Crown and Key: Chapter 17
by Kerythand Ginafae
Crown and Key
By Sandra and William Johnson
Chapter Seventeen
“So, what have we found out about this crown thingy?” Buffy asked as she plopped down into an overstuffed chair that Lara had provided to replace the one broken in the fight with Kendra. The Slayer smiled as she looked at her new friend. “Ooh, comfy.” She remarked with a contented sigh.
“Yes, well, if we can redirect our attention from the new comfy chair and back to the task at hand—“
“Bring in the comfy chair!!” Xander said with one finger raised in the air. The remark was met with total silence. “What, none of you English chaps watch Monty Python?”
Giles cleared his throat loudly. “As I was saying, back on the task at hand. The crown predates most written history. Legend states that it was fashioned by Merlin for a love interest who harbored dangerous magical abilities.”
“Didn’t Merlin have a thing with Arthur’s half sister?” Dawn piped up.
”We watched Excalibur in English last year after we read Morte de Arthur. They were pretty obvious about it there.”
“Well, anything’s possible, according to that movie. Even conceiving a child in full plate mail armor.” Xander sneered.
“XANDER!” Buffy, Willow and Lara chorused with exasperated looks in his direction.
“Gotcha, shutting up now. “ Xander said with a sigh.
“While that movie took several, ah, liberties with the story, Dawn does bring up a valid point in the fact that Arthur’s half sister was named Morganna and was trained in the black arts. The romance with Merlin is believed to be mostly fictional Hollywood hype, though it would explain how Morganna would have been able to steal both the stone and the pearl from a wizard of Merlin’s power.” Giles finished.
Adora and Adam both looked at Giles, “Stone and Pearl?” Adora asked.
“Yes, the Ruby of Eternity and the Pearl of Earthly Magic”, Giles explained. Adora’s jaw dropped.
“In our legends, on Eternia, there is a story about a great wizard named Gandalf who fashioned a crown for a woman of incredible magical abilities. He was in love with her, however, her magic was directly linked to a mystical sight where they first consummated their relationship. He fashioned the crown to enable her to leave the place without losing any of her magic. However, the crown was stolen before she ever had the chance to wear it. To remind her of their love, the wizard built a castle around her on the spot of their love. It still stands there today. It is called Castle Greyskull.”
“And if that is true, and your Merlin is our Gandalf, than that makes the Sorceress the woman he created the crown for.”
“Isn’t that the lady in the sword?” Dawn asked. Adora looked at her questioningly. “You’ve spoken to the Sorceress?”
“When she was in your pearl. She tried to contact me then…” Dawn continued as Adora took a mental note that the Sorceress had said she was going to contact the Key to the Dimensions and reached Dawn.
“All this background stuff is great, but what does the crown do? Exactly?” Buffy interrupted. “And please, use small words that us non English majors can understand!”
Lara grinned as she took the floor. “The crown is said to be a harness of energy. When brought into combat, it holds the ability to close a dimensional door.”
“Where to?” Buffy asked.
“No one knows.” Giles said with a frown. Buffy was not surprised. More often than not the Watcher’s Council was the last to know when evil was about to go boom.
Lara shrugged, “My father sent me a letter and a map of where to find it. Before he died, that is. That’s why I was looking for it. I figured if I found it, it couldn’t hurt to know where that particular door leads before I locked it forever.”
“This the same letter Giles looked at yesterday?” Willow asked curiously. Lara nodded. “Can we see the letter then?” Willow asked. “Of course.” Lara replied as she fished the letter out of the back pocket of her leather pants. Willow carefully unfolded it and began to read.
“My dear Lara,
Dear child, I hope you never receive this letter. If you do, I then know you have been chosen. Enclosed you will find a map that leads to a powerful treasure that will aid you in your calling. The Crown of Morganna the Misbegotten must never fall into the wrong hands. In your hands, my child, the magicks it holds can be wielded for the proper cause. It is the only instrument that can close the door to the dimensions once all Hell breaks loose. In the hands of evil though… my precious Lara, the crown must never fall into the hands of evil. I don’t even want to consider what havoc will be reaped across this world if it does. As always, my beautiful daughter, I wish this burden did not fall to you. But darling, if you do not find this, think to yourself who will. As always, you have my heart and my love.
Daddy”
Willow looked over at Lara as she finished reading the letter aloud, “Your father cared for you very much, didn’t he?”
Lara smiled slightly, wiping her eyes, “Yes, he did”. She looked gratefully at Xander, who placed a comforting hand gently on her shoulder. As the others focused their attention on Lara and the letter, Jonathan quietly entered the room, crown in hand. He smiled, oblivious to the emotional moment, “Here’s the crown!” he jovially chirped, tossing it onto the table.
As the crown landed in the center of the table, Adora and Adam stared at it. “The Ruby of Eternia.” Adam gasped.
