Crown and Key
By Sandra and William Johnson
Chapter Twenty
“Woah, this is going to set my teamsters back months!” Xander moaned as he stared in awe at the Parthenon like structure that now stood where the new High School had been ready to open in a few short months.
“Has there ever been a time when our exploits here haven’t lead to any real reconstruction?” Buffy asked dryly as they approached the entrance cautiously.
“I’m thinking no.” Oz n added with a sidelong glance at Willow.
“So, are we breaking out the Big Guns?” Xander asked.
“Not quite yet.” Buffy said. She turned to face her best friend. “Will, how do you feel about some Derringer action?”
Willow took a deep breath, her hands shaking. Oz placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. “You can do this. You’re the strongest person I know.”
“Except for Buffy, and She-Ra, and He-Man, and….” Xander tossed in. Giles glared in his general direction, and he fell silent.
“Let her concentrate.” She-Ra admonished him. Oz gently took her hand in his as Willow closed her eyes and began chanting:
“Goddess Hecate, I beg of thee,
Help me to see what you can see.
Reveal the evil doer’s spies,
Reveal secret places where magic lies!”
A blinding blue flash emanated from Willow’s hands and traced a path outlining the entire palace.
“Well, duh, it’s obvious that place is magical.” Xander began. Giles glared again as the blue glow began to dissipate throughout the grounds till it lay highly concentrated on the two statues that guarded the entrance to the building, as well as the path that lay beyond it.
“Guess we’re back in the saddle again.” Oz whispered as the group trudged along the path to the entrance. As they approached, everyone took up what he had come to think of as their battle stations; Lara pulled her guns, Buffy her rocket launcher, Xander his katana, He-Man and She-Ra their swords, and Giles and Willow their spell books. He himself looked up at the sliver of a crescent moon. Concentrating all his efforts on that image, the moon began to grow larger and larger. As it did, the hair on the back of Oz’s neck stood on end. The larger the moon got, the more he could feel his hair begin to grow. Soon, the moon was full.
A werewolf stood where Oz had been. Fully in control of his mind and body, Oz took Willow’s hand again in his large furry paw even as Buffy and Lara advanced slowly up the marble steps of the Greco-roman temple.
Soon the sound of stone grinding on stone could be heard as the two knights standing to either side of the doorway began to move. As they moved, their images changed, stone becoming flesh. Moonlight now shined off the deadly silver blades and chain mail armor the two muscular men bore, and off the golden crown that rested upon the head on the man on the right.
Lara looked and her jaw dropped as she saw the tabard that draped over the chest of the knight with the crown. “No…it can’t be.” But it was. Only one man in history ever wore the symbol of a leaping gold dragon upon his chest. Before Lara and Buffy, blades drawn to bar their way, stood Arthur Pendragon, King of all Briton, and his friend, Lancelot, Du Lac, Knight of the Round Table.
“This is bad, isn’t it?” Buffy asked.
“Very much so” Lara replied.
The two knights looked at the women and their companions, and in one voice, devoid of all feeling, spoke. “The way is shut. It was made by she who rules us all. The way is shut.” And then the two knights advanced on the women.
Lara and Buffy immediately leaped backwards as He-Man and She-Ra rushed into the fray. As the two leapt up the steps, they swung their blades to meet those of Lancelot and Arthur. The blades clashed together with a loud CLANG as the knights and the two eternal champions dueled.
Willow looked at Giles, “I think dispelling this might be a good idea.” Giles nodded and the two began flipping through their respective grimoire’s. Behind them, branches rustled and suddenly, several young men entered the parking lot and leapt at the two spellcasters, fangs barred.
Xander intercepted the leaping bodies, katana swinging. As the blade slashed across the chest of the nearest of the four, the vampire squealed in paing as he collapsed into dust. “Nice blade,” Xander shouted, swinging at another vampire. The other two vampires toppled to the ground as a massive wolf slammed into their back. Oz howled and then tore the neck form the first vampire he had tackled.
