FF: Mage

["Sam I Am" <shadowmage_draco@xxxxxxx>]

Mage

By

Sam

Title: Mage (1/?)
Email: shadowmage_draco@xxxxxxx
Rating: R
Disclaimer: BtVS belongs to Joss.
Spoilers: Everything up to and to include the gift
Pairing: Buffy/Willow Tara/Amy
Thanks: special thanks to Coy, and Melissa.
Notes: Buffy learns the true nature of her gift and is forever changed
following her sacrifice to save her friends and the world from Glory.
Feedback: I thrive off of it so Yes Pleaze
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Buffy woke up only to discovery that she had no idea where she was or how
she got here. She sat up on the cot she had been sleeping on and surveyed
the area.

She was in what seemed to be a small room with no windows or doors. All the
walls were pained a dingy black and there was hardly any furniture in the
room. There was a second cot on the far side of the room, a small wooden
table with two chairs sat in the middle of the room and that was it. <Where
the hell am I? >

She got up off the cot and walked over to the table, as soon as she reached
it a small bowl of fruit, two glasses, and a pitcher of water appeared.
<Okay starting to freak out here. >

She sat down at one of the chairs and picked a peach out of the bowl.

"Good you're finally awake," A voice replied from the shadows.

Buffy turned her head to the left and saw a young man sitting on the other
cot, <How come I didn't notice him before. >

The young man got up and joined her at the table; "You didn't see me earlier
because I didn't wish you to."

Buffy stared at the mysterious stranger for a moment, he wore black robes
with red trim, but that was nothing compared to his physical appearance. He
had long flowing white hair, and hazel eyes that seemed almost hypnotic.
"Who are you, and why'd you bring me to wherever this place is," Buffy
demanded.

"My name is insignificant to your situation and I did not bring you here,
you came of your own free will."

"That's impossible, why'd I come here?"

"You don't remember do you?"

"Remember what," Buffy asked wondering if this strange man could be anymore
cryptic.

"How you came to be here, tell me child, what is the last thing that you
recall."

"Why should I tell you that," Buffy demanded her voice filled with
frustration, "I don't even know who you are, and don't call me child, from
the looks of things your about my age."

The man leaned back in his chair, what seemed to me a small lighting storm
danced momentarily across his eyes and a plate of roast beef appeared in
front of Buffy, "Eat child you need your strength."

Buffy jumped back in her chair, "H-how'd you do that?!"

"Eat, and I will tell you all that you need to know."

The man picked up the pitcher and poured water in his and Buffy's glasses,
"I am Draco Syria arch mage of shadows and prisoner of the Powers that Be."

He paused for a moment to take a sip of water then continued, "The place
that you see has been my home for over twenty-five hundred years."

"What are you?"

"I am human just like you."

"You can't be, people don't live that long, are you some kind of demon or
something."

"Just like a slayer, anything they don't understand they assume is a demon
or God," Draco replied with a slight smirk.

He took another drink of water and gazed into Buffy's eyes, "This place is
in-between realities, it exists between life and death, between light and
darkness. The only reason I still live is because time does not exist here.
It is my punishment for the things I have done."

Buffy tightened her grip on her knife as she stared back into the mage's
haunting eyes, "P-punishment?"

"Yes, but you need not be afraid, I am no longer the man I used to be, I
haven't been for the longest time."

"Then why are you still here?"

"The world as I knew it has forever changed. I cannot return to it and I am
not dead so I cannot pass on," Draco lowered his head in sorrow and forced
out the words, "So it is here in this place that I am condemned to spend all
of eternity."

Draco stood up and walked back over to his cot, "Now tell me what is it you
have done that the Powers That Be would send their Slayer to this place."

"I don't know," Buffy sobbed, <I don't want to spend eternity here, I didn't
do anything to deserve this>.

Draco sat down on his cot and faced Buffy, "It will come back to you in
time, perhaps it would help if I told you my story."

He leaned back against the wall, and once again a small lighting storm
momentarily appeared in his eyes, then it was gone.

