The Legend of Buffy--The Sithe of Time: Interlude Part I--Restfield Mansion
by slayerfest
“Where the hell is Restfield mansion, anyway? I’ve never seen it in the woods.”
“It’s not in the woods. It’s in Sunnydale.”
Buffy gaped and stared at her fairy. “But… but that’s not possible. We’re not allowed to leave!”
“That’s right, you’re not,” Harmony said, blocking their path back into town. “What did you do to the Great Watcher Giles? Did he… die?”
“I’m sorry, Har—“
“How could you do a thing like that? He’s, like, always been protector of us! It’s all your fault!”
“Harmony, I didn’t…”
“Whatever! You are so not a forestfolk and you never will be.”
“Hey!” Angel interjected. “Forget her. Let’s go.”
Buffy sighed. “I want to find Xander and say goodbye first.”
“No time.”
“Angel, Xander’s my best friend, and I know you don’t like him, but…”
“Buffy, it’s not that. We have to get to the castle before dark.”
“…But time doesn’t flow here. It’s always light.”
“And if you come back when it’s dark out there, it’ll always be dark here. The Great Watcher Giles enchanted the place, and many others. Don’t ask why. Look, you can come back later and tell him why you left, but for now we have to go.”
“Fine.” Buffy walked through the exit that always used to be blocked by one of the forestfolk. She ignored the new surroundings and walked across a bridge she’d never seen before.
“Buffy,” said a voice from behind her. Buffy stopped. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
Buffy turned to face Xander. “I was going to find you….”
“Don’t worry about it. I knew you’d leave someday, Buff. You’re different from the rest of us, I know. We’re always going to be friends, as unimaginably cheesy as that sounds. You’ve got my undivided support, no matter what happens.”
Buffy smiled and flung her arms around Xander’s neck, giving him a hug. Finally she backed away and he pulled something out of his pocket.
“Look, I know you’re not generally magickally inclined, but here’s an empty spellbook. It’ll hold any spells you learn, and they can do any amount of things. I’ve heard some are transportation spells, but.…” Xander shook his head and smiled. “Take it. I’ve never used it. I don’t need it as much as you do.”
Buffy reached out and took it from him, leafing through the pages. She closed the book and stared at it closely, and really dumb music filled the air.
Angel cleared his throat softly. “You’ve found the Beginner’s Spellbook! This is a memento from Xander.”
“Come back to visit, okay, Buffy?”
Buffy nodded and felt a wave of emotion pass over her. “I love you, Xand.”
“I love you too, Buff. Now get going. You have a princess to see.”
Buffy smiled and backed slowly away from Xander, getting a good look at him before turning and running into Central Sunnydale.
“Go,” Angel told her when she got out. “You don’t have a lot of time. I can smell sunset long before it comes.”
Buffy ran around the corner and was shortly ambushed by a crouching figure on a high tree branch that made her stop in her tracks. “Hey, Buffy… look up here.”
“Um… hi… who the fuck are you?”
“Looks like you’re finally starting your little adventure.”
“So it appears.”
“You’re going to run into some trouble. Don’t worry about it… it’s your fate.”
“Again with the fate. First The Great Watcher Giles, now a mysterious crouching figure tells me about fate I don’t want fate. Hell, I’m not sure I know what fate is.”
“Come this way and you’ll see Restfield Mansion. You’ll meet a princess there. If you’re lost and don’t know which way to go, look at the map.”
Buffy felt an odd weight in her hat and realized that this unusual person had just given her a map.
“Did you get all that?”
“All but your name.”
The lady smiled. “Good luck, B.” Buffy blinked and figure was gone.
“All right. That was weird and a half.”
“Dwell later. Run now,” Angel instructed. “Ignore distractions, there’ll be plenty of time to look around later.”
“Okay, okay. Going, already.” Buffy began running. Angel sniffed the air again.
“It might help if you rolled your way.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“No, but it works. Just do it.”
Buffy rolled her way onto the drawbridge just as it was getting dark. She stepped into the village. Angel nodded. “You’re safe now. Take your time, explore. Welcome to Restfield Cemetery.”
Buffy looked around at the happy people bartering and chasing chickens. “It’s called a cemetery because…”
Angel hesitated. “I can’t tell you. You’ll find out with… time,” he said cryptically.
