The Wind Beyond the Walls of the Mind: Chapter 25- concluded - I am of the past
by Gaius Petronius
The Wind Beyond the Walls of the Mind
Chapter 25 - concluded
"I am of the past . . ."
by Gaius Petronius
Disclaimer:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all the characters that appear on the show are the exclusive property of Joss Whedon, the WB and Mutant Enemy, Inc. This story can be read on its own or as a sequel to H. P. Lovecraft's "The Haunter of the Dark" from which the Ancient Ones, the Shining Trapezohedron and the character of Robert Blake are derived.
Content Note: This part is rated PG-13 for violence and some raunchy language.
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In the plaza in front of the New Age Curiosity Shop, Buffy, Giles, Angel, Cordelia, Anya and Kate all stood anxiously on the sidewalk. They stared up the street where, in the distance over the top of the mostly empty buildings, bright arcs of white light followed by bursts of red pierced the sky. Every few moments a loud whoom echoed from the distance and the ground shuddered. Smoke swept over the tops of the surrounding buildings as fires burning out of control advanced towards the center of Sunnydale. The scream of emergency vehicles and honking horns were barely audible as somewhere out of sight residents fled the fires now spreading outward from the warehouse section of the city.
Suddenly, around the corner at the end of the street, three figures ran wildly into view. Cordelia spotted them first.
"Buffy! Giles! Look!" she exclaimed, pointing into the darkness.
The figures quickly drew closer and everyone could see it was Xander, still clutching MacDuffie's sword, Willow and Tara.
"Xander . . . ?" Anya yelled uncertainly.
Now they were clearly recognizable. Willow was partly supported by Tara and Xander's face a mass of blood. He still firmly clutched the ancient sword in one hand.
"XANDER!" Anya screamed.
The ex-demon broke into a run towards the approaching three, followed by Buffy, Giles and the others. Xander stumbled into her arms.
"Man! Am I glad to see you guys!" he stammered.
"Oh my God! Xander! Are you all right!?" Anya hugged him ferociously.
"Easy, Anya!" Buffy said trying to calm her down, "Probably looks a lot worse than it is."
"That bad, huh?" Xander asked Buffy.
"Giles! Gimme one of your handkerchiefs," Buffy called out without answering Xander.
Giles yanked a handkerchief out of his vest pocket and tossed it in her direction. Buffy grabbed it and quickly staunched the flow of blood oozing down Xander's forehead.
"Yeah, it's just a small cut," Buffy said reassuringly, "They always bleed like hell from the head. I know. I've had my share."
Willow, her arm draped over Tara's shoulder, staggered up to Giles. She stared at him with a blank expression on her face. Giles slipped his arm under one of Willow's shoulders, helping Tara support her.
"Willow? Are you all right? What happened?" he asked gently, "Where's MacDuffie?"
Willow didn't answer. Rather her chest heaved with sobs.
". . . Willow . . . where's Anson? . . ." Giles asked, now his question more urgent.
Willow collapsed weeping in Tara's arms. Tara shook her head silently at Giles.
"Quickly, get her inside," he told Tara, realizing that Willow was in no emotional condition to describe the events in detail as he desperately needed. Giles instead turned to Xander. "What happened?" he asked.
Tara led Willow towards the door of the shop.
"We were goners," Xander stammered, shaking his head as Buffy compressed the handkerchief on his forehead, "About to get fried and MacDuff came outta nowhere. He got between us and . . . He stopped it for a few minutes . . . "
Xander grinned sadly as he paused, staring at Buffy and Giles who hung on his every word.
"Really got it pissed off, too . . . " he continued, "But he didn't make it. Riley showed up with a bunch of his troops and gave us some cover to get back here."
Buffy's eyes lit up at the mention of Riley's name.
"Buff, I think you better know . . . " Xander said picking up on Buffy's concern, "I'm . . . I'm pretty sure the Initiative got blown away. There's maybe only a couple dozen of 'em now. Riley's trying to hold it off about five, six blocks from here but we don't have much time. Whatever it is you gotta do, you gotta do it now!"
Buffy turned to Giles seeking some kind of direction. Giles stared back and spoke with as much confident strength as he can muster.
"Then it's finally time. Come on!" he said firmly.
He and Buffy abruptly left Xander with Anya and walked at a fast clip back into the shop. Xander faced Anya.
"Hey, babe!" he said optimistically now that the cut on his face had stopped bleeding, "You still got my light show all hooked up?"
"Yeah, but we got no power!" she answered despairing.
