Crown and Key: Chapter 9
by Kerythand Ginafae
Crown and Key
By Sandra and William Johnson
Chapter Nine
Slayer…
The word even sounded powerful to Morganna’s ears. She stared at the image of the young blond girl reflected in her scrying pool and smiled sweetly to herself. How common; a vampire slayer trying to stop her. As if a mere mortal, albeit one blessed with extraordinary powers, could possibly dream of ever defeating her.
“You will be mine, Slayer. I will see you beg for your life before I crush you.” Morganna whispered to herself, feeling a twinge of disgust at her own emotions. She wasn’t supposed to feel emotions. She was a god, after all. But for some reason, the mere image of the blond evoked anger, jealousy, and something else; something she hadn’t felt since her brother opposed her; something she was ashamed to admit to.
Fear.
Fear disgusted her. Fear was weak. She was strong; or would be if her slave ever returned with her crown.
Fear was for mortals. Damn that Merlin for banishing her to this place. Damn him for separating her from her home. Why couldn’t these puny mortals see that her will would be done.
She was going home. Slayer and Tomb Raider be damned.
“Pardon the interruption, my lady.” A voice began. Morganna whirled around, her eyes flashing ice.
“Stop that nonsense. God, those disgusting peely creatures used to call me that. Do you have any idea how disgustingly boring it gets, being worshipped twenty four hours a day by something that looks like it’s going to die of leprosy if it doesn’t see a dermatologist soon?” She swore, taking in the man’s skeletal face. “Well, I guess you wouldn’t, since you don’t have skin on your face and all.”
The man’s bony teeth parted in the remnants of a grin. “I’m glad I don’t have to humor you. Hoard Prime was quite clear on my instructions; and if I don’t follow them to a tee you will be stuck dealing with that nincompoop Hoardac.”
With a toss of her fiery blond hair, Morganna took in the man’s appearance. “Relax Skeletor. I was emphatically clear on whom I was willing to work with on this one. I want my crown, and I want to go home. You and the Shadoweaver are doing a fine job of getting this for me; so far at least. Just keep Beastman from drooling on my Gucci’s and we’ll be peachy.”
Skeletor raised his nonexistent eyebrows. “Peachy?”
“That’s what the Slayer says.” She turned back to the pool, her fascination with Buffy becoming apparent even to one as slow-witted as the aforementioned Beastman.
“Why are we still bothering with that one? I could easily dispose of her. It’s not like she’s that pesky He-Man.”
“No.” Morganna insisted, rage flaring inside her. “I want to watch the slayer suffer. Slowly. She doesn’t get off as easy as my dear brother did..” She grinned, her beautiful features twisting in malice.
“Which one?” Skeletor whispered.
“Morganna, the spell to retrieve your ruby is prepared.” A raspy, whispery voice filled the room as a woman in red robes floated into the room. Her feet never touched the ground. All that was visible of her face were the yellow slits that passed for eyes. The only sign that she indeed was once human was the greenish, sagging flesh on her bare arms.
“Fabulous.” Morganna exclaimed. “When do we start? Where is my slave?” She stormed over to the pool and commanded. “Show me the dead slayer.” The colors in the water swirled, to reveal Adora/Kendra asleep on the side of the road. A large purple van was approaching slowly on the road in the early dawn. Before her eyes, Morganna watched as a short, squat young man with dark hair and eyes, dressed completely in black, leaped out of the drivers side door. Tip-toeing around the van, he approached Adora silently, almost too quietly for a normal human. With a flash of light, his right hand went spectral; a visible outline of his hand was there, but you could see straight through it. He reached his spectral hand under the sleeping girl’s arm and grabbed the crown; turning it ethereal as well. With a snap, the image went black.
“NO!!! What the Hell HAPPENED!” Morganna shrieked, grabbing Skeletor by the throat.
“It appears they young man is quite the powerful wizard, Morganna. “ Shadoweaver rasped. Morganna whirled on her heels to face the floating woman.
“Well DUH!” She shouted. “You don’t have to be Einstein to figure that one out!” She fumed, shaking her head as the ice in her mind built to a crescendo. With a shriek of agony, the cold blasted from her eyes, freezing the scrying pool and cracking it.
“What about the slave?” Morganna asked.
“Without the crown, my hold on the dead Slayer’s spirit will weaken. Combined with Adora’s ability to resist my magic, we will lose control of the girl completely and the Slayer’s spirit will return to the ghost roads to make it’s way to Heaven.” Shadoweaver confided, the distress evident in her voice. Morganna looked from one to the other, to the sleeping Beastman on the rug on the floor.
“What are you thinking, Morganna?” Skeletor questioned. With a slight tilt to her head, Morganna allowed the smile on her lips to travel to her eyes.
‘Plan B.”
****
Lara smiled as she spoke into her cell phone, “Thanks Bryce. I knew I could count on you.”
“Not a problem Lara. Everything you need should be waiting for you at the co-ordinates you gave me.”
“I’ll call you again to let you know how things work out. Hold down the home front for me.”
