FF: Realms II

["Sam" <shadowmage_draco@xxxxxxx>]

Realms II: Prologue: Aftershocks
                
By
Sam



Rating: R
email: shadowmage_draco@xxxxxxx 
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters associated with Buffy 
the Vampire Slayer, they belong to the brilliance that is Joss. I am 
only borrowing them, taking them out to play for a while. 
Spoilers: none, alt reality
Archive: The usual suspects (you know who you are), all others just 
shoot me an email first.
Pairing: B/W, F/T, G/J
Special thanks: To Coy for not only doing a great job at Beta'ing but 
for providing sound advise, most excellent editing, and for putting 
up with my insanity.

Notes: Here it is the beginning of book two of Realms. The warlock 
has been defeated and now lives must be rebuilt. This portion is 
told through several journal entries and a monologue by Fey. I hope 
you enjoy it and as always feedback is greatly appreciated as I am a 
feedback junky, it is the fuel to my fire. Have fun.

I am Morgan Le Fey, but those who know me call me Fey. A long time 
ago there was a great war between the humans who inhabited what is 
know as Outer Earth and the demons who ruled Inner Earth. From the 
very start it was an unfair fight, the humans where no match for the 
demon hordes and when The Powers That Be saw this they allowed the 
immortals to intervene on behalf of the humans, it was a long fought 
war that lasted for centuries but in the end we prevailed and the 
demon scourge was banished back to Inner Earth.  

The Powers That Be saw the damage the war had caused and created a 
void between the two realms so that it would never happen again, 
within this void they placed warriors known as sentinels and powerful 
mages to guard against any demon aggression towards inner Earth.  
Sadly this was not enough, for the sentinel and mages could not keep 
all the demons from passing through a mystical porthole know as 
Hellmouths. Small bands of demons began to roam the earth feeding 
off of the humans. The Powers That Be saw this happening and did 
nothing.

It was not until a Zerain demon made it to Outer Earth and infected a 
human with his bile creating a new species, the Vampire, that The 
Powers That Be took action. They combined their powers and put them 
into two young women, one of magic and the other a warrior. The 
warrior who was the Chosen One, the Slayer. The Powers That Be then 
appointed a group of wise men and shaman to aid the Slayer with the 
understanding that they where ultimately responsible to the immortal 
warrior Alexandria.

Over time this knowledge faded and the Council lost track of their 
purpose in life and instead of trying to aid the Slayer they strove 
to control her and again The Powers That Be did nothing.

Myself along with several other immortals pleaded on the Slayers 
behalf before The Powers That Be, begging them to allow Alexandria to 
take direct control of the Watchers, but they refused us saying that 
only when the Great One arises will we be permitted to intervene. So 
we waited, and watched for the Ultimate Slayer to arise and when this 
great warrior was needed the most she arose.

Not one among us would have guessed that this feisty blonde would be 
the one but The Powers That Be confirmed it. I sent the daughter of 
my life long friend to aid her, and help her find her beloved. Then 
came the Warlock who sought the power of the Hellmouth. It took 
everything on mine and Alexandria's part to ensure that the Ultimate 
Slayer and her beloved where united and that there powers were 
brought into light.

It was a long hard fought battle but the Ultimate Slayer and her 
Wicca where victorious and the Warlock banished, but that victory 
came at a high price. Some of their friends where slain by the dark 
forces and their lives forever changed.  

As I look back on it I can see now that it all worked out as The 
powers That Be had intend, with one exception. Not even the Powers 
That Be foresaw the making of an Immortal Slayer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-

The Journals.

Tara 
May 2001:

I have been home for a month now, and I'm still as excited as the 
first day I was brought make to the Middle Ethereal. It is great to 
see my Mom and all of my friends again, but I think what is making me 
the happiest is that Faith is still here by my side. I know now that 
she is my soulmate, but is uncertain on what that means for I am 
immortal and she is mortal.

I asked my mom about it and she told me not to worry, that like all 
things in the universe it would work out. I love my Mom dearly but I 
wish she wouldn't be so cryptic at times, but all the Mages here are 
like that. I suppose I will be two when I've been around for a few 
thousand years, but right now it does me no good. I have just got to 
know what is to become of Faith and me. I love her deeply and I do 
not know if I can stand to see her grow old and fade away as I go on 
unchanging through time. 

As hard as it is on me, I know that it is even harder on Faith. This 
is my home, and besides the short time I spent in Outer Earth it is 
all I have known, but my beloved is another story. This realm is new 
and strange to her, everything she has ever known lies elsewhere, all 
her friends are there and she is here, sure I miss Willow and the 
others but I have my friends here. I am introducing Faith to all of 
them and she seems to be making friends, but it has to be hard on her 
to leave all the ties she made in Outer Earth behind.  