"Oh yes we do!" Xander snapped back with a grin, "You know that little five finger discount job we pulled at the construction site this morning?"
"Yeah?"
"You sexy little demon," Xander said, wrapping his arms around her in strong embrace, "That's our power. It's a generator! We're back!"
Anya's eyes lit up.
"Then maybe it won't be the end of all sex and the world!" she beamed.
"Not if I can help it! Let's fire that sucker up!"
Xander, still holding the handkerchief to his forehead, ran back into the shop followed by Anya leaving Angel, Kate and Cordelia standing alone on the pavement and staring nervously at the ever intensifying flashes of red light.
"That's what I love about reunions," Cordelia remarked sarcastically to Angel, "Makes you feel like you're part of the old gang again!"
"Cordelia . . ."
"Angel, what the hell are we supposed to do?!" she cut him off, her voice laced with fear, "Twiddle our thumbs and wait to get barbecued!?"
"She's right," Kate said solemnly.
The LAPD detective pulled her service revolver out of the shoulder holster under her jacket. She calmly inspected the weapon and then released the safety and cocked the chamber with a loud metallic snap.
"Angel, I just can't stand around here and do nothing," Kate announced.
"Then what do you suggest?" the vampire replied, now visibly annoyed.
Cordelia sighed with disgust as another argument was about to break out between Angel and Kate. She turned away, and her eyes fell on the used camera store next door. As she gazed at the dozens of cameras on display in the window, her eyes widened with a Cordelia style brainstorm. Grinning smugly, she elbowed Angel.
". . . Hey . . ."
"Maybe you can pop it a couple of times with your little pea shooter and give it an itch," Angel answered Kate sarcastically, ignoring Cordelia.
"Oh yeah?" Kate took up the verbal challenge as she tossed her long blond hair off her shoulders, "Well wadda you got to show for your afternoon jaunt in the sewers besides a little Eau de Toilet? We can light that old book you found on fire! That should keep it about four inches away from us! . . . for maybe three seconds!"
"HEY!" Cordelia jabbed Angel harder.
"What is it, Cordelia!?" he snapped.
Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, she nodded in the direction of the camera store. For a second, Angel and Kate were silent.
". . . and you wanta take its picture??" Kate finally answered with raised eyebrows.
"Sort of . . ." Cordelia grinned.
Pantomiming, she held up an imaginary camera and pointed it at Angel and Kate.
"Now snuggle close and smile you two!" she said.
Both Angel and Kate stared incredulously at Cordelia.
"Leggs, have you flipped?" the police detective asked.
Cordelia ignored the insult. She pretended to press the shutter trigger.
"Click!"
Then she imitated a camera flash going off by waving her fingers out from her face.
"POP!"
For a second, no one moved. Then, as the rumble of thunder up the street grew louder, Angel suddenly realized what she was trying to say.
"Wait a minute . . . !" he pondered.
He stared at the window of the camera store, then quickly ran over and studied the dozens of cameras on display. Cordelia and Kate joined him. Angel finally turned back to the two women. Smiling, he hugged Cordelia who grinned at Kate and winked.
"Cordelia! You never cease to amaze me!" he exclaimed as he released her from his embrace.
"That's okay, boss. Now about that raise . . ."
"Later."
"Oh yeah! Right!" Cordelia huffed.
Angel turned and faced the camera shop. Suddenly, he placed a solid kick against the display window which shook for a moment in its framing. It then shattered and descended to the sidewalk in a sliding crash of glass fragments. Angel jumped into the now open display area and began passing out camera after camera to Kate and Cordelia.
The LAPD detective was completely bewildered as she joined Cordelia grabbing cameras from Angel.
"Great! Now you got me looting!" she exclaimed.
Inside the New Age Curiosity Shop, Anya twisted the dials on the floodlight control panel. Next to her, Xander gently set the notched sword into a corner out of the way.
"You've done your part," he thought of the damaged weapon as he quickly but reverently wrapped it in a piece of loose cloth. Not wasting any time, he then turned to the motor on the stolen generator and struggled to start up the stubborn engine. He fiddled with the choke, reset the throttle and then yanked on the starter pull rope. The generator engine turned but wouldn't catch. He yanked again and again with the same dismal results.
". . . Damn . . . come on . . . start . . . you bastard!" he swore as he pulled repeatedly.
Across the shop, near Faith's cot, Tara and Willow sat together, Willow still sobbing.
"Willow, listen to me!" Tara finally said firmly, "You have to get your act together! . . . I found the spell . . ."
Willow stopped whimpering and looked up surprised at Tara.