“Will do Lara”
Lara Croft hung up the phone and headed down Sunnydale’s main street, heading towards the city’s outskirts. After her experiences of the previous two nights, the young tomb raider kept her hands on the hilts of her holstered pistols as she made her way towards the rendezvous point. She slipped from the road into the woods soon after nearing the city limits, and began hiking cross country. It took her almost fifteen minutes to reach her destination.
The full moon shined brightly in the clear sky as Lara entered the wooded clearing. Lying in the clearing, covered with the parachute which slowed it’s descent, were the items Lara had requested Bryce have mailed to her. Lara grabbed the edge of the parachute and pulled it off of the black Hummvee. She opened the driver’s side door and slipped behind the wheel, finding the keys in the ignition. She looked over her shoulder and saw several wooden crates sitting there, a paper note tacked to one of them. She took the note and read it, a smile coming to her face as she did.
Bryce contacted me and said you were having vampire troubles. These items should help. Our mutual friend sends his regrets in not being able to be there to help as well, but he has other pressing matters requiring his attention. If you need anything else, have Bryce contact me. Best of luck,
Whistler
Lara smiled as she slipped into the back of the Hummer and opened the two crates. Packed neatly inside were several clips of ammunition for her pistols, and knowing who sent them, she was positive they would be fairly more effective against vampires than her standard ammunition. She also found a black duster wrapped around the ammo, one which evidently had been armored for her protection. She shook her head as she opened the second crate, and gasped. Packed carefully in Styrofoam and wrapped in cloth, was an ornate Katana. Lara lifted the sword from inside its crate and carefully drew it, remembering the protective device she had seen in a similar blade. The moonlight glinted off the steel and Lara smiled, “This should even the odds a bit.” She slipped into the jacket and strapped the sword to her back. Loading her pistols with the new ammunition, Lara placed the remaining crates of ammo in the trunk.
Lara slipped back around to the front of the Hummer and started the engine up, driving quickly back to the main road and heading back to Sunnydale. Lara grabbed her cell phone from her waist. “Call Giles” she said, and the phone obediently dialed the number. One hand on the wheel and one holding the phone, Lara sped down the highway, easily breaking the speed limit.
“Hello?” a groggy voice said.
“Giles? It’s Lara. I have something I need to talk to you about.”
“Lara?” Giles said, becoming awake suddenly, “Is everything alright?”
“Well, there was a bit of an altercation at Buffy’s. Seems some blonde Terminator-type stormed in and trashed Dawn’s babysitters and….”
Giles interrupted Lara, “Dawn? Is everyone ok?”
“Everyone is fine. Seems blondie was susceptible to scrawny redheads and gawky young men. By the time Buffy and I got there, the fight was over and someone named Oz was attending to the wounded.”
Giles was silent for a few moments, “Did you say Oz?”
“Yes. Good thing Buffy was there too. I sorta had him at gunpoint.”
“Lara, you didn’t!”
“Yes, I did. And, I had every right too. But, that’s not why I called. To be honest, one of the gang should be calling you soon to fill you in on everything. It’s something Dawn said to me.”
“Lara? What is it? I’ve never known you to be hesitant about anything.”
“Dawn said someone named Jonathan was there.”
“He was there too? I’d better get to Buffy’s before something really bad happens.”
“I’ll pick you up Giles. I’m on Main Street now.”
“Pick me up? Did you rent a car?”
Lara feigned innocence, “Come now, Mr. Giles. You know me better than that. When did Lady Lara Croft ever rent something when she could call in some favors and get herself something REALLY fun to drive.”
Giles’s sigh of exasperation could be heard over the phone. “Fine. Give me 10 minutes. I’ll get dressed and call Buffy and then we can head over.”
“See you in a few minutes then Giles”
Lara moved to hang up but Giles stopped her, “Oh, and Lara?”
“Yes?”
“Pick up some doughnuts on your way.”
“And deprive Xander of his role as sugar provider? Never! Besides, you don’t like sprinkles.”
Lara grinned as she hung up the phone and made her way to Giles’s home. For a sleepy little town in Southern California, things certainly were interesting. As her headlights swept the road in front of her, Lara noticed a still form sleeping on the side of the road. It appeared to be a girl, about Buffy’s age, with long blond hair. She was unconscious. Lara figured her at first for one of the local homeless, and pulled over to leave a blanket. As an English noble, she definitely could afford to be charitable to those less fortunate.
As she stepped out of the car, Lara noticed that the girl was scantily clad in a red leotard and boots. Her eyes lit with recognition as Lara placed the woman before her as her and Dawn’s savior at the Bronze. Lightly shaking her shoulder, Lara called “Adora!” But the woman was fast asleep, or unconscious. Lara was unable to wake her.
Maybe she’s hurt…Lara thought. She checked for a pulse. It was weak, but there. Deftly, the Tomb Raider scooped the unconscious princess of Eternia into her arms and deposited her slumbering form on the back seat of the Hummer.
“Guess it’s one more for the party. Hope Buffy doesn’t mind a few crashers.” Lara said as she cranked the music in hopes of waking the woman in the backseat.
On second thought, doughnuts did sound awfully good.



This story archived at: The Slayer\'s Fanfic Archive
The Slayer\\\\\\\\'s FanFic Archive - http://www.slayerfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=13729