I think the only reason she is staying is because of me, and I love 
her deeply for that. I realize the sacrifice she is making by loving 
me and staying here by my side. She has had to give up life as she 
knows it and leave her home realm behind. I only wish there was more 
I could do for her besides return her love and wipe away her tears.  
It breaks my heart every time I awake to her sobbing in bed. I hold 
her close and try my best to comfort her but there is little I can 
say to ease the pain of an unknown future. 

Faith 
May 2001:

I miss them all; I miss the patrols with B, and hanging out at the 
Expresso Pump with her and Red. I miss the way Anya embarrasses 
Xander by spouting off about orgasm partners. I miss Xander's corny 
jokes, and the way Giles tries to look so serious when the X-man 
tells them. There are so many things I miss about home I can't name 
them all.

Only one thing keeps me here, Tara. I love her more than anything, I 
don't think I knew what true love was until she walked into my life, 
and I would gladly give everything I have known just to be with her. 
But it is so confusing here.

Everything is so mystical and there is no shopping malls or fast food 
restaurants. I know it seems silly to be writing about such things 
but I miss them to. What I wouldn't do for a Big Mac and a Coke.

Sometimes I go over to the Hall of Slayers and stair at Buffy and 
Willow's picture and think about how it used to be. Then I look at 
the picture of Tara and me hanging next to it and think about how 
things are, I guess what I am trying to say is no matter how much I 
miss my old life having Tara by my side is worth giving it up.

They're no vampires or demons here so I get restless, `cause there is 
nothing to take my aggression out on. Tara had her mom built me a 
training room next to the cottage and that helps.

The only thing that really bothers me about all of this is Tara's 
immortality, what is to become of us as time passes and I grow old? 
Will she still love me, will it break her heart as I age and she 
doesn't? This haunts my dreams; it wakes me up in the middle of the 
night in a cold sweat. For the longest time I knew what my lot in 
life was and I could handle that, but now I don't even know what the 
next day holds and it scares the hell out of me.

Cordelia 
May 2001: 

I miss Angel. My biggest regret is that I never told him that I was 
starting to fall in love with him. I wish I had, but I was afraid of 
what might happen and now I have to live the rest of my life with 
thoughts of what could have been.

I think I am going to stay here in Sunnydale for awhile. Buffy and 
Willow are letting me stay in the spare bedroom of their new 
apartment. I don't know how long I will be here though. I though 
about going back to LA but there are to many memories of Angel 
there. Sure there are memories of him here but they are different, 
they are of him before I really got to know him, before I started to 
fall in love with him.

Plus I feel I have a purpose here, it seems that the Oracles have 
chosen me to be their voice, they send me messages in visions and 
Giles translates them so Buffy and Willow can stop whatever evil 
thing is coming and kick it's butt. It's nice to feel needed like 
that, but Angel needed me too and now that he is gone I am only just 
starting to realize how much I needed him.

Xander 
June 2001:

I lie here in my hospital bed recovering; I really don't know how to 
express what I am feeling. Usually I tell a quick joke and I am able 
to laugh it off, but this time it is different, this time I can't 
find a joke to ease the pain.

I look down and stare at my legs and scream. I've been doing that a 
lot lately. It's just not fair, I'm one of the good guys, this isn't 
suppose to be happening to me. At first I was really scared when I 
couldn't feel anything below my waste but everyone tried to reassure 
me that it would be OK, they lied. It's not OK, it's never going to 
be OK, I can't walk, and it's not fair.

It should have been different, my life wasn't suppose to turn out 
like this. This wasn't suppose to happen. All the times I helped 
fight against demons and vampires, all the times I helped save the 
world, and this is my reward. This is how the Gods repay me. Well to 
hell with the Gods. The Gods are lunatics who don't give a damn about 
anything, if they did I wouldn't be lying here in this bed paralyzed 
from the waste down, so to hell with them.

I don't know what to do any more, I feel like my whole world is 
caving in on me. The others come and talk to me, they hold my hand 
and say that they will help me get through this. Well I don't want 
to get through this, I want my legs back and there isn't anything 
anyone can do about that. I know they mean well and care for me but 
I feel so useless, what good am I to them now.

WHY!? Why did this happen, why can't I get up and walk!? Why?! 

Anya 
June 2001:

I don't know what to do, Xander is retreating into his own world and 
it is tearing me apart. I'm trying to be strong for him but it is so 
hard. I love him so much and to see him like this is killing me 
inside. I try to reach out to him but he shuts me off. If only I 
could reach him, if only I could make him understand that I still 
love him and that we can get through this together.