Buffy sat there looking at the empty cot, when Draco reappeared in the chair
across from her causing her to fall out of her chair. Buffy got up of the
floor and glared at Draco as she retook her seat.

"Sorry I did not mean to startle you, I am not used to having company here.
So where shall I begin, how about if I tell you what it is that I did that
deserved such a horrible punishment."

Buffy just nodded at him unsure if she wanted to hear about something so
wrong that the powers that be condemned him to this place for all eternity.

"I was the most powerful mage in all the know realms but my life was clouded
in darkness. It surrounded me and I fed of off it. The darkness corrupted
my power and my soul and I used what was a gift from the Gods as a tool for
destruction and my own gain."

Draco leaned in towards Buffy; "I have struck men down with a mere thought,
laid waist to villages with my powers. In my time I was known as The
Destroyer. It was I who brought death and destruction wherever I went, and
all who knew me feared me and trembled at the mention of my name."

Buffy could feel her pulse quicken as she listened to Draco speak, she
wanted to get out of this place more than ever now, not only was she
separated from her friend and family but now she was stuck here with a
extremely powerful psychotic mage.

Draco leaned back in his chair and smiled at Buffy, "As I said before, you
have nothing to fear. I am no longer the man I used to be and if I could
undo what I have done I would."

"W-what did you do," Buffy nervously asked.

"I tried to destroy everything, I summoned my powers, took my magical energy
to create a key. I then used my key to try and open the gateway to all
dimensions. That is when the Powers that Be came and stopped me and for
that crime I was sent here."

"A key?!"

"Yes, one of pure magic energy, powerful enough to bring forth the
apocalypse," Draco wiped tears from his eyes, "I wish I could undo it, take
back the powers I put into my key, but it is to late, I only hope no man nor
creature under the heavens ever find my key."

<Dawn, is he talking about Dawn? > "A key?!"

Draco looked at Buffy and saw the terror that was forming in her eyes, "Some
found my key and that is why you are here?"

"I don't know, it's all so blurry to me."

"Then allow me to help for if your heart is pure and it was my key that sent
you here then there is hope for both of us."

Buffy didn't know what to do, she knew that this Draco appeared to have
repented, but he had done so many horrible things. She wasn't sure if she
could trust him but if he could get her out of this place, back to her
friends, to her family, back to Willow then she would have to trust him,
"Okay, what do I have to do?"

"Nothing," Draco replied.

He placed his hand over the table as a lighting storm of magical energy
danced across his eyes. In a matter of seconds a crystal ball appeared on
the table and began to emit a faint blue light, "Look into the crystal and
it will reveal everything that you need to know."

Buffy leaned in towards the glowing globe and gazed into it.


****
"You are the slayer, I had to show you."

"Who are you?"

"I'm a watcher."
*****

Buffy sat there as she watched herself kill her first vamp, face the master
after he had killed her first watcher and burn the high school gym down.

"You are doing well slayer, look deeper," Draco replied.

Buffy continued to gaze into the ball, she saw the first time she met
Willow, she saw Giles introducing himself as a watcher and her running. She
saw Herself dying and Willow giving her CPR.

"Look deeper still."

Buffy saw Her defeating the master, Amy turning into a rat and them being
unable to restore her. She saw her and Angel kissing, Angelus being reborn,
and her killing her once boyfriend to save the world.

She took her tear filled eyes off the crystal ball, "I don't want to see all
this!"

"You have to, for it will lead to how you came to be here."

Buffy looked back into the ball, She saw her and Willow talking, their first
kiss, Angel returning from hell and wishing her and Willow his best.

She saw herself dancing with Willow at their prom, Faith being called and
betraying all of them. She saw herself rescuing Willow from Faiths
apartment and stabbing the dark slayer.

"You are almost there, look deeper."

She saw Willow introducing her to Tara, she recalled her being a little
jealous at first but realizing Tara was just a friend and Willow loved her.
She saw her and Willow jumping for joy when Tara was able to turn Amy back.

