FF: Two Worlds (Chapter 39: Worlds' Dilemma - Avatar's Fire)

["Cilia" <cilia@xxxxx>]

-Two Worlds-
Cilia

Chapter 39: Worlds' Dilemma - Avatar's Fire

Joyce opened her eyes. She didn't really to sleep, she had probably done
enough resting in the past few weeks to last her lifetime, but she did
dream. She dreamt of battles she would fight alongside Al'x once this mess
was cleared up. She dreamt of children and grandchildren, of family. Normal
dreams for an Avatar and woman of her age.
My age, she thought to herself with a smirk. Death had been good to
her, without a doubt, not that anyone wouldn't attest that she was beautiful
before her sojourn into the ethereal planes. But now she carried with her an
aura of someone that had traveled to the gates of Heaven and the eyes of
someone that had read the book in which all things were written. Rising from
her bed, she once again donned her armor, black like the dragon she had
slain, and black like the souls of the damned she had fought in the great
beyond.
I really need to get myself a cape, she thought to herself as she
tightened her breastplate.
Caring little for deeds of the past, her focus was on the here and now, the
present and the future that was always in flux. Changes came with each
choice we made, but when the results are known to one, she can make sure
that the outcome is according to the grand scheme of things or to ones
liking.
Arriving outside the room in which, the night before, two vows of devotion
had been broken, she opened the door and stepped inside to find.
"Cordelia Moondancer, you have no idea what you've done," Joyce said
as she planted herself on the bed next to the sleeping Ranger.
"Who... Wha... Elisabeth..." Cordelia stuttered as she woke.
"Nope, wrong Summers," Joyce said with a smile.
"Crap, it's you," Cordelia muttered and buried her head in the
pillows.
"The one and only. And you, my little Guardian, have created quite a
mess here," the Avatar said.
"I knew this Guardianship thing would have its drawbacks," Cordelia
cursed.
"The Guardianship is what started this, little Ranger, that much is
true. But you fucked my daughter out of your own free will," she explained.
"Why you..." Cordelia growled and sprang out of the bed, naked and
armed with a scimitar that had rested under the pillows. "I did not fuck
Elisabeth! And if you must know, Stjar'a doesn't even care whether I live or
die, so what does it matter?" she fumed. "You want to know what happened the
last time I was with her? I was barely able to kiss my ast'one without
feeling violated and unclean. You have no idea how that feels!" she
exclaimed.
"You are drawn to Buffy because she's the Slayer. She is a powerful
agent of order. Believe me, little Ranger, what you feel for my daughter is
not love," Joyce explained with cold disinterest in her white eyes.
"Get out," Cordelia hissed and pointed the silvery blade at the
avatar.
"Remember this, Ranger Knight Moondancer: We all have a choice, even
us Guardians," Joyce said as she walked out of the room, leaving the Ranger
to collapse back onto the bed.

The Avatar spared only a few minutes with her daughter, before setting out
to find Rosetta, the person her daughter-in-law had become. Stepping back
onto the mortal plane within the confines of the mage tower, she waited for
her presence to be known. With so many wielders of magic around here, her
arrival could hardly go unnoticed.
She looked around to make sure she had arrived at the right place. The
avatar nodded as she saw that she was in what appeared to be a study, with a
hearth and two comfortable chairs in front of it, a large wooden desk under
a large window and walls lined with books and jars. She took a seat in front
of the hearth and waited.
"I've been expecting you, Avatar," Rosetta said as she slipped into
the remaining seat.
"I've come to set things right, Rosetta Rosenberg," Joyce said
keeping her eyes fixed on the hearth. "And yes, I know who you are," she
added.
"Humor me?" Rosetta asked folding her arms.
Closing her eyes, Joyce took a deep breath. "You are the part of Willow that
she began locking away after marrying my daughter. You are the wildfire that
burned within her. You are the fury that was unleashed that one fateful
summer... you are the catalyst that set all of us on the road we now
travel," the Avatar explained. She slowly opened her eyes and for a moment,
they were blue before shifting back into white.
"Very good. You must also understand that I have a right to life,
just like Willow," the mage stated with a smirk.
"Granted, you don't posses Willow's memories and your soul is not
Willow's, so you're a person and you're right, I cannot deny you the life
you live now," Joyce nodded.
"But you have come to do what... make things right?" Rosetta asked
with a raised eyebrow.
"My... solution will not be without pain, that I know, but it will
give everyone a... fair chance," Joyce explained and for the first time she
looked at the mage.
"I will... have to talk to my-"
"Rosetta, who is this?" a blond girl asked as she walked into the
study. Joyce turned to look at the voice; she was short with very
distinctive curves, wrapped in a blanket that barely covered her breasts. It
was obvious that she was naked underneath it. Her blond hair was short and
her pretty face round with large gray eyes that appeared to be slightly.
off.
"Darliana, this is Joyce... she is a friend," Rosetta explained with a
smile.
"Have you come to try and take my Rose away from me?" Darliana asked with
sad eyes as she made her way over to her lover's arms.
"No, dear... I've come to try and make things better," Joyce said and
stood. "And I promise you, no one will take your love from you."
"Thank you," the girl whispered.
"I will leave you now. If you are still interested, be at the
reflecting pool at midnight," Joyce said and turned to leave.
"I will escort you out," Rosetta said and stood up.
They walked trough the corridors of the tower in silence, until Rosetta
finally spoke up. "She is an. innocent girl and she has suffered too much
for me to just leave her," she explained.
"Her soul is... tainted. She was once possessed by something wasn't
she?" Joyce asked with a sideward glance at the mage.
"Yeah, she was taken over by a agent of chaos years ago. The scars
are still deep on her soul..." Rosetta nodded "...and her body," she
whispered. "At first, my thoughts were to use her only for... my pleasure
only, but then."
"You are still very much like Willow, you know. You have her
warmth," the Avatar said with a smile.
"I know," Rosetta answered with a sad smile. "Maybe... maybe I would
have gone to Elisabeth if not for Darliana, but..."
"I understand. Now go talk to her and then, if you want to put
things right, come see me tonight," Joyce said as she opened the doors
leading out of the Tower.
"I will consider it," Rosetta nodded.
"Until then, Mage Rosetta," Joyce nodded back and started walking
down the path towards the gates. At the gates, a short, white robed
priestess waited.
"Hello, Ziel," Joyce nodded as she walked through the barrier as if
it weren't there.
"Avatar," Ziel bowed deeply.
"I've asked you to call me, Joyce," Joyce said with a smile.
"It's good to see ya again m'friend," the priestess said with smile.
"How goes your quest?" the avatar asked as they walked down the
street.
"It is almost completed," Ziel answered.
"Good, good. Would you then do me a favour?" at the priestess' nod,
she continued, "Would you go find Cordelia and talk to her for me?" Joyce
asked.
"About what?" the half-elf inquired.
"Just... make her understand that what she did was not a bad thing,"
the older woman explained.
"I believe I can persuade her," the priestess nodded.
"Good, you'll find her in the fields outside the city," Joyce
nodded. "We'll talk more later. I need to ask you about some things
concerning my... relationship with Al'x," she added.
"I will go there, m'friend, and the Ranger will see the light," she
said with a wave as they parted ways at a corner. Joyce stood and watched as
the young priestess made her way through the growing mass of people.
I hope she can help me, she thought to herself. Otherwise I may have
to break my knight's heart yet again.

To be continued in Worlds' Dilemma - Ranger's Flight