It talked to Giles yesterday, he says that what Xander is going 
through is normal and all we can do is be there for him. But I want 
to do so much more for him. I want to make his pain go away and I 
want to make everything better for him, but I can't. I feel like a 
ship lost at sea with no land in sight; I don't know what to do 
anymore. I don't even know what to say to him.

This is so unfair, he never hurt anyone, he didn't do anything to 
deserve this, but if there is anything I have learned in my time as a 
vengeance demon is that fate is a cruel mistress that feeds of the 
innocent.

Oh what I wouldn't give to see him smile again, to here the sweet 
sound of laughter come from his lips. He has just got to come 
around. I can't stand to see him like this. I guess for now all I can 
do is hold his hand and try to reach him, try to help him feel happy 
once again.

Buffy 
July 2001:

Today's the day that I am going to ask Willow to marry me. Even as I 
write this my heart is racing. I'm so nervous, I know she loves me 
as much as I love her, it's just that this is really a big step and 
we haven't even finished school yet.  

But this is something that I have to do; the last few months with 
Willow have been the happiest ones of my life. I know with all my 
heart and soul that Will is the one person in the entire universe 
that can make me happy. She is the only one that I have loved this 
much, and I want more than anything to spend the rest of my life with 
her. She is the first thing on my mind when I wake up and fills my 
final thoughts before I drift away into the dream world with her 
cuddled up next to me.

I know that most likely sounds corny, but it is how I feel. I love 
her, I live for her, and I do not care what anyone else thinks. They 
don't matter to me, all that matters is that I have found with Willow 
love in its purest form and I don't ever want to let her go. So 
tonight I ask her to be wife, and if she says yes, I will be the 
happiest person in any of the realms. 

Willow 
July 2001:

I think I am in heaven, Buffy got down on one knee after a candle lit 
dinner and asked me to marry her. For the longest time after she 
asked me I couldn't even speak, it was like I was floating on clouds 
of joy.

I said yes, of course, how could I not. Buffy is the center of my 
universe, the sun, the moon, and stars all revolve around her. She is 
my soulmate, my world, my everything. Just the though of being with 
her for the rest of our lives brings tears of happiness to my eyes.

I barely can believe this is happening, until now my greatest moment 
was a few months ago when, with Tara's help, I found my hearts 
desire, my Buffy. I would write more but my fiancee is already in 
bed and I do not intend to keep her waiting.

Giles 
August 2001:

I have just returned with my bride from England. It was a glorious 
honeymoon. I must confess though I did slip some business in. Joyce 
didn't even seem to mind, in fact she was happy about it. Mainly 
because I took the opportunity of being in England to pay the Council 
a visit. It was the first time I had seen them in person since I was 
named the Voice of Alexandria by the Keeper of the Slayers herself.  
It's amazing how having the powerful immortal warriors backing 
changed their opinion of my stepdaughter and me. They put Joyce and 
I up in a five star hotel and completely financed our honeymoon.  
They even gave us a present to deliver to Buffy along with their 
sincerest apologies, though I am not sure if I want to give here a 
2000 golden long sword taken from a Chaos demon, especially with her 
using the back of the magic shop as a training room. I just have 
this awful image of the blade getting rammed through the wall 
knocking over one of my displays.  

I only wish Buffy and Willow could have been here to see me talk to 
the Council. Not that I want them along on my honeymoon, but I do 
think they would have loved it when I abolished the testing of 
slayers and fired that weasel Trevors.

Well I guess it's back to work at the magic shop. I don't have to do 
it, I get quite a salary now from the Council, but I really enjoy it. 
Plus, Joyce is going to be there by my side helping me run the place 
and the very idea of working with the woman I love is pure bliss to 
me.

Xander 
October 2001:

Today is the first day of the rest of my life; today is the day I 
take my destiny into my own hands and start college. I'm not sure 
what I want to study, but I do know that I need to get on with my 
life. I'm just so confused. Is this the right thing to do, do I 
belong in college? Sometimes I sit in my wheelchair and stair out 
the window and watch the world go by and wonder what is happening to 
me. I don't feel like myself anymore but I do know that I can't go 
on like this. I just have to find a way to make something of myself, 
but I'm so afraid. What if I fail, what if I am not good enough for 
college? Then what do I do?

I'm still a little bitter about loosing the use of my legs, but with 
Anya's help I am coping. It's been a hard fought battle to get to 
where I am, and I am uncertain where it will lead me, but I think 
with Anya and the others help I will make it.

Buffy and Willow have been like gems throughout this whole ordeal. 
They helped support me and Anya in our darkest hour and for that I 
can never repay them.

The person I owe the most to is my Anya. She stuck by my side through 
the whole ordeal and didn't complain once. I'm not sure how I am 
going to do it, but I will make things up to her. I will make her as 
happy as she has made me.