“Right. Time. It’s always ‘when you’re older’… which doesn’t actually apply to forestfolk since we don’t age.” She giggled at two gents positively convulsing with laughter. “Can I go talk to people? I’ve never met anyone so tall before.”
“Go nuts,” Angel said resignedly, and hid in Buffy’s hat.
Buffy walked up and greeted the two gents.
“Wha-ha-ha! What a crazy guy!” one of them said. “Can you believe this guy was crazy enough to try to sneak into the mansion to see Princess Willow?”
“Heh,” Buffy said nervously. “Yep, that’s… that’s pretty crazy.”
“All because of this idiot, they’ve tightened security at the castle! Wha-ha-ha!”
“Oh, crap,” she said. The other one turned to her.
“I wanted to see Princess Willow!” he said to her. “I avoided the guards, swam through the moat… I was almost there when they caught me! There was a small drain hole I thought I could squeeze into, but I got stuck.”
Buffy grinned. “Oh. Oh, I mean, that’s terrible.” She walked away from them humming to herself. She walked past a girl who stopped her.
“Hey! Your clothes… they’re different. You’re not from around here, are you?”
“Uh… no. Good call.”
The girl paused. “Oh! You’re a fairy girl from the forest! My name is Dawn. My dad is principal of Sunnydale High. He went to the mansion to deliver some important homework assignments to the princess, but he hasn’t come back yet…” she said, and drifted off, staring into the town.
“Oh…” Buffy said, and walked slowly away from the unusual girl. She saw the mansion in the distance and walked toward it, reluctantly leaving the peppy atmosphere of the “cemetery”.
It was instantly night again. She tentatively stepped forward a little way and was immediately ambushed by the crouching figure atop a tree. “Hey, Buffy… this way.”
Buffy twisted around and made eye contact with the woman. “What the hell? Are you stalking me?”
She only smiled. “The princess is inside the mansion just ahead. Don’t get caught by the guards… they’re wicked annoying.”
“You know what else is wicked annoying? People who stalk me without even telling me their names.”
The woman smiled. “I’m Faith.” Then she got back down to buisness. “On this ground, time flows normally, but it stands still if you’re in a town on in the high school.”
“Or my forest.”
“Or your forest,” Faith agreed. “If you want time to pass normally, you’ve gotta leave town. That’s all there is to it.” She smiled. “Got all that?”
“Yep.”
“Great. I’ll see you around, B.” And again Faith was instantly gone.
Buffy frowned. “I don’t like her.”
Angel ignored her. “Look, there’s a guard over there. Maybe you should talk to him to find out more about security.”
Buffy crept slowly toward him. He noticed her. “Welcome to Restfield Mansion. It’s a peaceful, prosperous mansion,” he said, and looked away.
“That’s it?”
The guard looked back at her. “Welcome to Restfield Mansion. It’s a peaceful, prosperous mansion.”
“…Great, but you just told me that.”
“Welcome to Restfield Mansion. It’s a peaceful—“
“I get it already! Peaceful, prosperous mansion. God.” She walked away and looked around for some other method of getting to the castle. “I don’t get it. Am I missing something?”
“It seems so… even I don’t get it. Try going back to town. It’s night, now… maybe something will be different,” Angel recommended.
She walked back into town and saw two guards around the entrance. “Kids shouldn’t be wandering around town at nighttime!” one yelled after her. “Stay indoors until morning!”
Buffy rolled her eyes and looked around. “Nothing new here. Bunch of dogs, and those weird dancing people are still here.” She turned and instantly heard some very sweet singing.
Buffy frowned. “Is that Dawn? Where is she?” She followed the voice until she was back in front of the mansion. Buffy walked up to her. “Hey, Dawn. You have a very pretty voice.”
“Are you going to the castle, fairy girl? Would you mind finding my dad?”
Buffy glanced at Angel, who shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
Dawn giggled. “He must have fallen asleep outside the castle. What a thing for an adult to do!”
“…Yeah. Pretty kooky all right.”
“Here. Take this. It should help you wake him up. I’ve been incubating it very carefully!”
Buffy recoiled. “Uhh…”
Something appeared just out of her reach. Angel commentated: “You got a weird egg!”
“Got that right,” Buffy mumbled.
“Feels like there’s something moving inside!” Angel finished. She felt it fall into her hat and she looked at Dawn again.
“Hey…” she said slowly. “There are vines here.” She grabbed hold of a branch carefully and tested her weight. She found they’d hold her, and she climbed up. She got to the top and looked around. “Jesus, that mansion looks sinister.”
Angel nodded a fairy nod. “You haven’t seen anything yet,” he mumbled low enough that she didn’t hear. She passed a goofy looking rock as she followed along the ledge. She was going to follow along the cement wall between her and the other side, but she saw a guard standing there and crept back soundlessly.
“Jump off,” Angel whispered. She scowled at him but didn’t say a word, and leapt off the structure, rolling out of it and not getting injured at all. She stooped and assessed the guard situation, following the path a little ways and then climbing the hill in a place that seemed the least likely she’d get caught.
As day broke, she followed a secondary path along the grounds and passed some more guards, who still didn’t notice. She heard a weird chicken noise from within her hat and Angel informed her that “the egg she was incubating became a chicken! It’s the circle of life!”
“That I was incubating? I’m sorry, wasn’t Dawn the one who said she was incubating it? Which was, by the way, weird on many levels.” She found a brick wall and again tested her weight against it. She climbed it, and ran into another one of those funny looking rocks. She ran into it and it jiggled.
“Yeesh,” she said, and poked it with her dagger. It wiggled a little more, and she slashed it completely. It bounced up and down and said aloud: “Boing boing! The current time is 8:09!” Buffy widened her eyes in fear and backed away, stepping off the edge of the hill and unintentionally falling into the moat.
“Crap,” she whispered, and tried to scramble out.
“Don’t,” Angel told her. “Remember what that freaky laughing man said. Let the current carry you over there a ways. There’s a patch of sand that you can get leverage off of.” She did as he said and somehow collected some money in the process. She climbed out, checked for guards and ran a ways toward where to crates and a sleeping man lay. Buffy turned her head to figure out the puzzle and she took out the chicken, since Dawn had said it might help.
It crowed and the man stood up in a hurry, yelling “What in tarnation?!” Buffy laughed as he continued. “Can’t a person get a little shut-eye around here?”
Buffy put the chicken away, still chuckling. The man turned to her. “Hello, and who might you be? I’m Robin Wood, principal of Sunnydale High. I came here to deliver to some homework to the princess, and I sat down here to rest… I guess I fell asleep…”
“So your daughter assumed,” Buffy said, smiling.
“What? Dawn was looking for me? Oh, I’m in trouble now. I messed up leaving Dawn behind to wait for me… She’s really gonna let me have it!” Robin Wood turned away and ran as quickly as he could, waving his arms about. Buffy laughed again.
“That was neat. Wow, what a character.” She looked around. “Hey, look, there’s that tiny hole in the wall that weird laughing guy was talking about.” She looked at it and estimated the distance she’d have to jump. “It’s too far, though.”
“Push the crates?” Angel suggested. He sounded tired.
Buffy nodded. “Sure. I bet I could swing it from here, Angel, if you wanted to rest in my hat for a while.”
Angel nodded. “That’d be nice. If you need me, call,” he said, and disappeared. Buffy felt an odd warmth above her head and smiled. For an annoying fairy who had woken her up yesterday in an obnoxious fashion, she’d sure warmed to him in the course of a day.
She pushed the boxes along and pushed them off the ledge, jumping mightily across the moat and landing on the other side. She quickly ducked and crawled through the hole, carefully looking about on the other side to make sure no guard was waiting.
There wasn’t one immediately, but she hid behind a bush to hide from one walking in a square. She waited until he had his back turned and ran past stealthily…
…Only to be met by another two who were likewise walking in squares. She got past those and climbed the stairs quickly to walk above the next one. She walked along the beam above his head and lost her footing. She rolled out of the fall right in front of the guard.
“Hey, you!” he shouted dopeily. “Stop! You, kid, over there!”
Buffy looked around. “What, is there any other kid but me around?” She smiled at the guard, but he still picked her up and threw her outside again by where Robin Wood had been sleeping.
Angel jolted awake and appeared. “What? What happened?”
“I got caught by a guard. They threw me out.” She sighed. “No big, I’ll just try again. I’m eager to meet this princess… all royalty and would still rather have the local principal deliver homework.”
The fairy sleepily returned to the hat without saying a word.
Buffy repeated the process, doing the exact same thing, except she took more care along the beam and got by easily. She passed the final four guards and slipped her way into Princess Willow’s quarters.