Buffy turned at the sound of the howl, “We’ve got company Lara.” Lara spun around to see the shambling horde of zombies that was shuffling it’s way across the parking lot now, several more vampire’s leading the way.
Lara sighed, “What is it with this town? First it’s ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ and now ‘Night of the Living Dead’?” Even as she spoke though, her pistols snapped up and she began blazing away at the nearest moaning corpse.
Buffy aimed the rocket launcher at the center of the mass, “That way takes too long.” She said with a smile and opened fire. The rocket sped along on a trail of white smoke and slammed into the ground in the center of the zombies with a loud explosion. Corpses and pieces of zombie flew everywhere. Buffy dropped the now useless weapon and leapt down the steps.
“Well, these two are certainly more a challenge than your standard Horde Trooper,” She-Ra said as she rolled along the marble, doging a swing from Lancelot’s sword.
“And certainly better skilled than Skeletor’s usual lackies” He-Man said, slipping under Arthur’s stroke.
“Still, they seem kind of stone like in their thought process, don’t you think brother?” She-Ra swung her blade at Lancelot, who barely dodged it, the blade slicing through the marble column next to him.
“Yes. Regular stone faced enemies you might say Sis” He-Man took a different tactic. Now inside Arthur’s reach, he grabbed the legendary king and lifted him over his head. With a grunt of effort, He-Man hurled Arthur across the parking lot and into a parked cement truck. The King’s head hit the side of the truck and then his whole body exploded into a cloud of stone, his sword clattering to the ground.
“Good idea you have there Brother” She-Ra remarked. “Sword, to lasso” she held her blade as light flashed and it transformed into a coil of white rope. Swinging it over her head and taking several steps down and away from Lancelot, she let it fly. The loop on the end flew straight and true and right over Lancelot’s head and shoulder. She-Ra gave the rope a tug and Lancelot flew from the steps into the same cement truck Arthur had and exploded on impact into a cloud of stone. She-Ra retrieved the rope and transformed it back to a sword, then turned to see how the other were faring.
Oz howled again, as he ripped the throat from another vampire. Xander was heard humming ‘Duel of the Fates’ as he sliced his way through the Vampires. Lara stood back to back with a pillar, guns blazing, zombies dropping like flies, while Buffy leapt and dodged, stakes dusting vampire’s left and right. Soon, the battle was over, with only the companions left standing.
Xander grinned form ear to ear, “Well, looks like that’s over with”
“Only the initial soiree. We still have to get inside.” Buffy said.
Lara, however, was studying the blade left behind when Artur shattered. She held it up and glaced at the Latin on the hilt, eyes going wide as she translated it, “Whosoever pulleth this sword from this stone be king of all…” Oh God. Rupert, come see this!”
Giles headed over, grimoire under one arm, “Lara, is that what I think it is?”
“Excalibur.” Lara sad breathlessly.
“The conjuration which channeled Arthur and Lancelot’s spirits into those statues must have also brought Arthur’s sword.” Giles remarked.
Lara smiled as she stared at the blade.
“Uhm, I know that’s probably a great educational find you have there, but we do have evil to fight?” Buffy mentioned
Lara shook her head, “You’re right Buffy. Though, this may come in handy” and she handed the blade to Giles, “Keep this safe, won’t you?”
Giles nodded as Buffy smiled, “Well, now that the Vampire Slayer has done her job, time to find out what a Tomb Raider does.” Lara smiled back and the two made their way back up the steps.
“Interested, Slayer?” Lara challenged. A scream pierced the night, one that sounded much like a voice both women loved.
“BUFFY!!!!” Dawn cried. At that, the two women leapt into the entrance of the structure, and gazed into the haze and cobwebs.
“What’s first?” Buffy asked as they crept down the hallway.
“The Breath of God. Only the penitent man shall pass,” Lara said.
“So, should we pray?” Buffy inquired.
“Dr. Jones got through by kneeling, but I somehow don’t think it will be that simple this time.”