Faith 
December 2001:

Today I became immortal. I can barely believe I said that, all of 
this seems like a dream to me, but it's not. All it took was the 
blessing of the Powers That Be and a rather complex ceremony and I 
was given immortality.   

All of this still overwhelms me. I am still adjusting to life in this 
realm and I do not know what the future holds for an immortal slayer, 
but that doesn't bother me because I know now that no matter what 
happens Tara will be with me forever.

Tara 
January 2002:

It's just a month after my beloved was made immortal. I need to thank 
Mom and Fey for going to the Powers That Be one her behalf. We are to 
be joined. My heart beats in anticipation of the upcoming ritual. I 
can barely believe it is happening, but it is.

When I left the Middle Ethereal I never imagined that I would meet 
Willow. When I had to let her go, so she could be with her one true 
love, I thought that I could never love again.

Then I met Faith and she showed me that I could. I love her more 
than anything and I can not wait for the ceremony to begin so we can 
be united for the rest of our never-ending lives.

Willow 
February 2002:

Today I was a bride. I said I do and Buffy tenderly kissed me. I 
can't recall a moment before this that I felt as I did at that 
moment. It was as if all of my hopes and dreams came true as are 
lips met. I knew then that I would never be alone again, that my 
beloved would always be by my side. Today I am complete.

Buffy 
February 2002:

Today was like no other day. I have never felt joy like I felt when 
Willow said those two simple words, I do. It was everything I have 
ever wanted.  

As I took her hand and looked out across the small crowd of family 
and friends tears of joy filled my eyes and I had trouble standing.  
Every major event with Willow seems to top the last. I had thought I 
could never be happier when she told me that she loved me, then when 
I asked her to marry me and she said yes I thought that to be the 
greatest day of my life, but today beat that by a mile or so. I 
cannot imagine any other event ever happening in my life that will 
top today. For today I am one with my beloved.

Cordelia 
December 2004:

Well it's been a few years now since I lost Angel and I still miss 
him. I got a place of my own down the road from Buffy and Willows 
apartment building, and have started working in the Magic Shop part 
time while going to college.  

The visions from the Oracles still come to me but they are few and 
far between. I'm not sure if it means anything or not, hopefully the 
existence of the Ultimate Slayer in this realm and an immortal Slayer 
in another have sent the demon community into hiding. At least that 
is what I hope it is, but there is this nagging voice in the back of 
my head that tells me that off in the distance a dark storm is rising.



Giles 
2005:

I am so proud of all of them, Buffy with her degree in Business and 
Willow with her degree in Computer Science have taken the Magic Shop 
places Joyce and I could only imagine. There are now seven stores in 
California and one in New Mexico, and thanks to Willow we have 
Internet customers from around the world.  

Joyce and I really do not go into work that much any more, for the 
most part we are semi retired and let the managers Buffy and Willow 
hired run things. Every now and then we do stop by the corporate 
office Buffy built downtown just to visit with her and Willow for 
awhile.

Joyce spends most of her time gardening, she really enjoys it and I 
love to help her with it. I still do research for Buffy and Willow 
on what is going on in the demon world, but not that much. Most of 
the research these days goes to Xander.  

I'm so glad that he was able to overcome the tragedy of loosing the 
use of his legs. He got a Psychology degree and is working as a 
counselor at the hospital. He said he wanted to help people recover 
from tragedy. He also does volunteer work at the crisis center. We 
are all so proud of him, especially his new bride Anya.

That one caught us all of guard when they ran off to elope in Las 
Vegas during spring break of his Junior year. But that's our Xander 
and Anya for you.

I think I am going to go down stairs and give the Council a call. I 
really do not like this nagging feeling Cordelia is getting, and even 
with Buffy and Willow here there should be more activity around the 
Hellmouth. I don't like this one bit, something is drawling near, 
Cordelia can feel it, and the lack of activity seems to point to 
something big. I only pray that we can discover it in time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-

Fey stood in the Hall of Slayers facing Alexandria and 
Sabryn, "Something is wrong."

"Then you have felt it to," Alexandria responded.

"Yes, but I am not sure what it is or what it means."

Sabryn took her soulmates hand; "It is darkness that the two of you 
feel."

Alexandria turned to her beloved, "What kind of darkness?"

"I see armies of demons, all around them lies death and destruction.  
The darkness that you are haunted by is the coming of war to the 
realms."

"How can this be, " exclaimed Fey.

"That is uncertain, for the path that leads to this war is unclear."

"What can we do about it?"

"For now there is nothing to do but prepare for the impending 
holocaust."

Alexandria turned and faced Sabryn, "How can we prepare for that 
which we do not know?" 

"By ensuring that the warriors are in place. Beyond that there is 
nothing else that can be done until the path unfolds."


TBC&Realms II: War of the Realms