“Eternity.” Willow corrected.
“No, Eternia. Our home world.” Adam said, gesturing towards his sister.
“Then this is all connected somehow.” Xander asked as he sank down onto the couch. “It never ceases to amaze me.”
“Why?” Buffy asked. “It’s just your average day on the Hellmouth.” She smirked. “Why shouldn’t a big bad be brewing since Buffy’s met a new gorgeous hunk of a----“ She blushed, looking in Adam’s direction” I mean, made new friends.”
“I’ve got a simple answer to all of this.” Dawn called, glad to be the smart one for a change. “Why don’t we just contact the lady in the Sword?” She smiled. “I mean, if this crown thingy is really hers, don’t you think she might want it back?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Lara stated. She reached out to pick up the crown. As her bare skin came into contact with the crown for the first time, there was a flash of light. Lara was thrown back over the couch, her head hitting the windowsill with a loud CRACK. Xander immediately sprang to her side, gently picking her up and carrying her back to the couch.
At the same time, Adora and Adam leaped to their feet, a strange power compelling them to both raise their swords over their head. Simultaneously, they said their individual words of activation. Lightning flashed and light coruscated around the room as the magic of the two swords changed the twins into He-Man and She-Ra. The two undying heroes aimed their swords at Dawn, as they normally would at their animal companions, and light shot from the blades, striking Dawn in the chest. Where the light hit, a glowing green ball of energy gathered.
Buffy stared at her sister, instantly recognizing The Key; the magic that her sister contained, reforming at the point of contact. She leaped at Dawn, knocking her sister to safety. As Dawn was freed from the blast, the magical orb remained, now pulsing with a light all it’s own. Two thuds resounded as both He-Man and She-Ra fell to the floor, unconscious. The front door flew open as Jonathan, panicking, ran from the house, the only thought in his mind to get back to Andrew.
The glowing orb pulsed and grew, taking on a human-like shape. A faded image grew inside that shape, of an attractive, young, blonde haired girl. Willow stared into the girls’ eyes and recognition came to her face. “Not this time” she said, her eyes suddenly black, her hair, once red, now turning black from roots to tips. She reached into the glowing circle of magic, and shouted a command word. The blonde smiled as she laughed, and instead, slipped inside Willow’s body. The light faded as Willow turned towards the window and screamed a primal scream of rage. Ice shot from her eyes, shattering the window. As the ice shot from her, so did the spirit she had inadvertently absorbed. The blonde, now almost solid, smiled again as Willow collapsed to the ground, exhausted, her hair once more a brilliant red. “Thanks for the pick me up, you little Witch” she snapped. Then with a toss of her curly locks, she vanished.
* * * *
Morganna paced back and forth, impatience on her face. “How long until
Beastman and Katra have gotten back my crown?”
The whispery voice of Shadoweaver answered her, “Not much longer. Skeletor just contacted me magically to say they were nearing the home now, and that something was going on there. The warlock we saw earlier was seen fleeing the Slayer’s home.
Morganna smiled, “Good, tell Skeletor…” suddenly her eyes went wide as a beam of light shot from the ceiling into her head. Morganna collapsed to the ground, and the Shadoweaver backed away a few steps, quickly contacting her ally. “Skeletor. The time has come. Get the crown now and take it to the human, Rayne. It seems that Morganna has regained her abilities, and our time grows short.”
Slowly, the woman who Shadoweaver called Morganna, rose to her feet. “That bastard.” She exclaimed. “He killed me. He tried to kill me. And when I was trapped in that weakling Ben’s form too.” She smiled seductively, her eyes shining their true aqua color for the first time in centuries. “Well, no matter. They can believe that if you killed the man you killed the god all they want. Just makes for a better finale this time.” She looked down at her clothing in disgust. “Yuck! Who dressed me in this?!” She tugged at the tweedy fabric of her eighteenth century dress. “”Hey, floater, why don’t you conjure me up something in Lycra? Preferably in red.”
Shadoweaver bowed at the waist, “It is good to see you restored to yourself, most powerful one.”
Glory smiled. “Thanks Shadoweaver. Now, it is time for me to complete my revenge and then to go home. And once I have regained my Crown and Key, then you can tell big bad smoky machine boss Horde Prime that I’ll give him more than what we originally agreed on.”
Shadoweaver bowed again, keeping quiet. “First things first, though.” Shadoweaver looked at her blankly. “The clothes?” She gestured impatiently. Shadoweaver circled her hands in the air and suddenly the long, proper dress transformed itself into a stretchy red minidress with three inch heels. “Perfect.” She said with a toss of her head. Glory smiled again, “Spread the news all, Glory is back in Town!”



This story archived at: The Slayer\'s Fanfic Archive
The Slayer\\\\\\\\'s FanFic Archive - http://www.slayerfanfic.com/viewstory.php?sid=13738