FF: Triad chpt4

["Sam" <shadowmage_draco@xxxxxxx>]

Triad

By

Sam


Title: Triad chpt 4 
Email: shadowmage_draco@xxxxxxx 
Rating: R 
Disclaimer: BtVS belongs to Joss, Dungeon Keeper 2 belongs to 
bullfrog, I'm just borrowing the two ideas in the name of fun.
Spoilers: Alternate Reality, so there are not really any but you 
never know. 
Archive: The usual suspects, all others just ask me, I'll say yes, 
really I will.
Pairing: Willow/Tara/Buffy

Thanks: To Coy for not only doing a way cool job as beta but 
providing tremendous support and sound advise to my twisted self.

Notes: Riley is foiled on the verge of Zaven gaining access to the 
surface. Feedback is needed, it is like a drug to me and I'm 
addicted.

Sunnydale:

Giles sat in his chair, aborting all the information the Eleven mage 
had just given him, he found a lot of it hard to swallow but his 
experience as a watcher told him not to underestimate the Elves words.

Giles gazed over at the Eleven warrior who had showed up half way 
through Kari's explanation announcing that the path of the triad had 
been revealed, "I know that you say Buffy, Willow and Tara are the 
triad, but what does that mean?"

The mage sat down across form Giles and slowly began to speak, "The 
Triad is the core of power, when the two of magic and the one of war 
come together in love it is complete. For they are the chosen ones, 
picked by the heavens to fight in the name of light against the 
darkness, it is they who will face the demons and the creatures of 
darkness."

"And what does this have to do with them?"

"The Powers that be looked down upon them and saw their hearts, they 
saw the hidden love the three have for one another, they saw the 
purity in their hearts and they called them. Know this watcher the 
slayer and the two Wicca must be united, their hearts desires must be 
revealed, and they must come together, for it is the only way the 
Triad can once again defend this world against our advisory."

Giles leaned back in his chair and took a sip of tea, "I think I am 
beginning to understand but what is this advisory you keep speaking 
of." 

Vallen walked over to Kari and placed his hands on the young mages 
shoulders, "I believe I can answer your question watcher."

Vallen moved of to the side and took a seat next to Kari then stared 
straight at Giles, "Many moons ago before the humans evolved into 
what you are today this world it was inhabited by many races, there 
where Gnomes, Dwarves, Elves such as are selves, and many other 
races. It was a world strong in magic but life was hard back then.  
The demons ran rampant among us, it was not until the evolution of 
man that the demons left the earth and returned to their own domains."

"I se so you advisory is a demon race?'

"No the advisory is a sub species of humans known as the keepers.  
They where the first to gain intelligence and when they did a 
firestorm of evil struck this earth. The keepers battled amongst 
themselves fighting for supremacy of the world. When one would gain 
enough power he would attack and destroy anything that stood in his 
way. This went one for several thousands of years as the other 
humans began to evolve. The three things kept the keepers from 
taking over the world and enslaving all the other races."

Kari then picked up where Vallen had left off, "First they would not 
form alliances with one another, each keeper wanted to be the supreme 
ruler of this world. Each time a powerful keeper would fall the 
inhabitants of this world where able to rebuild their forces as the 
other keepers struggled amongst themselves to take his place."

"But I am afraid that will be little use to this time, all the other 
keepers have been destroyed, only a keeper called Zaven remains. He 
has crushed his opponents and destroyed the forces of light in his 
domain, it is he who is coming and bringing a army of darkness with 
him," Vallen added.

Kari stood up and walked over to Giles, "Only the Triad and we remain 
to stop him now."

Giles felt as if he had been struck by a rather large truck as the 
words began to sink in, "Let me see if I got this straight, The two 
of you are here to help?"

"That is correct watcher," Vallen replied.

"And Buffy, Willow, and Tara must be joined in order to complete the 
Triad that is need to stop him."

"Again you are correct."

"But how can this be, you said this keeper is bringing his own army 
with him, how can the two of you and the three of them stop sauch a 
force?"

"We can not, if we tried to our advisory's forces would crush us and 
all would be lost."

"Then what are we suppose to do?"

"That is already being taken care of, as we speak the forces of The 
Great Forest are preparing to enter this world to aid in the fight 
against our advisory."

The great Forest:

Talmir stood on the balcony of the great hall and looked out across 
the courtyard at the army that had gathered there. There were three 
formations of Archers and a formation of mages. Behind them where 
four formations of warriors, with a small formation of healers in the 
back.  

The elder walked over to the edge of the balcony and placed his hands 
on the railing, "Good friend today marks what is to be the beginning 
our finest hour, for today we return to the old world to aid the 
triad in the struggle of our advisory, just as our ancestors did many 
moons ago. Today is the day that we take up are arms and strike down 
our advisory once and for all. We have done everything we could do 
to prepare for this moment, and now we go to face the forces of our 
evil foe. We will smite him and his minions down, we will be 
victorious, My friends go forth and claim the victory that is to be 
ours!"

