FIC: Destiny's End 5/?

[CDRERamius@xxxxxxx]

TITLE: Destiny's End 5/? 
AUTHOR: Tony McD 
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Joss Whendon, Mutant Enemy, WB and 
others. This is for fun, not profit. 
SUMMARY: Final in Terra/Trinity/Destiny series. Buffy, Willow, Xander face 
the final battle. The battle to end destiny. Sequel to Terra Australis 
Incognito, and Trinity's Child. 
SPOILERS: None really. AU. 
RATING: R (suggested sexual situations [no smut]) and language (if I lived on 

the Hellmouth I'd swear more too). 
AUTHORS NOTE: For those of you looking for the first two stories of my series 
you can find them at:

http://www.drwilko.co.uk

Destiny's End 5/? 

It was a very quiet trip to their new home overlooking the park. Professor 
Alibek said that she would be back tomorrow but her words hardly registered 
with Buffy, Willow, and Xander. They were physically and emotionally wiped 
out. The past few weeks had taken their toll and now the three crashed on 
their bed, asleep seconds after their heads hit the pillow. Together they 
dreamed.

The sky was bright and cloudless, while the breeze was soft on their faces. 
Looking around, Xander recognised it as the Dreamtime billabong that he and 
David had visited all those years ago. No sooner had Xander thought of his 
long gone friend, the three of them spied a figure laying on a towel on the 
far side of the billabong.

As they approached the figure, they saw it was David. Dressed in shorts, 
t-shirt, and sunglasses, he was reading a hideously thick book and taking 
sips of some kind of fruit cocktail. He looked up at them and gave them a 
friendly smile.

"I was wondering how long it was going to be before you guys came. Not that 
the wait was any great hardship." he told them indicating at their surrounds.

Willow saw the book that David was reading. She raised an eyebrow.

"War and Peace?"

"Well, when you face eternity, it gives you a chance to catch up on your 
reading." he put the book down.

"Speaking of eternity. You three seem to be facing eternity one way or 
another."

"How so?" Xander asked his long dead friend.

"Win the final battle and survive, you three face eternal life. Win the 
battle but die, odds on you get eternity in the afterlife. Loose the final 
battle and you and the rest of humanity face eternal suffering in hell."

Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Great. Nothing like a little pressure to keep us happy."

"Who said you guys have to be kept happy? Your happiness depends almost 
entirely on you three yourselves. Eternal life, as opposed to eternal 
afterlife, isn't all happiness and joy."

There was a period of silence as Buffy, Willow, and Xander thought about what 
David had said.

"Who wants to live forever?" Xander remarked, thinking of the Highlander 
movies.

"Pretty much." David said with a pensive look. He sat up, a serious look on 
his face.

"The power you must wield to defeat The Twelve and destroy evil is the most 
powerful force in the whole Universe. Only you three can control it and use 
it in the way that evil cannot stand. Use it wisely and you will be 
victorious. Use it foolishly and you will destroy that which you seek to 
save." David sat back.

"If I were you three, I'd want to follow that guy." he said pointing to a 
figure disappearing into a stand of wattle. Quickly the three entered the 
stand of wattle and, much to their amazement, emerged in front of Central 
Railway Station in Sydney.

At the end of the street they saw a figure in a black overcoat and hat, 
kneeling down on the sidewalk doing something. Buffy and the others raced 
over to where the man was but he disappeared before they could get there. 
They looked down at the spot where the man was.

There, on the concrete, was a word, written in chalk in beautiful copperplate 
handwriting.

Eternity

Xander snapped his fingers.

"I know what this is. It's Arthur Stace!" The others looked at him 
quizzically.

"Jenny did a school project on him in Year 3. Arthur Stace was a chronic 
drunk and petty criminal who found God in 1930. For the next 37 years of his 
life, he wandered the streets of Sydney writing this word all over the place. 
It took 27 years to figure out who was writing this message."

"What's the big deal?" Willow asked.

"The deal is that the man could hardly read or write, yet he one day picked 
up a piece of chalk and was able to write this one word so beautifully."

"So we find this old guy and he can tell us about eternity, right?" Buffy 
asked. Xander shrugged his shoulders.

"Makes sense."

The three looked about and saw in the distance the dark figure they were 
after. They reached an intersection.

"Damn it!" Buffy yelled. There were three identical figures, each heading in 
opposite directions.

"Looks like we spilt up. Xander take right. Will, you go left. I'll go on 
ahead."

The three split up.

**************

Willow POV

I followed the figure into The Rocks, where he stopped and sat on a bench by 
the waters edge. With a little trepidation I approached him and gently 
touched him on the shoulder. The face than greeted me was the last I was 
expecting.

Oz.

“Proeliator consisto lumen, custos cretatus, veneficus consisto flamma, 
voluntas fieri modus. Tunc vinculum mos consisto scelratus.” 

"I don't understand, Oz."

“Warrior of light, guardian in white, witch of flame, will be bond.And then 
the bond will be formed with blood.” 

**************************

Buffy POV

I should have guessed who it was when they entered the State Library. As I 
entered the front door, I saw him in all his tweed glory.

Giles.

I hugged him with all my might, and he embraced me. After a few moments he 
let go of me and looked me deep in the eye.

"Love is the key. You are full of love. You love with all of your soul. It's 
brighter than the fire ... blinding. That's why you pull away from it."

"Giles, I don't..."

"It is your nature. Love will bring you to your gift."

*****************

Xander POV

Entering the old hospital gave me a total wig. Sometimes I feel like I've 
spent more time in more hospitals than any doctor.

Walking down the empty halls, I heard someone whistling a few bars of "Ode to 
Joy" from Beethoven's 9th symphony. There, in a black trenchcoat holding a 
bunch of white flowers, stood someone who I last time saw in this environment 
wasn't my best-est friend in the whole wide world.

Angel.

"Deadboy."

"White Knight."

"Long time no see."

"White armour. Sword of lore. 
Paladin of light astride midnight. 
Infusion of old and new. 
Quested by destiny to save love. 
Quested by love to end destiny."