The redhead stood at the window and didn’t notice Buffy come in. Buffy crept forward until she was only a few feet from the girl. “Princess?” she asked hesitantly.
She gasped and turned around. “Hey! Who… who are you? How did you get past the guards?”
Buffy smiled kindly. “I hate to break it to you, but those guards are probably some of the stupidest people I’ve ever met.”
Angel came out, hearing Willow’s voice, and floated around to wake himself up. Willow noticed him.
“Oh, what’s that? Is that… a fairy?”
Buffy smiled. “Good… call. Guess you’ve been to the forest before, huh?”
Willow smiled. “You… you wouldn’t happen to have the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, would you? That green and shining stone? Because if you did, then my dream was true… and my father’s wrong… and, and I have to tell him before the Mayor takes over…” she stopped herself. “Sorry, I’m babbling. So… do you have it?”
Buffy glanced at Angel, who nodded. Buffy nodded, too.
Willow laughed aloud. “I knew it! I knew it. I… okay. I had a dream last night. In the dream, dark clouds were over Sunnydale and it was chaos, I could tell. But then a ray of light shot out of the forest and parted the clouds, lighting up the ground. The light turned into a figure holding a green, shining stone followed by a fairy.”
Willow sighed. “I knew it was a prophecy the second I woke up. I knew someone from the forest would come.” She grinned and jumped around a little. Then she stopped and gasped. “Oh, gosh, I’m sorry! I got so caught up with my story that I forgot to introduce myself.”
She smiled and held out her hand. “I am Willow, princess of Sunnydale.” Buffy shook her hand.
“I’m Buffy,” she said smiling.
Willow frowned. “Buffy… Buffy… strange, that name seems familiar…” Then her face regained its smile. “Okay, Buffy. I’m going to tell you something about the Sacred Realm that only the royal Rosenberg family knows about. Can you keep it secret?”
Buffy nodded without hesitation. “Absolutely. Secret is my middle name.”
Willow nodded. “The legend goes like this:
“The three Goddesses hid the Box of Gavrok somewhere in Sunnydale. It’s said that this Box holds the power to grant wishes; if someone with a righteous heart makes a wish, then the land will become a paradise; if an evil mind has his wish granted, then the land of Sunnydale will fall into ruin. Ancient sages built a temple to protect the Box from ever being found by evil people.
“So basically, the Temple of Time is the entrance through which you can enter the Sacred Realm from our dimension. There’s a stone wall called the Door of Time between this dimension and that one, though. It’s all very complicated; in order to open the door, it’s said that you need three Spiritual Stones. You say you already have one, so you only have two more to find. But you also need another treasure of the royal family; there’s a spell that opens the door, but even I don’t know it.”
Willow sighed. “Are you following well enough? I’m not really good at explaining things; I get all stammerey.”
Buffy shook her head and smiled. “You’re doing fine.”
Willow nodded. “Good.” She glanced behind her and made a face. “Eurgh. So remember the other element from my dream, the dark clouds?” The Princess nodded at her own words. “I’m thinking they symbolize this guy. Here, have a look,” she said, stepping aside and beckoning at the window.
Buffy stepped forward and peeked through. “Yuck. He looks evil.”
Willow nodded. “Oh, he is. Or, according to me, he is. He swears allegiance to my father, but I’m certain he’s not being completely candid. He calls himself Richard Wilkins the Third, mayor of the Gerudos.”
Buffy frowned but didn’t remove her eyes from the window. The man bowed before the king. “What’s a Gerudo?”
Willow laughed, but not in a mocking way. “I’m sorry, I forgot you were from the forest. The Gerudos are a colony in the desert far to the west. I don’t think he’s who he claims, though; another legend suggests that Wilkins died in the Lost Desert years ago. I’ve heard tales of a creature called The First who can take the form of dead people, but who is not corporeal.” She lowered her voice so she thought Buffy couldn’t hear. “The clouds… they have to symbolize him. It’s the only possibility.”
Buffy stared at the man even still, and he turned his head slightly and regarded her with evil eyes, letting her know he knew she was watching. Buffy immediately stepped away from the window as something tugged in her gut. “What happened?” Willow asked. “If he saw you, don’t worry. He doesn’t know what we’re planning… yet.”
Buffy glanced over at the Princess. “Again with the lack of positive thinking. Between you and my fairy, you could form a pessimists club.”
Willow grinned, but her expression shortly became sombre. “I told my father, Ira Rosenberg, about my dream. He doesn’t believe it to be prophecy. I can sense that man’s intentions, but he cannot. He must be after the Box of Gavrok in the Sacred Realm. He likely came to the mansion to learn how to obtain it. He probably wants to conquer Sunnydale… no, the entire world!” Buffy could hear the panic in her voice.
“Not if I can help it,” she said confidently, hoping she sounded convincing. Just yesterday, Buffy had been resting in bed with plans to weed Ms. Ross’ yard, and the next day she was making plans with the Princess of Sunnydale about how to stop an incorporeal being to conquer the entire world. They were both kids; how could either of them make a difference?
Willow nodded, but kept going. “It’s easy to say that, Buffy, but even with you here, I can’t shake off the feeling that he’s going to destroy Sunnydale. He has terrifying power. I’m glad you’ve come; I think between us, we can make the difference. I’ll find the ancient spell and protect it with all of my power. He won’t have it.” She sighed. “You’d better go find the other two Spiritual Stones. Can you do that?”
“Absolutely,” Buffy said without thinking about it.
Willow smiled. “Great.” She took out a piece of paper and scribbled something down on it. “One more thing… no offense or anything, but you’re just a girl from the forest. You won’t get very far on your own. Here’s a note from me… hopefully this will give you all kinds of clearance to continue your quest.
Willow signed her name at the bottom of the letter and it immediately leapt up above Buffy’s head. Willow’s eyes widened in amazement. Angel, who had been quietly listening the whole time, cleared his throat and began his explanation. “You’ve received Willow’s Letter! This letter has Willow’s autograph and could probably get you anywhere.”
Willow blinked in shock. “I swear I didn’t tell it to do that,” she told Buffy.
Buffy grinned. “I know. Everything I’ve found in the past two days has done that, don’t worry about it.”
Willow frowned. “Really? Everything?”
Buffy nodded. “Pretty much.”
“That’s… damn weird.”
“You know, it really is.”
Willow cleared her throat and a woman appeared near the entrance. “This is Tara, my attendant. She’ll guide you out… don’t be afraid to talk to her. I… hope to see you soon, Buffy. I’m glad you came.”
Buffy nodded and turned to leave. She stopped near Tara, who greeted her with a warm tone.
“I am Tara of the Wiccans. I am responsible for protecting Willow.” The woman looked down at Buffy with large blue eyes. “You’re very courageous… you’re heading on a big, new adventure.” She stood back up again. “My role in the Princess’s dream was to teach a spell to the one from the forest. Have you learned spells before?”
Buffy shook her head. “My friend Xander only gave me a spell book yesterday."
Tara smiled. “Not to worry. This one’s been passed down through the royal family… there is a mysterious power in these words. Now, listen carefully and repeat after me.”
Tara’s voice quality took on a totally different tone. “Ouvre, par puissance du roi.” She smiled down at Buffy once again, and the lovely flowing voice was back. “It’s French. It means, ‘By power of the king, open’. It’s simple enough, but if you don’t know the language it can be tricky. You should write this down… you may want to take reference to it often.”
Tara repeated the words, and when Buffy had finished copying them down, a shimmer came across the page, and cursive text appeared below the spell: You have learned Willow’s Lullaby. Buffy frowned. “Willow’s Lullaby?”
Tara scowled, but in a kind way. “At least it’s original. Now, come on. I’ll walk you out… we don’t want trouble from the guards.”
Once they got outside, they both looked over at a mountain, Tara doing so nostalgically and Buffy doing so with wonder. “We have to protect Sunnydale,” Tara whispered, and then directed her words at Buffy. “Take a look at that mountain. It is where the actual Hellmouth lies, though it hasn’t been active for years. There’s another lengthy legend associated with it, but I won’t bore you. The gorons live midway up the mountain, and they hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire.
“At the foot of the mountain you’ll find my village. I was born and raised there… you should talk to some of the villagers before you go up what we call Death Mountain.”
Buffy frowned. “What the fuck! Will someone please be optimistic about something? I’m not feeling real comfortable climbing something called Death Mountain.”
Tara smiled, but didn’t respond. “The spell I gave you has power. It reveals things that may not be obvious to those not of the royal family. If you find yourself in doubt, use it. You may be surprised.” Tara gave a final reassuring smile to Buffy and stepped backwards, throwing a substance down and disappearing with a flash of white light.
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