All the formations cried out their battle cry as they lifted their 
hands in the air.

"May the Gods and Goddesses of the forest be with you my friends, Go 
forth into the realm of man and crush the darkness that is headed its 
way!"

The forgotten domain:

Lord Lionheart pulled his sword from its sheath as the horned Reaper 
approached him, "You will not take me vile demon."

The beast said nothing, it only growled at the good Knight as it 
Quickly closed in on his position.

Lionheart swung his sword with all his might, sparks flew as it met 
with the metal blade of the Horned reapers scythe.

The horned reaper pushed into Lionheart with all his might sending 
the good night flying backwards. Lionheart tumbled across the ground 
and started to get up. The Horned reapers scythe came flying down 
towards his head.

The good Knight barley got his sword up in time to avoid the fatal 
blow, but the force of the impact knocked him back to the ground.
 
Quickly Lionheart rolled backwards and come up on his feet facing his 
foe. He swung at the oncoming beast but missed.

The Horned reaper cut loose with a barrage of assaults with the 
scythe, until he finally managed to sever the good Knights sword hand 
with his blade.

Lionheart screamed in anguish as he watched his blade and hand fall 
to the ground, he then felt the hot metal of the Horned reapers blade 
slice deeply into his chest, "I am slain! May the Gods have mercy on 
the surface!"

Sunnydale:

Buffy sat in the crying as she stared at the door to Willow and 
Tara's room. She didn't know what to do, a part of her wanted to 
stand up, knock on the door, and find out if her friends could truly 
help ease the pain that was ransacking her soul. Another part of her 
was afraid, what if the messenger was wrong, what if they couldn't 
help her with her pain. All she really knew was that Riley had 
betrayed her, and that it hurt.  

Willow and Tara sat on the floor at the foot of their bed holding 
hands; they had spent the last hour trying to figure out how to 
approach Buffy about how they felt about here. Everything the Eleven 
messengers of their shared dream had said made sense to them now. At 
first they had thought the whole thing was really strange but once 
they started talking to each other about it they realized that it was 
possible for them to love one another and Buffy too.

"Willow, I-I'm scared, w-what if they where wrong, w-what if B-Buffy 
doesn't feel the same way we do."

"Tara, sweetheart, this is something we both want isn't it?"

"Y-yes."

"Then we have to tell Buffy, and hope she feels the same way."

"And if she doesn't?"

Willow lowered her head and tightened her grip on Tara's hand; "I 
don't want to even think about that."

"Why?"

"Because I'm afraid to, I don't want us to loose our best friend," 
Willow cried. 

Tara leaned into willow and hugged her, "Same here, I...I just want 
to know what we are suppose to do."

"We tell Buffy and hope for the best, it's all we can do."

Willow and Tara's conversation was cut short when someone knocked on 
the door; the two of them got up and went over to answer the door.  
When they opened the door their neighbor from down the hall was 
standing there wearing a Silent Gophers concert T-shirt, Willow 
looked at him and wondered why he was knocking on doors at such a 
late hour, "Bill is everything OK?"

"I'm not sure," responded the young man as he stepped of to the 
right, "I think something's wrong with your friend." 

Willow and Tara looked across the hall and saw Buffy curled up in a 
ball crying. Both of them felt like their hearts where going to 
break when they saw that the slayer was obviously hurting from 
something.

Willow looked over at Bill as she gathered her inner 
strength, "Thanks, we'll take it from here."

Willow and Tara walked over to Buffy and knelt down beside her.

Willow placed her hand gently on Buffy's shoulder and the slayer 
looked up at the two of them through tear stained eyes, "H-h-
e...lied," Buffy sobbed.


Tara placed her hand on Buffy's shoulder next to Willow's, "Who lied?"

"R-Riley, he lied to me...H-he said he loved me."

Willow took Buffy in her arms and help on to the slayer as she cried. 

Tara moved over to Buffy's other side and sat down on the floor next 
to her and held on to the blondes arm. The two wiccas waited for 
Buffy to finish weeping before either one of them spoke.

After Buffy had stopped weeping Willow and Tara helped her to her 
feet. "Let's get out of this hallway and talk somewhere more 
private," Willow replied as she and her girlfriend led Buffy into 
their room.

Willow got a chair for Buffy to sit in and Tara got her a box of 
tissues to wipe her tears with, the two WIC then took a seat across 
from her on the edge of their bed.

The three of them sat there for a few moments in an awkward silence 
until Buffy finally spoke, "I heard Riley talking to Spike. He told 
Spike that he didn't want to be with me, that he only was doing this 
to keep me from my true loves."

"He said that," inquired Willow as she recalled everything her and 
Tara had been told in their dream.

Buffy nodded her head as she wiped away the tears that were starting 
to run down her cheek, "Y-yes."

Willow and Tara got up off there bed and walked over to Buffy.  
Willow knelt down next to the slayer and wrapped her arm around 
Buffy.  

Tara went over to Buffy's other side and did the same thing as 
Willow, she paused for a moment then nervously spoke to the 
slayer, "It's going to be OK Buffy w-we are here for y-you."

Buffy looked over at Tara and tried to hold back the tears, "Thanks.  
It's hurts so much. I loved him and he b-betrayed me."

"What you two had wasn't love," Willow cried as she clung to Buffy.

"It felt like love" sobbed the slayer.

"But it wasn't you, I know that your hurting now, and the pain that 
you feel is real, but it wasn't love that you felt for him it was an 
illusion. I only wish that I could make you see it," Willow replied 
as tears streamed down her face.

Buffy handed a tissue to Willow and one to Tara who now was openly 
crying by her side, she wiped back some of her own tears and 
sobbed, "I wish it was an illusion, I want this pain would go away, 
but it's not, please make it go away."

Willow leaned her head up against Buffy's, <Only through the truth of 
your love can the illusion be broken>. 

She looked over at Tara and could see by he look on her face that her 
girlfriend was thinking the same thing she was, <It's time to tell 
Buffy and hope for the best>.

Willow reached down deep into her soul and mustered up all the 
courage she could. She nervously looked into Buffy's eyes, "I want 
to make the pain to go away but I'm afraid that you won't want to be 
around Tara or me if I try."

"Willow you and Tara are my best friends in the world, there is 
nothing you can say that will change that."

Willow could feel her heart rapidly beating, she took a moment to try 
and calm herself down before continuing, "Buffy I love you as a 
friend and so does Tara, butwebothwantmorethanthat."

Buffy looked at Willow, confusion filled the slayers face as she 
tried to figure out the last part of what her friend had 
said, "Wills, would you mind repeating that last part."

Tara looked over at Willow and saw that her girlfriend was searching 
for the words to say Buffy, "W-what she means is...t-that she loves 
you, and s-so do...I."

Buffy could feel something deep inside of her unlocking as she gazed 
at Tara; "You love me?"

The Blonde wicca placed her hands on Buffy's shoulders, "Y-yes...I 
do."

Buffy looked at Tara for a moment longer then turned to Willow, "And 
you love me too?"

Willow took Buffy's hand in hers, "Yes, I love you."

As the slayer gazed at Willow and Tara she felt feelings for them 
coming to the surface she didn't even know she had. It felt as if a 
blindfold was being lifted from her eyes and for the first time she 
was seeing the two wiccas in a different light.

Willow and Tara watched as Buffy sat there absorbing everything that 
they had just said. Both their hearts where racing in anticipation 
of what the slayer would say about their proclamation of love. Their 
doubt began to increase as Buffy sat there silently looking at them, 
and they both began to wonder if they had done the right thing.

Buffy could feel the pain of Riley's betrayal fade away as the 
illusion broke. All the feelings that the dark magic had suppressed 
for so long came rushing to the surface <I love Willow and Tara>.

Willow and Tara both let go of Buffy as she got out of the chair.  
The slayer walked up to Willow and placed a gentle kiss on her 
cheek, "I love you too."

She then moved over to Tara and kissed the blonde's cheek, "And I 
love you."

Tara wrapped her arms tightly around Buffy's waste, tears of joy 
flowed down her cheeks, "I wanted you to say that so badly," sobbed 
the wicca as she gently kissed Buffy.

Willow moved over next to Tara and Buffy and pulled them both into a 
tender embrace. She placed a kiss on Tara's forehead, then did the 
same to Buffy, "I'm so happy to hear you say that Buffy."

The three of them stood there for the longest time holding on to one 
another, each one of them knowing that today was the happiest day of 
their lives.

The Forgotten domain:

Zaven placed the final gateway stone in the porthole talisman, a 
sinister smile crept across his face as he watched the stones begin 
to glow.

He picked up the talisman and aimed it at the far wall of the 
training room, a bright light shot form its tip and struck the wall.  
Soon a glowing passageway began to open, "I Come!"

Sunnydale:

Riley Finn picked up his phone and answered it, "Hello."

"Good I got hold of you. I'm afraid something has gone wrong with 
the spell you had me cast, I just now felt it break," Zane replied.

"You mean the truth is out there in the open for her to discover dark 
wizard, Riley shouted.

"I'm afraid so, I could give you back the talisman."

Riley lowered his head and sighed, "Keep it, we can always try again, 
my keeper has not yet come.

Riley hung up the phone and was getting ready to go search for Spike 
when there was a loud pounding at his door. Something deep inside of 
him was telling him that he should try to run and hide but he chose 
to ignore that voice and answered the door.

Riley took a huge gulp of air and terror filled his face as he stood 
in the doorway. His knuckles grew white as he tightly clenched the 
door knob, "I h-have b-bad news."

"I know! You have failed our keeper," Hissed the black Knight as two 
skeleton warriors rushed into the room and secured Riley.

TBC&..