She smiled as she saw her and Willow holding hands congratulating Amy and
Tara when they told them that they where dating. She saw Her and Willow
going on double dates with the two Wicca and the four of them along with
Xander and Giles defeating Adam.

Tears rolled down her face s another vision formed.

******

"Mom!!!"

She saw herself trying to revive her Mom; she heard the ribs cracking, and
the sirens of the rescue unit. She saw the medics working on her Mom.

"It's to late there's nothing we could do."
*******

"Please, make it stop, I don't want to go through this again," Buffy cried.

"You have to see it, it led you here. Hold on for just a little longer,
you're almost there."

Buffy looked into the crystal even hardier through tear stained eyes and she
saw Dawn.

Buffy looked up at Draco in near panic, "Dawn!"

"What about her," Draco asked.

"She's my sister, I had to protect her."

"Why?"

"S-s-she's the key."

Draco almost fell out of his chair and it took hem several minutes to regain
his composure, "You're sister is the key?!"

"Yes."

"How can this be, you must tell me, it means everything to both of us."

"Monks," Buffy replied, "They took some of my blood and made her human…they
altered everyone's memories so that we would see her as my sister."

Draco gave Buffy a puzzled look, "Why would a group of monks want to make my
key human?"

"To hide her from Glory," Buffy cried as the memories of the last year flood
into her mind.

"Who is this Glory?"

"She's a hell God, she wanted to use Dawn to open up a porthole."

Draco cringed at Buffy's words, "What happened?"

"I can't remember, I want to but I can't," Buffy sobbed.

"Then look into the crystal and concentrate on you sister," Draco replied,
his voice laced with dread.

Buffy gazed back into the glowing crystal…She saw Glory hurting Dawn...
Willow, Tara and Amy doing a chant...the others fighting Glory's minions.
She saw the hell God turning into Ben and Giles killed him... but it was to
late, the vortex was open, all the dimensions were collapsing in on each
other. She looked at dawn, "I love you, you’ve got to keep living, and
you’ve got to take care of Willow for me. Promise you two will watch out
for each other, promise me you'll let her know I loved her more than
anything else in this world." She turned from Dawn, tears running down her
cheeks…she ran, she ran and threw herself into the vortex.

Buffy looked away from the ball, tears streamed down her cheek, "I had to
save them, there wasn't anything else I could do."

Draco wiped a tear from his eye, "I haven't cried in thousands of years, but
your deeds is so pure of light. Never have I heard of such a noble
sacrifice, you are indeed pure of heart. Not only that but your blood is
mixed in with my key. Do you know what that means?"

"No," Buffy answered as she tried in vain to regain her composure.

"It means that not only are you part of the key but the key is part of you.
You are here because you scarified yourself to save those you cared for. It
should have killed you but your ties with my key sent you here instead."

"Great, so instead I dying, I'm stuck here for eternity."

"No you will leave this place, we both will leave this place."

"How?"

"Have you ever had a sprit quest?"

"Yes," Buffy replied recalling her trip to the dessert.

"And what did you learn from it?"

"My gift is death."

"Good just as I thought. It is no mistake you are her," Draco took a deep
breath, "Slayer it is time for you to claim your destiny."

Draco got up from his chair and walked over to Buffy, "Death is your gift,
you must give it to me so I can pass on and you can return to you world and
those you love."

"I can't kill you so don't ask me to do it."

"You don't have to. I will cast a spell that will destroy my body and allow
my soul to pass on to the after life. When I die this place will cease to
be. You will be returned to where you truly belong, that is why you are
here, to free me from this prison."

Draco took Buffy by the hands and helped her from her chair, " I can not
repay you for releasing my soul from its bonds but I will try."

Lighting flashed across the Mage's eyes and his and Buffy's hands began to
glow, "I give you the gift of power!"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The funeral had been a short one and most of the guest had already left.
Giles placed his hands on Dawn's shoulders, trying unsuccessfully to fight
back his own tears as he comforted Buffy's younger sister. Off to their
right Xander held Anya in his arms, both of them mourning the lost of their
friend, their savior. Next to them Tara and Amy held on to each other,
softly crying as they watched Willow.