“What makes you say that?” Buffy quipped as she heard a loud crack. Looking straight ahead, she saw a bolt of lightning flash down the corridor straight for the girls. Without thinking, the Slayer shoved her friend to the ground, failing to notice the ornate glass mirror behind them.. The lightning struck the mirror and reflected off of it, sending sparks across the entire room. One of the sparks caught fire to the tapestry hanging on the wall. That’s when Buffy saw it, the altar standing beneath a statue of a woman bearing a striking resemblance to Glory. Picking up a piece of the wooden frame from the mirror, Buffy wound the burning cloth around the stick and lit the candles beneath the statue. The fires glowed, and then the mirror returned to its former state. The glass faded, and a hallway emerged.
“Penance, I guess. Glory was never that bright.” Buffy quipped.
Lara smiled. “Especially since in the Catholic Church, which she is obviously mocking, candles are lit at the altars of saints for remembrance or for favors, NEVER penance.”
“Phase one complete?” Willow’s voice echoed through Buffy’s mind.
“Yes. Bring the other into the corridor. Go through the looking glass, metaphorically speaking.” Buffy telepathically instructed her friend as she and Lara continued on their journey.
“Next step?” The Slayer asked.
“The Word of God.” Lara recited. “Must follow in God’s footsteps, but remember Jehovah begins with an I in Latin.” Lara said. Buffy looked down to see the grand alphabet spread out among the bricks that lined the floor.”
“No sweat.” She began, and took a step towards the closest letter I. As she put her weight on it, the brick collapsed beneath her foot and the floor began to swallow her whole.
“What the hell is quicksand doing in Sunnydale!” she shouted as she began to sink. Remembering all the movies she had seen that used this particular trap, Buffy tried not to struggle. Lara, having figured out the change, leapt to the letter G and pulled the slayer up. Buffy scrambled to find footing, and did so on the letter L. “Of course,” she sighed.
“It’s not Jehovah this time,” Lara started. “It’s Glorificus.”
“I always knew she was vain, but this goes beyond even what I thought.” Buffy said as she tossed a bit of green powder into the air. The letters GLORIFICUS now glowed a bright emerald green as the task had been completed.
“Phase two finished, Will.” Buffy thought. “Just follow the emerald city road.”
The corridor the women were traveling down made a sharp right. At the end was a sight that made Buffy gasp.
A Large statue of King Richard the Lionhearted stood at the head of a yawning portal that Buffy recognized all too well.
Glory had started the ritual. But somehow, the creatures in hell were unable to break through. She and Lara could see them, pressing against a thin membrane that was keeping them locked inside. But the mystical energy roiled, spanning the distance between the statue and an ornate black door. Lara looked at Buffy, saw the fear in her eyes, and new something was wrong.
“What is it?” she asked.
“That’s the portal.” Buffy said. “The last time I leapt into that thing, it killed me.”
Lara smiled. “But you didn’t leap from the Lion’s head, did you?” Buffy stared blankly at her friend, as the realization dawned on her. Lara’s smirk widened. “Leap of Faith?”
“Leap of Faith.” Buffy agreed, clasping Lara’s hand. The two women climbed to the top of the lion’s head and leapt into the night sky. They fell about three feet, and tumbled onto a solid surface. The portal was painted on a bridge, giving the illusion of being there, but not really. Lara tossed her rope about the statues head and whistled loudly. The rest of the gang were only a few steps behind them, and followed them down onto the path. As the crew reached the black door, Buffy stepped aside and allowed He-Man and She-Ra to the front. In unison, they pulled back and punched the door in. The onyx crumbled under the assault, revealing the sanctuary inside.
The walls were lined with goblet after goblet, each one ornate and beautiful, none of them the true grail. Seated on a throne up on a stone dais was Glorificus, wearing the Crown of Morganna the Misbegotten, with Dawn bound at her feet.
“Well it’s about time.” Glory said with a smile as she rapidly lifted Dawn’s right arm into the air. In her left hand she held an ornate dagger and drew it across Dawn’s bare skin. Blood slid down her arm and a few drops rained down into the Hellmouth. It began to glow a fierce silver color and pulse with mystical energy. Then suddenly, all hell broke loose
Literally.
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