The Wind Beyond the Walls of the Mind
Chapter 27
"and when she falls, as she is fated to do . . ."
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.
* * * * * * * *
Buffy suddenly opened her eyes and stared wildly around her. She was disoriented by the unfamiliar surroundings, her head dizzy and her ears ringing. Shaking her head, she struggled to understand where she was.
All she could see was the base of a massive gray wall looming up behind her. The giant dark stones stretched off out of sight to her left, right and above reaching far beyond the shortened range of her vision. The wall itself was bathed in a crimson light and all around a red vapor hung as if it were clinging to the rough irregular surface of the stones.
A portion of the wall closest to her shimmered as did the portal that Willow and Tara had opened in the street just moments before in front of the New Age Curiosity Shop. Buffy spun from side to side, trying to maintain her balance and at the same time searching for any sign of Faith.
"Faith! FAITH!" Buffy cried out.
Faith, still holding the Shining Trapezohedron, suddenly stepped out of the red mist.
"Geez, chill, 'B'! I'm right beside you," she said calmly.
The Trapezohedron glowed steadily in Faith's arms.
"What the hell'd you follow me for, you ditz?" Faith lectured Buffy, "I told you I had this thing under control."
"I'm supposed to let you face the Haunter by yourself?" Buffy argued back, panting as she stared at the all encompassing wall around them, "What the hell is this place?" Buffy shivered.
". . . home . . ." Faith answered quietly as if from beyond a wall of dreams.
"What!?"
The two slayers stared at each other.
"It's where I've been for the last six months," Faith answered flatly, "I could hear you . . . everything you said."
Faith nodded towards the looming stones, "And every once in a while, I was strong enough to make that thing open . . . but this may be the last time . . . I'm so freakin' tired, Buffy."
"Faith! We're doing this together!" Buffy exclaimed.
"Sure thing, Miss Goody Two Shoes."
"The life force of two slayers, think of it!" Buffy shouted as she rapidly began to lose patience with Faith's fatalistic attitude, "We're both getting outta here!"
For a moment, Faith stared at Buffy, not sure she understood what Buffy was saying. Then, for the first time, the faintest hint of hope sparkled from Faith's eyes. Suddenly, a slithering sound and the vibrations of heavy breathing drifted out of the mists in front of them. Both turned on the defensive and faced the spot where the sounds were emanating.
"This is it!" Faith exclaimed as she prepared to do battle, "We'll see if two are better than one!"
Without warning, the three lobed burning eye of Nyarlethotep lurched out of the red vapor at Faith and shot towards the Shining Trapezohedron. Instantaneously, Faith swung her foot up in a violent kick at the advancing menace. The connection was solid and the eye suspended on the end of its serpentine neck spun away with the force of the impact.
Recovering, the eye of the Haunter leaped again, this time at Buffy. Using the same maneuver as Faith, Buffy planted a spinning kick squarely against the soft tissue dividing the three lobes of the eye. Once more, Nyarlethotep recoiled and hovered on the edge of the mist. One of the lobes was now ruptured and oozed a green liquid.
"Good shot!" Faith yelled, "But watch out! It's got one little trick that . . ."
Suddenly the form of the Haunter converted to a cloud of vapor, thicker than the red mists all around the Slayers. That cloud shot forward in a red stream directly at Buffy. Only a millisecond before impact, Faith stepped in front of the vaporized form of the Haunter. The red vapor spattered off Faith's chest like water hosed against a plastic tarpaulin.
"What the . . . ?" Buffy exclaimed.
"It pulled that shit on me!" Faith answered as she staggered momentarily from the impact, "Caught me off guard! It gets inside you and manipulates your body. Come on, we've screwed around here enough! Let's close that gate!"
"But how?"
"Use your mind!" Faith grinned, pointing at her own forehead, "After all, that's where we are!"
Buffy stared, uncomprehending, at Faith.
"Our own unconscious, Buffy," Faith exclaimed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, ". . . the Void . . . that place . . . on the brink of our own deaths."
Buffy shuddered in horror but she restrained the urge to panic. At the same time, Faith coolly turned and glared at the Shining Trapezohedron. Marshaling all her strength, Buffy did the same. Both Slayers stared intently back and forth between the Crystal and the shimmering portion of the wall. Suddenly, the size of the rupture began slowly to shrink.
On the street in front of MacDuffie's shop, the Scooby Gang and several of the Initiative soldiers were gathered around the prostrate forms of Faith and Buffy. Suddenly Tara pointed at the fluctuating opening in front of them.
"Willow!" she shouted, "Look! It's shrinking!"
"They're closing it!" Willow exclaimed as she realized the size of the portal was decreasing, "Buffy and Faith are closing the Void! Come on!"
Immediately she and Tara locked hands and resumed chanting. The words rang out through the winds as if the two Wiccans were offering their very souls for the rescue of the Slayers.
"HRA, KRAHTAR, DI MEYGO NYBOR GRESTIS ACTIB SHAGGAI! HRA, KRAHTAR, GAR ACTIB DERSASTAS GRANDNOR DZAB KADETH . . ."
In the Void, both Buffy and Faith glared intently at the Shining Trapezohedron in Faith's arms. Suddenly from out of the red mist surrounding them, the form of the Haunter lunged again at Faith. Sensing the impending attack, Buffy swung her foot up and violently connected a second time with the three lobed eye. Screaming, the serpent like neck spun backwards into the enshrouding mist.
"You're getting good at this," Faith said calmly, not taking her eyes off the Trapezohedron.
"I got a good teacher," Buffy answered, retraining her attention on the Crystal.
"'B', you're so full of bull shit," Faith smirked back.
Suddenly, the form of the Haunter reappeared on the edge of the vapors surrounding Buffy and Faith. It swayed back and forth as if looking for a weakness in the Slayers' defenses.
"We're running outta time!" Faith exclaimed, aware of the Haunter's growing power, "The opening is almost closed. We gotta turn it over to Willow and her bud out there. 'B,' look up at me and release it."
Buffy followed Faith's instructions and looked up at her. Both turned to stare at the shimmering rupture in the giant wall. The size of the opening suddenly stopped shrinking.
"It's not working!" Buffy exclaimed after a second, alarmed, "The Void isn't closing! It's not working, Faith!"
"They can't do it," Faith muttered as if she knew all along the final outcome, "Willow doesn't have enough strength. Only the life force of a Slayer . . ."
Faith stopped in mid sentence and stared at Buffy who, oblivious to what Faith had just said, still stared at the rupture in the Void.
In the street in front of the shop, Cordelia sensed the spell unraveling.
"Something's wrong!" she cried out, "Giles, something's wrong!"
Giles immediately recognized the rupture had ceased closing.
"Willow!" he yelled.
"We can't do it!" Tara screamed, beginning to panic, "Willow, we don't have the powers. It's not enough! We can't do it!"
"DON'T STOP!" Willow shouted, almost despairing.
Willow and Tara resumed chanting but the opening in the Void actually began to enlarge.
At the base of the wall, Faith stared at the menacing form of the Haunter of the Dark.
"It's not gonna work," she announced flatly, "We'll have to close it from in here. Better get outta here, 'B.'"
"I'm not leaving you!" Buffy declared and Faith could sense the other Slayer's feet settling firmly on the ground. Faith shook her head sadly.
"You don't belong here, Buffy."
"Neither do you!" Buffy yelled back defiantly.
"You really believe that," Faith smirked.
"Yes!"
"Well, there's only one way to settle this then," Faith said calmly as she carefully placed the Shining Trapezohedron down on the ground in front of her.
She then looked up calmly at Buffy and let a sudden punch fly. Her fist connected in the same place on Buffy's face where her first blow had landed earlier. Buffy staggered and struggled to launch a defensive kick in response, but Faith caught her foot in her hands and spun Buffy off balance. Before Buffy could regain her footing, Faith had a hammerlock around her neck and dragged Buffy to a standing position.
Both Slayers struggled and thrashed in front of the shimmering section of the gray wall. With all her strength, Faith finally shoved Buffy towards the rupture. As she did, Faith yelled out one last time.
"Sorry about that! You're gonna have one hell of a shiner, hun!"
Buffy vanished through the rupture in the Void, her body seeming to disappear into the shimmering section of the giant gray stones. Faith quickly snatched up the Crystal and stared into its glowing facets. Her face winced and creased with pain as it appeared her very life were draining out of her. Nevertheless, she would not take her eyes from the glowing nightmare images tunneling into her brain.
She fought back, every drop of her energy concentrated on mastering the glow of the Trapezohedron and directing its powers back against the fluctuating portal. At first nothing happened but suddenly as she expended one final burst of energy, the rupture in the Void rapidly began closing again and in a few seconds was sealed. The gray stones imprisoning her stood firm and unwavering once more.
On the street in front of the New Age Curiosity Shop, Buffy slowly regained consciousness. She lifted herself up on her hands off the pavement and looked around at the others staring at her. Giles reached down to lift her to her feet. At the same instant, Buffy recognized the unmoving form of Faith lying by her side.
"Faith! God Damn you, Faith!" she screamed, slapping away Giles' extended hand.
In the growing darkness of the Void, Faith, now virtually drained of any remaining strength, leaned with her back against the wall and slid down to her knees.
"Smash the Crystal, 'B!'" she cried out.
Buffy and those standing around her heard the other Slayer's voice ring out from beyond the now vanished portal.
"NO! I'm not sealing you up in there!" Buffy yelled back defiantly.
From out of the thin air around Buffy, Faith's voice echoed faintly.
"I'm already dead, Buffy. Smash it."
"NO!"
"Listen, you dumb Bitch!" Faith lashed out and everyone on the street now recognized the voice and its haughty defiant tone. "I don't belong out there! I tried to kill all you guys, remember. I'll do it again! Hey, I even fucked Angel! And it was real good!"
Buffy's eyes widened with horror. She began to shake.
"She's lying, Buffy!" Angel shouted.
But Buffy didn't hear him. She only could hear Faith's words, and the fury rose in her.
"Yeah, Dead Boy there, you had some pretty kinky moves," Faith continued in her smirky chatty tone of voice, "But ya know what? That new guy of yours, 'B', what's his name, Riley? Big and blonde, he's kinda cute. He'd be fun to do a little roll with!"
Furious, Buffy rose to her knees in front of the Shining Trapezohedron and clenched her hands together in a fist. Buffy's sudden silence told Faith exactly what she wanted to hear.
"Yeah, I think that's the first thing I'll do when I get back," she grinned, leaning from her kneeling position against the wall as the last of her life force drifted away, "A little 'Uuhh!' with Farm Boy there!"
All the Scooby Gang stared in horror as Buffy raised her clenched fists high over her head.
"Smash it, Buffy!" Faith whispered with her last drop of strength, "End this thing between us! You win!"
Buffy let her fists drop with all her Slayer's force. The Shining Trapezohedron shattered on impact, bursting into hundreds of sharp fragments, slashing and cutting Buffy's hands. Immediately, her blood rushed from the wounds.
In the darkness of the Void, Faith lowered her head, closed her blood red eyes and sighed. It was done. The bizarre spectrum of color from the Shining Trapezohedron in her arms suddenly winked out. As she felt the muscles in her body fail, Faith let the now dull and lifeless Crystal roll out of her arms. An unearthly roar of anger erupted from the red mists swirling in front of her. Faith smiled faintly.
Suddenly at her side appeared the tall gray image of an old gentleman dressed in the garb of the early twentieth century. He wore a faded trench coat and sported a floppy felt hat that he removed and held firmly in one hand. He bent down by Faith reaching towards her and as he did, Faith opened her eyes.
". . . hey . . ." Faith whispered, "Blondie Witch said something about you . . ."
The old gentleman didn't answer, but with an outstretched hand wiped away the wetness that was now streaming down Faith's cheek. He then placed his open palm firmly on her forehead and in another instant their images dissolved away.
The area around the wall was now empty and barren. The screams of the Ancient Ones echoed wildly in the prison of the Void as the crimson light diminished, finally surrendering before the onslaught of complete and utter blackness.
On the street, Buffy stared momentarily at the blood gushing from her hands. She then spun on her knees to stare at the still form of Faith by her side.
"Faith! FAITH!" she cried out to the unresponsive Slayer.
Buffy crawled over and scooped the Slayer up in her arms, at the same time gently pushing aside Faith's black hair off her forehead. Her blood smeared across Faith's skin.
"Faith! Can you hear me?! FAITH?!"
Faith's red eyes stared out as if seeing nothing.
". . . and . . . who . . . are . . . you . . ." she whispered in a dull, lifeless monotone.
Buffy's eyes widened in agony, and her mouth dropped open.
". . . no . . . !"
". . . and . . . who . . . are . . . you . . ." the comatose Slayer whispered again.
Slowly, Buffy turned her gaze towards the tormented sky. Her eyes were wide and glassing over. Her mouth opened fully as if emitting a scream but no sound issued forth. A sudden flash from a nearby building flaring up cast her pupils in the same blood red hue as Faith's.
Then slowly, almost silently, a cry escaped her open mouth. Giles recognized the sound and shuddered. It wasn't loud and piercing but rather like the wailing moan of the lost souls trapped in the Sunnydale Convalescent Hospital. He could only imagine that it was a cry back from across the now sealed boundaries of Hell, but whose voice it was, he couldn't say. The wail rose in volume, wavered, then descended once more to disappear in silence.
Buffy buried her face in Faith's long brown hair and smeared her bloody hands across Faith's forehead and up and down her cheeks. Buffy's palms and fingers virtually bathed the fallen Slayer's face and hair in the thick crimson liquid as if somehow her life blood could sponge away the chain of events, long predicted and now complete, that were frozen forever in the fabric of time. Nearby, the blazing front of a building fell off and collapsed in the street. The ground shuddered from the impact.
". . . and . . . who . . . are . . . you . . ." Faith whispered amidst the flames and darkness.
Buffy remained on her knees cradling Faith, rocking back and forth, as the glow from the flaming buildings all around bathed the two Slayers in a preordained baptism of blood and fire.
* * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
Rave
Barbie Girl (Becca)
biscuit07
Filmtheory (Jim)
Malice (Jess)
MebbtheScribe (MichaelB)
Reset (Allie)
Shay (Marrisa)
somnambulist29 (Shea)
Stephanie Loss
Wendyness (Wendy)
Questions?Contact Us
|
|
All stories on this site have been archived with the authors' consent. Do not copy these stories for your own uses without the express consent of the author themselves. Buffy the Vampire Slayer TM and Angel TM are © UPN, WB, Fox and its related entities. All photos on the site are © UPN, Fox, Warner Bros, and/or their respective owners. No profits are being made by use of these images.
Powered with the assitance of eFiction.
|
|
|