"We can open the Void before the planetary conjunction!" Tara exclaimed with excitement, "It'll catch the Ancient Ones off guard! Buffy can go in and seal them up for good . . . but we've gotta move fast!"
"How do you know it's the right spell?" Willow muttered as she wiped her eyes and cheek on her sleeve, "I thought no one could read the Res Profana?"
"That was the weird thing," Tara answered thoughtfully, "Somebody wrote a message a long time ago in the front of the book . . . but it was addressed to me . . . telling me which spell to use!"
"But who?" Willow puzzled.
"It was signed 'Randolph Carter' but I could tell that wasn't his real name. The Curator mentioned something about somebody named 'Lovecraft' who knew I was coming."
"I've heard of him!" Willow exclaimed, her eyes widening, "He was that horror writer in the 1930's!"
Tara nodded.
"Yeah, that's right! He wrote about the Ancient Ones, but nobody took him seriously. I knew that name was familiar. He called himself "Randolph Carter" in his stories! Remember! MacDuffie said there was a Guardian in the 1930's who defeated the Ancient Ones during the last conjunction?"
"It was after the Leipzig Massacre when the Powers of Darkness killed off almost all the Slayers around the world!" Willow answered as she struggled to remember, "Mr. MacDuffie said his father knew him but wouldn't say who he was, only that he single handedly held off the Ancient Ones for almost ten years while new Slayers were trained. He and a friend stopped the crossover of the Ancient Ones in the last conjunction. . . . But it cost them their lives."
"I think . . . it was Mr. Lovecraft . . . he showed me the spell . . ." Tara nodded.
"But we destroyed the book?" Willow suddenly said, despairing.
Tara grinned and pointed with her finger to the side of her forehead indicating she had it memorized. That's all it took. Willow was suddenly re-vitalized.
"We have to help Buffy! Teach it too me!" she announced intensely.
"I'll write it down," Tara said, now sharing her friends returning enthusiasm, "It can't be spoken outloud . . . until the moment we need it."
Willow nodded in agreement.
A few feet away, Faith lay still on the cot. Her blood red eyes were wide open as she listened intently to everything Willow and Tara were saying. Understanding, she breathed in deeply and closed her eyes to wait.
Inside the shop's storage room, Buffy and Giles stood before the box containing the Shining Trapezohedron.
"Once we remove it from its box," Giles said with quiet finality, ". . . the Haunter will come for it."
Buffy shook her head.
"It already knows it's here. . . . " she said coldly, "It's just playing with us."
There was a moment of silence. Outside, flashes of red and white light illuminated the windows of the shop as Riley's forces fell back closer and closer.
"Giles," Buffy asked fearfully, "I still don't understand what I have to do."
Giles put his hands on Buffy's shoulders. He struggled with the urge to hold her close, knowing in his heart that this could be the last time he explained to her the circumstances of a threat they were all facing together. His soul agonized with the knowledge that he was sending his slayer, no, this beautiful powerful young woman who was his daughter in all but name into a battle from which they both realized she would never return.
"Buffy," he began slowly, "In this universe, our souls, our life force and are bodies are all strongly interlocked. But going into the Void, we leave behind our physical form and carry in only the soul and life force. The Ancient Ones are attempting to drag their physical manifestation from their universe, through the Void, and into ours where they once held sway. You are to leave your body behind here and enter the Void with your soul and the Crystal. There, you will direct your life powers back upon the Shining Trapezoderon, and, much like closing a very stiff old window, seal the portal up. You will then destroy the Trapezohedron."
". . . sealing me up in the Void! . . ." Buffy announced bluntly.
Suddenly Willow and Tara appeared at the door to the storage room.
"No! . . . we'll get you out!" Willow exclaimed.
Buffy and Giles turned to face the young Wiccans as they stepped into the room.
"I've read the Res Profana," Tara said confidently to Giles, "We know its spells and powers. Willow and I can help open the Void, but more importantly, Buffy, we can help you shut it as well . . ."
"By destroying the Crystal on this side!" Willow announced, completing Tara's explanation. She quickly turned to Giles, "The physical manifestation of the Trapezohedron remains behind here . . . but its energy, its 'life force' passes through to the Void with Buffy."
Willow faced the Slayer as she spoke with excitement, "Just before the Void closes, you leap back through. Tara and I will finish the closure here with the spell from the Res Profana and then we'll smash the Shining Trapezohedron!"
"Thus making it incomplete!" Giles nodded with building enthusiasm, "It's powers will be sealed in the void and unable to be used to cross into this universe since its physical manifestation no longer exists! Gads, I think you've got it!"
