks into emerald green eyes swimming with such a deep expression of pain and compassion that it shatters her heart and drives her to her knees, tears streaming down her face, at the awesomeness of the figure.
“Nooo,” she moans, her hands clenching grass the same color as the stranger’s eyes. She is unable to look up, afraid to meet those eyes, afraid that to look again would surely mean her death.
The figure moves forward, bending to place its-
*her, it’s a her* Buffy babbles to herself, unsure how she could possibly know that, and not caring.
-hand on top of Buffy’s head as if to bless her. The feeling of pain- and yes sadness as well- and compassion surges to a painful throb through the entire length of Buffy’s body, before subsiding to a dull ache in her chest.
“Buffy… I’m so sorry.” The voice is rich and deep, with a hint of bitterness, like a piece of dark chocolate melting on her tongue. “You have to go back, Buffy.”
“Nooo,” the slayer moans again and feels fingers bury themselves in her hair, tugging a little.
“Yes, Buffy.” The voice continues and under lowered eyelids, Buffy sees the stranger kneel down in front of her. “They need you. Your friends… the world needs you again. There is something wrong with the balance.”
Buffy tries to lower her head to the ground, *It is too much, too much pain* her mind babbles incoherently, but the fingers tug insistently in her hair and she is forced to meet the eyes of the stranger. She cannot help but stare at the figure before her, their knees now touching. The stranger’s hair is a brilliant silver swaying down to the small of her back. Through the strands of hair, Buffy can see pointed ears peeking out. But most startling of all, is the stranger’s skin, a color so black that the word ebony does not do it justice. Buffy suspects that the color would be the same as the color of deep space where all the stars have faded away and died.
The stranger’s face quirks a bit at Buffy’s scrutiny, and she realizes that the figure before her is smiling slightly.
“Who are you?” Buffy asks, and her voice sounds guttural and harsh to her own ears, like she hasn’t had a drink of water for days.
The face of the stranger grave once again, she answers slowly like she is searching for the right words to use. “I… am a… friend.”
Buffy shakes her head, “ But… I don’t even know you!” She says rather stupidly.
“But, I know you, Buffy.” The stranger waves her hand as if all this does not matter. “ We have little time, Buffy, I was sent here to warn you. You must go back, reenter the world, you are needed once again as the slayer.”
Buffy starts to shake her head again, but the woman (?) still has one of her hands in Buffy’s hair and stops her head from moving. Tears fall afresh from Buffy’s eyes as she struggles to take in what has been said. “But… But… I was promised, I was promised that I could have some peace. THEY PROMISED ME, that I had done ENOUGH, that I had LOST ENOUGH.” Now she is shrieking, but she can’t seem to stop. “ I CAN’T GO BACK. Not after ANGEL, Not after SPIKE-“
“He is alive.” The stranger interrupts.
Buffy blinks, too shocked at first to say anything. She stares into those green eyes and is startled to see tears swimming in them. “Who?” She whispers softly.
“Spike is alive. I don’t know the details, but he is.” The stranger says softly and grips Buffy’s shoulders before she has the chance to slump forward.
“Spike’s alive” She says disbelieving.
“Yes.”
“But… but why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“I can’t answer that, or rather I won’t, but we have more important things to talk about.” The stranger chuckles when Buffy’s head snaps up and her eyes begin to blaze angrily. “Good, you still have your passion. But really we do have something more to talk about.”
Buffy nods and beckons for the stranger to continue.
“The slayers have lost their powers.” Buffy jerks back in shock, but the stranger has a firm grip on her shoulders still and she does not get far. “ I know, I know. That’s why you have to go back. But, there’s someone out there who can help… Me!” With that the stranger leans forward and begins to speak quietly in Buffy’s ear.
She speaks for a few minutes, all the while Buffy nods her comprehension, her eyes wide with wonder and awe.
The stranger leans back. “Do you understand now?” Buffy nods and the stranger continues, a sorrowful look creeping onto her face. “ I’m sorry, Buffy, but when you wake up you will not remember any this.” The stranger raises her hand before Buffy can get the chance to question her. “When the time comes you will know what to do, don’t worry. I will leave you with one gift though.”
Buffy suddenly finds that the stranger and herself are no longer kneeling towards each other but now standing. The stranger’s hands are still resting softly on her shoulders.
“When this dream ends, you will sleep deeper than you ever have before. I think you are owed the rest, hmm?” Buffy nods her assent.
“Before I go,” she asks, “what is your name?”
“Rowan.” The stranger says quietly and leans forward to kiss Buffy gently on the lips.
Her lips taste just like Buffy suspected, like dark chocolate melting in her mouth. She feels Rowan’s tongue slip in her mouth quickly and than is gone. The Stranger releases Buffy and steps back.
“Farewell my child,” Rowan says sadly and once again Buffy is overwhelmed by the sensation of pain and compassion.
She sinks to her knees, her head bowed to the grass, no longer able to withstand Rowan’s emotions. The last thing she hears before sleep reaches up and pulls her back down into its embrace is Rowan’s voice filled with sorrow.
“Rest now my friend for I think it will be a long time before you get the chance again.” The sorrow makes Buffy cry.
***
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