The redheaded Wicca had been crying for days now, she would barely eat, and
they all knew that she wasn't sleeping. Buffy's death had hit them all hard
but it had hit Willow the hardest, not only had she lost a dear friend but
she had lost the center of her universe.

Willow kissed Buffy tombstone and got up to her feet, she staggered back
towards her friends but didn't quite making it before collapsing on the
grown in tears. Amy and Tara rushed over too her and helped her off the
ground.

“Come on, lets get you and Dawn home," Tara softly replied to her friend.

“I don't want to leave, I can't let her go," cried Willow.

"She's not here Willow," Tara sobbed as she pulled her friend into a hug.

"I know, but I still don't want to leave."

***
Thunder rolled and Willow and the others jumped as a powerful bolt of
lighting filled the sky.

"Maybe we should get under some cover," Giles shouted over the thunderous
sound of a full fledge lighting storm.

The thunder grew louder. A bolt of lighting arced from the sky and struck
Buffy's tombstone slitting it in half.

"No," Willow screamed as she started to race towards Buffy's grave.

Tara and Amy grabbed her and held her back, "Stay here! Something's not
right about this!"

"Listen to Tara," Amy shouted over the deafening thunder, "This isn't
natural.”

****
The ground began to tremble and the freshly dug grave spilt wide open. Blue
light shot up from the grave and merged with the lighting in the sky forming
a vortex.

"What the hell is happening," Xander screamed

"I don't know but we need to get out of here now," Giles shouted.

****
The sky grew darker as the vortex increased in size. Everyone stood there
in awe as they watched a body fall from the vortex and hit the ground. The
vortex immediately dissipated and the sky cleared.

Willow started to hyperventilate at the site before her.

"Buffy!!"

The slayer picked herself up off the ground, tears of joys rushed down her
cheek as she looked at her friends and family again. She rushed over to
Willow and embraced her lover, "I'll never leave you again."

Willow was unable to speak as she clung tightly to Buffy crying into the
blondes’ shoulders. Buffy ran her hand through Willow's hair, "It's okay
baby, I'm here, I'm not gonna leave you."

Dawn broke away from Giles and rushed over to her sister. She threw her arms
around Buffy and Willow and squeezed as hard as she could with tears
streaming down her face.

The two lover's broke their embrace and hugged the crying teenager, all
three of them openly weeping as they stood there holding one another in the
cemetery.

Giles felt like his heart was going to burst with joy at the sight of his
surrogate daughters. He walked over to them, and wrapped his arms around
his children. He wanted to say how much he missed Buffy, how much her death
had effected all of them, how he was overjoyed that she was back, but the
words wouldn't come, all he could do was hold on to her and the others and
cry.

Xander and Anya rushed over to the their extended family and almost knocked
everyone over when they joined everyone in a group hug.

For the longest time no one said a word, they just stood there hugging the
slayer, afraid that if they let go she would vanish. Finally it was Giles
who gathered his wits. He stepped back from the group hug and wiped the
tears from his eyes, "Maybe we should give Buffy a little air now."

Xander and Anya let go of their friends and took a few steps back. They
stood there and watched as Buffy and Willow continued to hold onto Dawn for
a little while.

Finally when Dawn stopped weeping they released her. Buffy wrapped her arms
around Willow and gave her a tender reassuring kiss that said everything is
going to be okay.

Willow leaned up against Buffy with her arm wrapped around the slayers
waist. Buffy wrapped one of her arms around Willow and held Dawns hand with
the other, "Let's go home."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Buffy and Willow leaned up against each other on the love seat, with Dawn
sitting on the floor in front of them. Across from them on the couch was
Xander and Anya.

Giles was sitting in the recliner across from them and took a sip of water,
"Buffy I need to know what happened, how where you able to beat death?"

"I didn't, I wasn't dead."

"What," Giles exclaimed.