"You guys think this'll really work?" Buffy, her voice for the first time filled with hope, glanced back and forth between Willow and Tara.
Tara nodded enthusiastically. Taking her cue from Tara, Willow grinned her trademark smile.
"Yeah! No sweat!," she announced as she looked back at Tara, "We got it on good authority!"
"Then, we must begin now!" Giles announced urgently, "The planetary conjunction reaches it zenith at 2 am. By that time, the power of the Ancient Ones will be virtually irresistible."
"I wouldn't exactly put it that way," Willow scowled at the Watcher's odd choice of words.
"What way?" Giles asked confused.
". . . 'irresistible' . . ." Willow said with raised eyebrows.
"It's a perfectly good word," Giles huffed as if they were back sitting in the storage room with MacDuffie's bottle of scotch.
"Not now, Giles," Willow grinned and rolled her eyes.
"Quite right! Buffy . . ."
Buffy turned slowly to face the box containing the Shining Trapezohedron. She slid the lid off and the room was instantly bathed in an eery glow from the Trapezohedron's other worldly illumination. Buffy reached in and lifted the multi-faceted crystalline shape out of its bed of old excelsium. As she held it in front of her, all gazed at the source of the unearthly light.
Outside the storage room, Faith, who had overheard the entire conversation, lay still on the cot and stared at the ceiling.
"So . . . that's the game," she muttered to herself, "Red, after this is over I just hope you and your blondie buddy can get me outta there."
Suddenly, the bizarre colors of the Shining Trapezohedron poured through the open door to the storage room. In spite of herself, Faith suddenly turned her head sideways and gazed at the startling colors now bathing the corner of the shop.
Several blocks away on the streets of downtown Sunnydale, flames leaped up everywhere as the Haunter of the Dark glided down between the buildings. The three lobed eye on the end of its serpent neck bent and pointed in different directions firing globes of blazing plasma at the squads of retreating Initiative soldiers. Every so often, the lightning stab of alpha particle bursts leaped from strategic locations where Initiative soldiers laid down a cross fire or an ambush.
Riley waved wildly at different groups of his men, signaling them to retreat. He screamed into his headset.
"BETA SQUAD! FALL BACK ONE BLOCK NOW! GAMMA SQUAD, LAY DOWN COVER FIRE!"
Behind him, camouflaged soldiers raced by heading down the street towards the shop.
". . . come on, Buffy! . . ." Riley muttered desperately through gritted teeth into his headset, "Whatever it is, you gotta do it now!"
Riley turned and broke into a sprint with plasma bursts dropping on all sides of him. Nyarlethotep suddenly halted and lifted its neck up towards the sky as if it sensed something in the wind.
Inside the shop, Buffy, followed by Willow, Tara and Giles marched out of the storage room. Buffy, staring sternly ahead, carried the Shining Trapezohedron in front of her. It's glow illuminated the walls in a wash of colors from an unknown spectrum. All four paraded quickly out the front door into the street.
After a moment, Faith slowly sat up from her cot. She stood, looked around and stealthily followed the others. She stopped momentarily by Xander who, still tugging at the pull cord on the generator, was unaware of her presence. Anya suddenly looked up from her control panel and gasped.
"What?" Xander said in irritation as he glanced up at Anya.
Following Anya's gaze, he looked behind his shoulder and saw Faith. The impact of her presence didn't sink in.
"Oh, hi Faith . . ." he said nonchalantly.
Xander's attention returned to starting the stubborn generator as he jerked furiously on the starter cord.
". . . Hey . . ." Faith grinned at him.
". . . what? . . ." Xander stared back up at her, a little annoyed at being interrupted.
"Easy, lover boy . . ." she instructed him almost seductively, "You're too rough. Ya flooded 'er . . . half choke it . . . pull gently, slowly . . . nice smooth strokes . . . then she'll rev. Trust me."
Xander fiddled with the choke again and then, using a strong, steady and firm grip, pulled the starter cord with a smooth motion. The engine immediately sprang alive, the roar ringing in the shop.
"Wow! Gee, thanks Faith!" Xander exclaimed over the noise of the generator.
Xander looked back up but Faith was gone. The door to the front of the shop slammed shut. Xander glanced over at Anya who was still staring back at him but with a look of fury on her face.
"What the hell's wrong, now?" Xander moaned.
Anya reached over and swatted him hard across the head.
"OW!"
"Open the damn windows before the exhaust suffocates us!" she snarled, "I don't wanta die just yet . . . cause I hafta kill you first!"
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