"I wasn't dead, when I jumped into the vortex I was sent to this strange
dimension instead of dying."

"That’s not possible, there was a body," Giles stammered as he tried to make
sense of what the slayer was saying.

"I know, I was told it was a type of an illusion, that just enough of me was
left behind so it seemed that I died."

Buffy took a deep breath, "Please don't ask me to explain it, I just know
what I was told."

"Told? By who," Giles inquired.

Buffy put her hand on Dawn's shoulder, "I need you to go upstairs for a
little bit."

"I don't want to," Dawn protested.

"Look it's really important that you go upstairs, please do this for me,"
Buffy pleaded.

Dawn looked up at her sister and Willow, "Come on Buffy I just got you back,
I deserve to know what happened."

"She's right Sweetheart," Willow whispered in the slayer's ear.

Buffy took a deep breath and thought about what Willow said. She knew Dawn
deserved to know where she came from but she was afraid how her sister would
react if she knew why the key was created in the first place, "I'll tell her
later Wills, but I need to talk to you and the others first."

Willow saw the pure desperation in Buffy's face, "Dawn why don't you go up
stairs like Buffy asked, we can talk about this later.”

Dawn was about to argue the point when she noticed that Willow was wearing
her resolve face and her sister had the determined slayer look. <Great
there's no way their gonna let me stay>, "Fine but you both owe me a trip to
the mall now."

After Dawn left Willow turned to Buffy, "Okay what is it that you didn't
want Dawn to hear?"

"I met him Wills,” Buffy softly replied, "I met the man who created the
key."

You could hear a pin drop in the room as Willow and the Scoobys stared at
Buffy in awe. "You what," Willow exclaimed.

"He was there, in the place I went to, when I jumped into the vortex, it was
his punishment for creating and using the key."

"You mean he's the one who made Dawn?”

"No the monks made Dawn, he made the Key. He made it so he could open all
the dimensions and destroy the world."

"Oh my!"

"See that’s why we can't tell Dawn. She can't know why she was created,
ever!"

"Buffy did he say anything else, like how he did it," Giles asked.

"He talked about himself a lot, about how he had been imprisoned by the
Powers That Be over 2500 years ago, how he was a powerful mage, how he used
his magik for darkness, and wished he could take it all back. But that’s
all I remember. He was cryptic and it was hard to follow him at times."

"Did he say his name?"

"Yeah it was Draco something."

"Draco Syria," Anya cried out.

"You know him," Xander asked in near shock.

"Not really. He was long gone when I became a vengeance demon but all the
other demons that had been around before he vanished where always talking
about Draco The Destroyer and how he had almost wiped out all of existence
with his magik."


Willow tightened her grip around Buffy's waist, "Oh my, your right Dawn
can't ever know about this."

Giles looked at Buffy and Willow, "You might be underestimating your
sister."

"Giles, he created the key to destroy the world! She can't ever know that."

"It's your call, but at least think about it a while, she has the right to
know where she came from."

Giles got up from his rocker and walked over to where Willow and Buffy where
seated, "I'll do some research on Draco and see if I can find out anything
about him."

He paused for a moment, "Do you know if he still is in this other
dimension?"

"No, he had to die for me to come back here, he's gone."

"Are you sure," Giles asked in the most serious tone.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

"Okay, we'll see you tomorrow. Xander do you and Anya need a ride?"

Everyone hugged one last time before leaving Buffy and Willow's. As Giles
was heading towards his car his mind was racing a mile a minute over
everything he had just learned, and he swore that for a brief moment when
they where talking that a small lighting storm had filled Buffy's eyes.

TBC...




Sam
Shadowmage, Dark Jedi Master, High priest of Mayhem, Shades wearing
Koala, Thief of the woods out back, tormentor and corruptor at large,
supporter of the bards, fundraising representive of the GBWNS,
chairman of the directorate of Nonsensical Mayhem, Offical guide to
the edge of insanity, Jungle juice smuggler, Member of the hand of
Choas carldholder #2.

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp