The Omega Series
by tainted_blood_chylde
Rating: PG
The Voice
So here's the thing, you think you're pretty safe out there in your happy normal little world. You probably think your problems are the worst most terriblest thing in existance and you're too selfish to really take the time to make a difference or think about anything other than you that might be important. Well I'm here to change that perception. You see.. you people have it all wrong. You think this little reality you have created could actually last, that things like me aren't real. That you are the masters of your own universe. You can think whatever you want. But sooner or later.. that little image of your perfect little world will be ripped from under you. And I'M gonna be the one holding the carpet. Enjoy it while you can. It won't last long. My mothers may try and stop me, you can put it all on their shoulders the way you have put it on the shoulders of girls like them for centuries. But I have the scythe, and they are running out of time. For I am the Omega, I killed the First, and am now seeking my rightful place. This whole place, this dimension, this reality.. are nothing but illusions. So I'm going to make that way again. I'm going to put it back into the nothing. I'm going to unseparate the light and dark, the sea and the air, the land and the tide. I'm going to send hell itself into the abyss. Everything comes full circle, and I'm going to make history. End.
"How can you not know where she went?" Buffy demanded, pacing angrily up and down the room.
"We are searching everywhere we can think of, believe me Buffy, this Girl's whereabouts is as much of a mystry to us as Angel's disappearance" Wesley said, turning away from his window, he hated the sunshine in LA. He turned back to the Slayer and her vampire companion. "I really wish we could help you further, but the firm's entire resources here are busy trying to explain the disappearance of most of its senior partners. It appears as if something has been..."
"Sucking the life out of them?" Faith interrupted. Gunn and Fred looked up at her, she'd obviously hit the right mark.
"That's how she kills them. She tore through a whole army of Ubervamps like they weren't even there. Made Glory and the Knights of Byzantium slaughter look like nothing" Buffy confirmed.
"Look, I don't really care, cos frankly, we don't have a lot of time. This girl is bad news, Wes, and if you and your little Law buddies wanna keep your heads off the chopping block, you know being evil and all. Cos believe me, it's only a matter of time before she comes knocking on your door. I'd switch those resources to finding out how to kill the bitch, and stop wasting valuable time on which big bad gets it next" Faith added bluntly, turning towards the window. She sighed, calming the demon inside her. Losing her head wouldn't do her much good right now.
"So here's the thing, Angel is gone. Whatever she is, she closed the hellmouth and she used him to do it. I think it's best we assume that he's dead" Buffy concluded quietly.
"So now what we have to do is put our heads together and find a solution" Fred added, turning away from Lorne and standing beside Willow.
"You have all the potentials at your disposal. And me, for what it's worth. From what she said in our last little encounter, she's gonna leave the good guys alone until she's finished getting what she needs. I don't want to wait that long" Buffy said.
"I agree" Gunn nodded. "Wes, get your crew together, grab some of the P-pods here and get to work on trying to find anything on what this girl is, try to find out if she even has a name. Check in the Gierus dimension, those guys are always a few years ahead of Earth history, they might have some information on what happens" he continued, getting off his chair. "Lorne, check through the girls, make sure there ain't none of those First spirit things flying around in their heads. But try to keep it down."
"Meanwhile me and Willow will give Buffy a medical, not that I don't trust my staff, it's just a lot of them would try and steal some of your DNA.. make themselves kinda superhuman. I'd a big problem with that last week. I'd just prefer you to feel safe is all" Fred smiled nervously.
"Okay" Buffy stared back at Faith. They exchanged an awkward glance and Buffy left with Fred.
"What about us?" Faith answered. Turning back to Gunn who was taking off his shirt.
"We do things the old fashioned way" he smiled.
"Look, I'm all up with getting good and dirty but I'm kinda involved..." she smirked.
"I'm talking about good old dectective work. We'll hit the town, try to dig up a few answers" he joked back.
"Let's do it" Faith said, as they both walked towards the elevator and went down to the bottom floor. Faith smiled at the sight of the two twin motorbikes. Each had a bag with a selection of weapons. She could get used to this.
"Nothing" Faith said as she climbed back up to the street surface.
"You sure? This was the address given in the database, unless they heard about the latest big bad and decided to run the hell outta here" Gunn said surveying the piece of paper.
"Either that or they went out for a midnight snack, but from what I can tell, there's nothing down there. Hasn't been for a few weeks at least" Faith said, scraping the sewer off her leather jacket. "I'd have smelt it if there was" she added.
"So how's that working out for you?" Gunn asked politely, Faith gave him an uneasy stare. "The being a vampire thing I mean" he elaborated.
"Yeah, I got you the first time" she said sarcastically. "It just is, I mean, it doesn't make me any less of who I am. I mean, at first yeah, I had all these insecurities, about if I was really me, or if I was just come kinda cloned version of who I was before, and no, I am me. I really can't explain what it feels like, I can feel it" she said, the two of them exchanging a knowing look.
"The demon, the darkness, I can hear its thoughts, its wants. It doesn't go away, and what's frightening is that it's also a part of me" she continued as they got back onto the bikes.
"Yeah but isn't there anything you miss? You know now you're a vamp, you ain't gonna be able to do so much" he questioned.
"Being able to bang B freely? That I'd liked to have done. But I can't, moment of perfect bliss and all" Faith said smiling. "Nah, you get used to it, and in some cases, it's actually pretty cool" she smiled before throwing on her helmet and speeding off down the highway to their next location.
Buffy finished beating the large demon with the metal rod in her hand, it faked attacking her from the left while his companion charged at her from behind, swiftly she turned and impaled the creature through the chest and then kick it in the head, the blow, snapping the large creature's neck. She had no idea what species they were, still she killed them effectively and didn't spend too much time admiring her handy work.
"Buff! Look out!" Xander shouted as he tossed her a double-sided battle axe from Angel's Mantle piece. She smiled and turned on her final opponent. Quickly she left out an enraged yell and started hacking furiously into the creaure. Moments later the beast was dead.
"Uh.. Buffy, I think it's dead" Dawn said as she watched her sister relentlessly severe limb upon limb from the creature's body and then moved onto his friends. "BUFFY!" Dawn snapped, still the older girl continued to hack away at her victims.
"BUFFY!" the whole group, consisting of Wesley, Fred, Willow, Xander and Dawn said in unison.
"Huh?" Buffy said, turning away from her kill. "Did you say something?" she asked innocently.
"Well that was a complete waste of time" Faith said, coming out of the elevator and leaving her helmet on the table. "What's going on here? You guys have a party without me?" Faith asked as she looked over at Buffy, whose green sunflower dress was completely covered in orange slime.
"Buffy, kindly decided to kill our midnight meeting" Wesley explained.
"The Dolbis Brothers?" Gunn asked in shock.
"The very same" Wesley said, turning back to his book. Buffy squirmed.
"Harmony!" Fred called.
"Yeah" the petite blond said as she flounced in, smiling widely.
"Have Harry from the floor below to clean up this mess, and send a bucket of the finest Orisbian Sea Slugs to Duke Boerk along with our deepest sympathies" Gunn instructed her.
Harmony cast a shy look at the slayer, she saw the carnage and smiled meakly, muttering something about getting right on it and left the room.
"She's...?" Faith began.
"Yes, Harmony is one of the former Sunnydale High students killed by the Mayor's lackies during the ascension, she doesn't feed off human blood anymore though and chooses solely to work here for Wolfram and Hart" Wesley explained. "Up until last week, she had been Angel's private secretary" he added.
"Great.. any other surprises?" Buffy smiled sarcastically.
"No, no. And if there are, I'm sure you could quickly dice them up into sizeable chunks to be served during lunch" Gunn answered, laughing slightly.
"Said I was sorry about that" she muttered.
"No you didn't" Dawn frowned.
"What?" Buffy said, frowning back.
"You didn't apologise, you just went all apocolyptic gal and started hacking him to pieces" Dawn answered, pointing to the demon below her feet.
"Whoops.. sorry bout that" Buffy said, handing the axe to the cleaner who had just entered the room and stepped carefully out of the remains below her feet.
Faith looked at Buffy, her gaze crossing over her soaked dress, it was almost see through. She smiled to herself and muttered some comment about how Buffy needed to change.
"Here are some clothes of mine" Fred said handing Buffy the neat pile. "I keep them here for when I'm working late in the office and don't get time to go home" she smiled. Buffy nodded politely and took the clothes.
"I mean.. I know you probably don't like the style, I don't really have a style, but I'm sure they'll fit and they can do until we get you guys settled in the hotel" Fred added and stepped back to beside Willow.
"Come on B, I'll got put them on you" Faith smiled cheekily.
"Where's the nearest shower?" Buffy said quickly. Gunn pointed to behind him, a small door. Buffy and Faith exchanged glances and ran like over excited school girls into the bathroom.
Tortmagh ran quickly through the undergrowth, how the hell had that thing gotten here? How had it found them? Let alone broke through their perimeter defences. He quickly climbed the rock-cliff, it was a difficult task, even for a Camen demon like him. And the fact that he hadn't lost any of his youth or strength since he was six hundred, wasn't helping in gaining him an edge over his pursuer. The stories were true. The Final Days had begun, he ran along the lava river side, jumping carelessly from rock to rock, he had to stay away from it. If it got him, then all the mystical passwords to the underworld would be lost. It was gaining quicker now. He could hear the screams of his fallen comrades.
Comrades indeed. If need be, he would abandon them all here and save himself. Luscian wouldn't hear of this, he wouldn't forgive such a failure. He vaulted up the final pillar and jumped ready to fall into the light stream. Something threw him off course. It was her! That thing that had torn apart his armies and feasted on their flesh.
"Please! Leave me! Think of what an alliance we could make, I'm more valuable to alive than dead, please spare me" he begged. "Think of the rewards that Luscian will give for my safe return, just please.. please don't hurt me!" he pleaded with her.
"You know, that's the difference between me and my mothers" she said in a honey sweet voice, it sent shivers down his spine, even her voice screamed out a raw power, a power that reached out and pulled everything black into it, he could feel the pull on himself. He gulped.
"I know when to make a man beg, and give in to what he wants.. and when to make him scream.. and beat him for being such a weak pathetic bitch!" she shouted before grabbing him by the neck and hoisting the large demon that was easily twice her size into the air. She saw his eyes widen in fear, she loved this, that look, it was like a drug for her. He opened his mouth to curse her in some other tongue, she used that chance to suck all the energy from him. He slowly faded from red black, to a pale grey, she dropped him. He fell to the floor like stone.
It took a moment, this was usually her weakest moment. Soon his memories would bleed into hers and she would know the codes for accessing the other worlds and she would seek out more challenging prey. But for now.. she would feast. She turned and smiled at the small group of human slaves the demons of this world used to serve them. A bit scrawny.. but they would do.
Faith climbed out of the shower, she put a towel around Buffy, it was killing her not being able to do more than kiss her. Faith quickly turned away from Buffy, they'd gotten too close that time. They'd almost gone further than usual. Almost gone the full way. If she'd still been human, Faith would have been sighing quite deeply, she remembered this. Fortunately, she didn't need to breathe. She turned and painted on a smile, Buffy seemed almost normal if not for the slight look of disappointment on her face.
They dressed silently, Faith always hated this part. The awkward silence, each of them too frightened to utter a word for fear that it would lead them back to the sweet taste of heaven they'd been enveloped in only moments ago, or to another full scale row. Faith detested arguing with Buffy, she loved her, and not being able to give her what she wanted, to take what she wanted. Was slowly driving a wooden stake into her heart.
"Your back clean enough now?" Faith teased with a smile.
"Very clean.. your tongue is a much better replacement for the sponge" Buffy replied. Faith lowered her head uneasily, she hadn't meant to tease her like that, she just couldn't help herself.
"Sorry.. I hadn't meant..." Faith began, but Buffy dismissed her apologies, as usual.
"It's okay, just a little further than we'd agreed. I mean I enjoyed it, and that's exactly the point.. We can't go that far, I mean, not if you want..." Buffy lectured. Faith was begining to lose he patience, God she hated this talk, sometimes Buffy could be such a prude.
"Yeah, B, I got it. Well how bout we don't bother next time!" Faith snapped before heading out of the shower. God, she hated arguing, it's all they seemed to do now. Buffy stayed on to finish getting dressed and Faith went to check in with Wesley.
"I don't understand. How is he here?" Buffy said staring at Angel, was it really the First.
"We don't know. He just arrived two hours ago..." Gunn answered, tending to Angel's wounds.
"And he's?" Faith continued.
"Human? Entirely" Wesley answered. Faith and Buffy stared at Angel who gave them a weak smile.
"Are you sure?" Buffy questioned again.
"Absolutely, Fred did a full diagnostic, no more demon, no more bursting into flames, just human, just me" Angel smiled. Buffy was happy for him.
"How did this happen?" Faith demanded. "I thought he was dead" she said eyeing him up suspiciously.
"Yeah, I thought you guys had checked everywhere for him" Dawn questioned.
"Everywhere for a missing vampire named Angelus who was cursed with a human soul, yes" Wesley answered.
"Isn't that what I just asked?" Dawn said.
"No, we were looking for the Vampire in him. Not the man, as far as we can tell, whatever this woman did to him, she removed Angelus completely leaving only the human behind" Wesley said.
"So she's good? Going around killing evil demons.. seems pretty good if you ask me" Dawn said hopefully.
"Not quite, it seems, she is draining all evil into herself, and she isn't restricted to this dimension alone" Wesley explained.
"So in English?" Faith said, rolling her eyes, she'd never cared much for watcher/slayer meetings when she was alive, they seemed just a pointless as now when she was unalive.
"She's trying to make herself the ultimate big bad, and she's going through every world there is to do it" Angel said, standing up.
"Well, then where is she?" Buffy queried.
"In Quortoh" Connor said, throwing down the head of one of the demon guards who patrolled the office buildings upper floor.
"Oh Boy.." Dawn said, taking in a deep breath and watching as Angel stood up, uneasily to greet his son.
"Please!" the dueller cried out. "Please don't hurt us, we are yours, you have our most humble alligence" he pleaded with Omega as she lifted her Scythe and killed off one of his comrades. The Naswu were a fierce army, one of the most reputed in the underworlds. Whenever there was a great battle to be fought, they were hired out to the highest bidder. The last reports of them fighting on Earth had been during the crusades, since then they had devoted themselves to serving Luscian.
She had slaughtered most of them easily and now that she had absorbed Lucian himself, she was merely draining the leftovers. She laughed at his feeble suggestion. It was a pity that the other Hell-God who had reigned here was no longer around, she was certain that Glory would have been a much better challenge.
"Every great Goddess needs an army worthy of her.. Let us be that army, we will serve you without question, and will offer the many heads of your enemies as tribute. If you spare us, we will be your humble slaves and help you bring about and police your mighty empire" he said, as he knelt down on one knee, Omega smiled. Such a fool.
"Do you know my name?" She demanded.
"We have never seen such power, let alone lived long enough in its presence to attempt an action such as ask, but if I may be as bold, I ask you" the dueller beesched her. "What is your name? My Goddess?" he said, raising his head slightly and looking up at her.
"I am the Omega" she growled. She watched the demon's face contort in pain as she reached out a hand and let the fire of the Oristbis pour through her fingers and scorch him. He screamed in pain. "I am the end, the apocalypse. I am your deliverance" she said dismissing him into flames. She drank up the cool essence left behind. This would be too easy. She climbed up the Imperial Steps and stood looking out over the barrion, flaming land, there were others out there, new essences for her to drain. She could sense them. Soon she would bring them all home, soon she would claw them into the darkness with her. She smiled wickedly.
Her dark green eyes burned red for a few brief moments and she watched as the whole world burned, her smile grew wider, she watched the demons flee from their hiding places. Fools, there was no hiding from her. She began to sip all the essences from the air. Soon she would be ready to jump.
Xander paced up and down Wesley's study, he was searching the books for nothing in particular, was there anything on this girl anyway? Who was she? What did she look like? Where the hell was she? What was she planning against his friends? Wasn't it enough that Xander had lost the woman he loved to this girl?? Was it really fair that she was now trying to destroy the world?? He laughed to himself, the others could try and beat around the bush all they wanted, but in the end.. that's what it always boiled down to, that's what all the big bads ended up wanting anyway. He picked out a random book from the shelf and let his eyes run over the cover.
"Het raam naar de verloochende landen" That was dutch right?? He took the book towards the door and called out to Willow.
"What is it?" she said coming towards him.
"I need you to translate this" he said.
"It says... um.. something about... a forsaken realm or something and this being a window of some kind. It's a scrying book" Willow told him plainly before turning away to go back to Buffy.
"oh, I knew that" Xander said blushing. God did he feel useless, like there would be anything in here at all that would help them... he thought bitterly as he tossed the book across the floor.
"Please Help!" the Siren screamed.
Xander paused for a moment, certain that he'd heard wrong, surely he must have imagined it. He turned back to the book and walked slowly towards it. Was the book talking to him?
"No one can help you Witch! No one is here! It's just you and me" the woman approaching the siren yelled.
"Willow!" Xander shouted frantically. "Guys! I think you better come in here!" he called as he looked at the book playing out the scene like a television set.
"Xander. It probably just the" Willow said, eager to get back to work. He showed her the book. "Oh Goddess" she sighed.
Buffy and Faith stormed in, stopping dead in their tracks.
"What did you do?" Willow demanded.
"I didn't do anything.. I just threw it on the ground and it opened.." he swore.
"Everyone shut up" Buffy said. Her eyes glued to the scene in front of her.
The Siren threw up a protective circle around herself, the girl dismissed it as if it wasn't there. Willow gulped. That was a level ten spell, she herself, even in her most veiny of days could only manage a level six which was powerful enough in itself.
"Leave us!" the siren snapped. Throwing a bolt at the intruder, the girl merely absorbed the blow.
"Do you feel that?" Omega giggled "Mommy's watching us" she laughed. Buffy and Faith both felt their throats tighten, it was her. "I think I better give them a little demonstration" Omega smiled.
The Siren backed away from the girl and tried frantically to open up the lid on her vial, she yelped slightly, it was stuck! Omega smiled and shook her head slightly. The Siren looked back at Omega, fear truely settling in her eyes for the first time. "The Gieskdl will make you pay for this!" she screached.
"Good, it would be great to have some real competition" Omega said before vamping out and attacking the siren, her fangs draining in all the life blood from the weak form laying in her arms. Vampire teeth weren't necessary of course she just felt that since she could vamp out that she might as well have fun with the concept. In many species, like humans and slayers, all the power lay in the blood, but really any body would do. She just wanted to scare her on lookers.
Buffy watched in horror as the girl raised her head, her eyes pale, her black hair waving behind her. "I am the OMEGA!" she roared. Willow quickly flashed out her hand and incinerated the book. They had no idea if she would be able to pass through the pages. Wesley assured them that she wouldn't, but Willow didn't want to take the chances. She was certain that whatever creatures that book was providing information on. They were no longer a concern for anyone, and most certainly, were no longer around.
"That was her?" Gunn asked in surprise.
"Yep" Angel grimanced, he remembered how powerless he'd felt when she was around, even if it only was the demon in him she wanted. It still wasn't the easiest thing to forget.
"So what do we do?" Xander said, taking a seat beside Dawn. She sat down on his knee, god she was so tired.
"We kill her" Connor said simply.
"That's a great plan, how'd you suppose we do that?" Eve said, storming into the office. "But whatever you're doing, do it somewhere else, you're no longer in charge here" she snapped.
"What?" Fred said in confusion.
"You heard me, the elder partners are dead, and several of our other branches have suddenly been deemed out of commision. We are on total lock down, we have to protect the guide. You're all welcome to leave at anytime" she said turning and storming out.
"What the hell is going on here?" Angel demanded.
"You took back your side of the bargain. We got rid of Connor, you got yourself a law firm. Connor's back, law firm's gone. Welcome to the way of the world" she snapped.
"Everybody needs to just calm down" Faith said, getting off her chair. "Face it cutie, you guys are just sitting ducks here without us" Faith reasoned "and we need your resources. Get that big cat down here, we need answers. Gunn" Faith said, turning to her old friend.
"Yes ma'am" he answered.
"You say you can talk to it?" she queired.
"I can" he said.
"Get it to tell you everything it knows. It's for its own protection, as much as I hate to admit it. We need to keep that thing alive for as long as possible" Buffy finished.
"I'm on it" he said, walking to the elevator.
"We don't know how it got in.. We have to get out of here!" Newton shouted down the phone. Somehow Omega had made it back to Earth and was now tearing apart the building's lower levels. Buffy and the others tried to defend off the passageways as best they could. Unfortunately. Omega had slipped past them all too easily and had come in through the first floor only to jump somehow straight to the top floor of the white room. By the time they reached the Guide, it was already too late.
Buffy limped down the hallway. Where was Dawn?
"It's a shame I never got to know you sister" Omega said, genuinely sorry to have to do this to Dawn, the sudden display of emotion in the girl's face was highly unusual. What was a shame? Why had she called Dawn sister? Before Buffy had anytime to ask, Omega thrust her hand into Dawn's chest and pulled out a bright green light, it blinded Buffy slightly. The Key!
"You bitch!" Buffy shouted, grabbing the Scythe from the table where Omega had left it.
"Now, Now Mommy. Manners" she laughed. Dropping Dawn's body and disappearing into the darkness that suddenly erupted in the building. What? It was daylight. Faith looked out the window. The sun had been blocked out. They had to get out there. Demons would be running rampant.
Buffy looked back, she fell to her knees, her sister was dead.
The Voice
Okay, so I've sucked the energies from a few hundred demon demensions, I've absorbed the Key, everything should be going great. And it is, to a point, but something.. something's missing. I know, I know, I'm not ready to invoke the primalities of the slayer. I don't know, something.. just feels wrong. This wasn't the way Daddy had planned it. Course the whole being hacked in half by my lost toy wasn't part of the plan either. I just feel kinda empty. This isn't normal.. it isn't evil. It's mortal, it's human and weak and why the hell should I care if this whole destroying the whole universe thing is making me lonely? Cos of them. My Mothers. Their humanness in the soul they got stuck in me.. it's their doing. Haven't there ever been any times in your pathetic little mortal life where you've just stopped and been still for a moment? When all the ins and outs of your busy little fantasy world just went quiet and you can close your eyes and it's all gone? Just for a few brief moments.. everything disappears. That's what I want, I want to blink.. and have it all disappear, only I wanna make it so I don't have to open my eyes again and find it's all still there.
Revival
Faith shook off the dust from her coat and stretched, her slender fingers gripped the bars of the cage and she began her steady climb. Her cold dead fingers cracked everytime she stretched them outwards towards the next bar. She winced. That would hurt more when she got back to Wolfram n Hart.
She was tired, her whole body hurt. How long has she been interogating the Mephis Gang? Who would have thought a few thousand year old demons would have been so ready to put up a fight? She picked up her kit bag and slung it over her shoulder.
She opened up the pouch of Cerue and sprinkled it over herself, she sneezed slightly and smiled to herself. Willow still needed to perfect her minty-fresh protection methods. The slyrtr still smelt as foul as the first time she'd ripped it from the demon who she'd harvested for parts.
She hated this demension. Hated everything about it. She missed Buffy, all this work for nothing. This demension was supposed to be a few hundred years out of the loop and well beyond Earth time. They were supposed to give her the latest on their Psycho Armagedon "daughter" but as usual. Nada.
Feeling the first few sensations of the the fling, Faith turned and curled into a ball. Rolling her eyes and muttering to herself. "There's no place like home.. there's no place like home."
"Pretty, pretty little bird. Oh wait.. I'm sorry!" Omega giggled manically. "You're not a bird are you?" she laughed.
The woman in her grip winced as Omega tightened her hold on the creature's wings. She let out a high pitched squeal, her whole body felt like it was on fire, she struggled to get free of Omega's grip. It was useless. The invader was just too strong. She called out and pleaded in her native tongue, it was mostly just high pitched squeals that when used correctly, sounded like a church choir. This was usually the place that people thought about when they thought about heaven. Pearly gates and pretty faces, all the blue eyes and blond hair thing going on. Omega giggled to herself.
"I wonder what they would say if they saw you now, all those little people you protect on Earth.. I keep forgetting. Whitelighters, isn't that what you're called, or is that guardian angels. I'm not sure which, and quite frankly. I really couldn't give a shit. I'm just here to kill you. Not get a background check" she said as she looked around at the carnage.
She bent down to the half paralysed angel and looked around. Again, the creature struggled helplessly to try and get away. She was alone. Omega couldnt help but admire the girl for her spirit.
"You know what this reminds me of?" Omega said thoughtfully as she looked around at the scene of slaughtered Angels with their wings torn off and bodies half burnt. The pearly white steps, covered in their gold-ish coloured blood. "You ever see that movie Dogma?" she asked the crippled angel. "No?" she asked as she looked at the Angel's disbelieving face. Most people on Earth, those ignorant few who actually believed in God and Angels, assumed that those beloved angels, were intelligent agents of the lord. They couldn't have been more wrong.
"You're nothing more than an animal aren't you?" Omega said distantly. "There's no, spark of anything human in you at all, you're more like a seal pup, fluttering around helplessly" Omega said as she stood up and circled the princess, the creature merely looked back at her, her amber eyes wide and frightened, she looked back at Omega, uncertainly. "Waiting for that big whale to either leave you in your pathetic mess, or eat you up. Tell me, what is it like to be that powerless? To know the end is coming, even if you can't fully comprehend what it means?" Omega said sadly. Moments later, after a few brief paused moments. Omega lifted her spear again and kicked the princess over onto her belly, the screaming began again. This time more desperate. Much more fevered. She clawed at the dirt, moving just inches away before Omega drove the spear into her back. She wriggled for a moment, and then, lay still.
Dead, like one of those butterflies that she'd seen in the glass case at the museum where she'd killed Tahog. The premonition demon. Frowning, Omega moved on towards the main city to finish off the stragglers. This just wasn't as satisfying as it was at the start.
Buffy's Journal
Have you ever read a book and gotten totally hooked on it? I mean gotten involved in the kind of story where you become almost obsessed at how it ends? Well.. I personally haven't, not with anything bookish in the published variety. But I've heard a lot about from Willow, I remember when that series Fearless first came out, Wills went nutts about, collected the whole thing. used to go on for hours about how the girl that wrote them never went fast enough. For me, that's what it's like about Faith, I'm completely hooked on her. Every twist and turn in her life, everything about her past. She's been letting me read her diary lately. About who she was before she met me. She seems convinced she's not the girl who wrote those things. Being a vampire and all now. Angel himself can't even offer any insight. It's something undefinable. Too many questions. Point is, I really wish this was over. That this thing with Omega was done. Everyday gets a little harder and everyday it gets a little more desperate. I just wish God would send me a sign or something.. I mean come on... Send me an angel or something.
Revival
Omega wandered silently into the great hall of Korint, this was her last demon god, her last hurdle before she took on the underworld masters. Since her "birth" she had spent most of her time evading them, not that she really needed to. Her father, Caleb, had taught her to keep herself hidden, to never underestimate their strength. Afterall, the slayers had won the important battles since the war between light and dark began. Why else was the world still there? She gazed at the writings on the walls, carved with the bones of the ancients themselves. They were beautiful, their patterns intricate and silken, she smiled, these were more than pictures, they spoke to her. Sang to her.. she could feel them whispering through her core, as timeless and eternal as she was.
The doorway. This was where she was heading, this was what she had been aiming for. The bridge between the realms. Not just any realms. To all realms, to everyting that should, could and would have been. She needed to have all of the dark energies from everywhere. Not just this version of reality. But of all the versions, every doppleganger, every possibilty and eventuality, were within her reach. These walls were made from the same fabric from which she had been created, that had created the first, her building blocks. She looked at the carvings and allowed her fingers to graze its solid frame. A wave of power shifted through her and she smiled, completely intoxicated. This was what she had been searching for, a power to match her own. An energy that could sing to her own and make her glow.
What is everything afterall if not energy? Humans, seek each other out to make these kinds of connections. Slayers, find it through their dreams of one another, every energy... reaches out for the one that will help it resonate that little bit better. Humans call it love.. Demons call it power. The angels called it music.. all want something to sing back to them, to give them.. bliss. Omega looked thoughtfully at the carvings and smiled, soon it would be over. She would have her eternal rest because there would be no end, no start. Just... blankness.
HSSSSSSSSSS!!! Dragthna hissed as he charged at her. Irritated she vamped out and lunged at him, she didn't even need the fangs to feed, there was no demon side inside her, if anything, her soul was completely human, because, whether it was fair or sane.. a human soul, is the fabric of what binds everything together. The same intangible essence that she herself was sprung from. Still, she just liked the way her victims trembled before her when she wore that face. Besides.. it was only fitting really, her first mother had one of those faces now.
Dragthna slithered across the floor, the great halls watch dog, Omega laughed, how many times had Hollywood milked this one? She wondered bitterly as she looked at the large snake demon, it spat its poison at her and she rolled her eyes, she raised her hand and watched as the electrical bolts from her fingers encircled the demon in front of her, when she was done, she noticed the squealing demon was turned entirely inside out, and was now a large circular ball of wriggling, shrieking flesh, whose eyes stared up at her helplessly. Smiling silent she sighed, as much as she would to have loved to have experimented to see exactly how long an immortal beast like that could survive in that condition.. she really needed the last ingredient.
She lifted up the blade of Rowtak, a sword she claimed from the former world of the God Glory, she started viciously hacking and slicing into the beast, she let out a bloody roar, and started lashing out in a frenzy as the cool blade slide easily into flesh, she gave an exasperated gasp as she drew back to catch her breath before hacking into it again, the blood now oozing from the creature was making her task all the more difficult. Bit by bit, blood splattered the walls, blood seeped into those beautiful cracks in the bone and it started to glow, an ancient, warm glow, it engulfed her and when she was satisfied it the creature was dead, she lay down in the blood and bathed. Slowly her head fell back, and for the first time since she was born from Buffy's womb, six months ago. She slept. she was home.
Buffy sat silently in her chair and watched as Faith walked quietly through the office room without saying a word. Sighing she returned her gaze to the book in front of her, this had been going on for the last month or so. Faith was becoming more and more distant, she spent most of her time out on the streets with Gunn hunting down stray demons who were punching holes in their reality to escape.. what ever it was that Omega was doing in their own worlds. She'd basically become the new Angel. God when was she gonna learn.. relationships with demons never worked out. Yet she couldn't turn away from the girl, which only seemed to make Faith even more hostile to her. Closing the book she walked silently out of the room, Faith looked over her shoulder and leaned her head against the door frame as she watched Buffy leave the room.
When was this going to stop? They were like one of those bickering married couples, only this time there had been no affair or argument, just the awful stalemate that hung around in the air, for weeks, months, years, until one of the two finally cracked under the pressure. Still, the general outcome was always the same. It was almost over between them. And Faith had no idea why, the pain that those words would come soon hit Faith like a thousand wooden spikes being thrust through her cold unbeating heart. Buffy was her life.. But she couldn't change their destiny. She growled slightly and collapsed into the chair beside Gunn.
"You two bittys still not talking?" he asked as he opened up another beer and handed it to her.
"Nope" she sighed.
"That's a shame, you two sure make up a person fantasy" he smiled before taking a chug of his beer.
"Why Charles, are you asking for a private veiwing?" she giggled and looked at him casually.
"Nah, I don't need to have you set anything up for me, I wanna see you two, I just close my eyes" he joked closing them for emphasis and smiled like he was seeing something he liked. Playfully she frowned and smacked him on the arm and he repositioned himself and shook off the last few giggles from the joke.
"Besides" she said looking down thoughtfully at her beer "You know me and B can't do any of that stuff."
"You tried yet?" he said, looking at her sympathetically.
She shook her head and he sighed.
"I'd love to believe me, there's nothing I want more than to take Buffy in my arms and prove that she's my only girl but it's a little more complicated than that. What if I get my moment of true happiness? I don't think I could un-live with myself if I ever hurt her" she said sorrowfully.
"I get that, look I know I may joke around, but I do feel for you.. to be unable to touch the one person in the world who means that much to me.. I don't know what I'd do" he said thoughtfully.
"Well I'll tell you one thing.." she giggled "You'd spend a hell of a long time in a cold shower" they laughed for a moment and began to drink their beers in silence. Some things were just too tragic to ever be found funny.
The Voice
I slept today, it's strange, I've heard demons talk about human sleep and slayer dreams and all that garbage, but I never knew how refreshing it was, you think the craziest things when you're asleep. I don't even know why I'm remembering this but here goes, these words are all a bit pointless anyway so what does it really matter. I was in Venice, hunting down a demon family through an orchard.. little girls, screaming, they had these pretty little dresses on, both white, both twins, running away from me and crying.. not that they'd escape. Anyway, the part I remember is walking through the house, I came across what I'm guessing was the father's workshop or studio and I saw these black and white photographs, mostly of flowers and sunsets, but I remember this one a rose, set apart from all this blackness, and that was it, that's all I remember, that little rose. And I actually felt a tear running down my cheek, it was so beautiful. I guess, I'm so busy trying to destroy this world I never really thought about some of the things I appreciated about it. Well there's one thing, I can say I like, since an individual is named so solely because of their own unique combination of likes and dislikes.. I like black and white photographs.. and I like the one I have in my pocket of the demon twins being strangled to death by the thorny vines they had in their garden. But I don't like the smell of grapes in the vineyard.. they just smelt of decay.
The After Years
Katelyn moved quickly to her seat in the meeting hall and settled herself onto the floor and waited intently for Cayera to start the Sumonce Talk. It was nothing like the seats that existed in her mother's day. Then they actually had chairs. These every piece of wood was precious and they took it from whatever they could find. The chairs had been the first non-essential thing to go.. then the tables. Or so her mother said at least. She was lucky, she had been born before the birthing stations had been set up, but outsiders wouldn't really know much about that. We don't know how they survived this long.. I mean... the world ended about thirty years ago.
Omega had swept over everything in less than an hour.. One fucking hour and the entire human race was cut down to a fifth of its original size... then the demons fleeing from the worlds she'd destroyed spilled through the gaps in hell and started feeding off the survivors. No one quite saw it coming. The Government knew.. to an extent. In the end it was the only thing that really saved the few people left alive. Everyone was scattered..
They hid in places called Hives. Cayera was the queen of this one.. it what they called the warrior leaders, each hive had one, it was the closest thing they had to a ruling body. She was the best killer in the hive.. so she automatically claimed the role. Katelyn looked about Jnet, he'd been on the previous nights hunt duty.. she couldn't see him. It wasn't unusual, people disappeared from the hives all the time. Everyone knew not to get too attached. It could cost you your life. Katelyn searched around the faces.. some of the others from the previous night who she recognised briefly from previous meetings came and took their places. Jnet wasn't with them.
"Moonta, greetings, let us give thanx to the Gods for the return of so many of our Grounders" Cayera said welcoming back the night patrol. "Let me also extend my deepest sympathies to those of you who notice that some of your friends have not returned. I am deeply sorry. Loss is such a hard part of what we face here everyday. But it is the way of the world in this day and age. Please remember them well, but remember this.. they would want you to survive" she added.
It was part of the everyday ritual, every morning they would meet like this before the tasks were set out. Everyday, the same announcement was made. Today it felt different. Katelyn grew numb.. her insides felt like they were on fire.. A silent tear fell down her cheek as she greived for her childhood friend. She offered up a prayer to the Gods to steal his soul from Omega.. so that he might find eternal rest and not become part of her food source. She squared her jaw and listened with hardened interest to the announcement.
"Two days ago, we sent Dia, our best runner. To the Northern Hive, into the Old City. She died on the way... however, she managed to relay a very important message. They found it! The mother Demension. The Root of Omega, soon we will be able to test it, and hopefully find the GATEWAY" Cayera announced.
Katelyn smiled. It had not been in vain, Jnet had brought back the satchel as instructed.. and in it held the hope.. They would soon find the source of the end. The Beginning of where it started.
It was going full circle.
Faith looked at the crystal ball.. another world had connected to the chain. Just a little more, a little more.. soon they would find where Omega was hiding, she rinsed back the taste of blood in her mouth and smiled at Buffy. They were getting somewhere at last.
Dawn's Journal
So much has happened in the past six months it's unreal, I mean, six months ago the worst thing I had to worry about was Buffy cramping my style at school in front of cute guys. Now.. I have to worry about when my apocalyptic neice Omega come to visit. Whether or not I'm gonna get turned back into The Key.. and keeping my sister and her not so Vampish-Slayer girlfriend from sleeping together. And fending off the advances of my sister's not vampish-anymore ex-boyfriend's son Connor.
So to put it into a little bit more simpler terms.
The world is ending.
The First.. What we thought was gonna be the biggest bad of all time.. cause shockingly enough.. it was the first evil of all time. Turned out to not be the biggest bad of all..
Its minion Caleb had raped and tortured Faith for months.. gotten her pregnant, and then sent her to spy on us and the potentials.
But, there's always a but in these stories, they are never straight- forward. Faith was madly in love with Buffy.. she lost her nerve and went to confess her sins.
HOWEVER... (yes also another annoying must have in the tales of heros) The First knew Faith was losing her nerve and drove Spike.. the now dead undead ex-lover of my sister.. into a fit of insane jealousy and he killed Faith. Turning her into a Vampire-Slayer- Vampire.
Buffy killed him for it, turns out she loved Faith as well.. The First's baby... jumped from Faith's body like a ghost into Buffy's.. making her pregnant instead. The only vessel strong enough to give birth to it was a slayer, which Buffy was. Then Kennedy got called and went crazy... she tried to kill Faith and Buffy.
Then the time shifting happened. One second people were dead.. the next they were alive.. one minute Buffy was pregnant.. then she wasn't. You get the picture.
Anyway, it all ended with Angel being left human, Faith being left a vampire.. Giles, Anya and Andrew, god rest their souls, all dead. And Buffy not pregnant anymore.
In fact the "Baby" killed and ate the First, destroyed Caleb and then went on a mission to drain the evil out of every evil being in the entire world and every other demension connected to this world..
Making her the super big bad.
Now we have to find her..
And I thought my life was hard six months ago... Jeez.
Beyond Repair
Faith crept silently back into the house, she'd been gone for hours.. hopefully her dad wouldn't notice. Christ, if only Buffy had let her leave after that shower... she was going to be in sooooo much trouble.
This is what happens when you're dating your watcher, Faith thought angrily. Sometimes Buffy could be so irritating at time, and infuriating.
Yeah, the girl had been a slayer for about four years before Faith even came on the scene.. then when she turned 18, she lost her powers. Didn't mean she had to be so hard on her all the time. She wasn't going to make Kendra's mistakes.. she wasn't going to wind up dead and leave her like that. Not the way Angel did.
She curled into her bed covers, her body sore from the nights activities, she looked at the clock. 5.33am. She had school in another two hours. Pulling the covers over her slender shoulders to keep out the cold that drafted in from the open window behind her she lay her head down on the pillow and slowly closed her eyes.
They snapped open again.
Open Window?
Grabbing the stake that lay below her pillow Faith threw herself against her bedroom wall, her eyes frantically searching the darkness. She never left her window open.. NEVER.
"Dad?" she called, no sound came from the hallway. Where was he?
Her father.. the former Mayor of Sunnydale was always in the house, ever since his retirement after Buffy's Graduation.
She didn't like the looks of this.
Moving slowly down the hallway, Faith crept along to the tops of the stairs. She looked down and saw Buffy standing downstairs at the front door. Slightly relieved, Faith scurried downstairs and opened the door.
"Buffy! What are you doing here?" Faith said as she stared at the shorter girl in front of her.
"Something terrible has happened.." Buffy said, her face serious.
"Well come on in, I think there's something in the house.. I don't dare think what's out there" Faith cautioned her.
Obediently Buffy walked inside, her eyes never leaving Faith's. "I don't know why, but I just have the most awful feeling that something has been watching me since I got back" Faith said as she turned and led them towards the kitchen.
"Really?" Buffy asked quietly. "Watching you, like how?"
"I don't know.. like something's going to creep up behind me and.." *Crack!* Faith fell to the floor lifeless.
"One thing I never get tired of" Angelus declared as he cupped Buffy's face in his hand, her soft mouth licking at the blood around his finger tips.
His mouth opened as she made a very seductive sucking motion at the tip of one of them before he grinned lustfully at her..
"Now now, that's a waste" Omega said tuttingly before she thrust a stake into his heart and grabbed vampire Buffy by the throat and fed off her.
"These new worlds are starting to bore me.." she fretted before grabbing the corpses of her two alternative reality "mothers" and dragged them away with her.
One more day in paradise
Buffy walked into the main office of the Wolfram and Hart building, Faith was asleep downstairs. Ever since they'd arrived in LA, it only seemed fitting that the downstairs apartment in the basement of the building that Vamp-Angel had used, be given to Vamp-Faith now that their roles were reversed.
Xander and Gunn were sitting at the main desk talking over battle plans and what training methods would best suit the latest recruits. She listened to their conversation briefly before moving on to the seating area in the conference room where Fred and Willow were discussing the latest developments in the "Connecting" program. After a few moments of listening to the discussion sub-light vortex particles and alternative universe laws of relativity she lost interest and walked back into the main office.
Her mind was still wandering back to the argument that her and Faith had had earlier that afternoon. It was getting harder on both of them. Especially now, now that she needed her so much. Angel came into the room and gave her a cup of coffee. A Slayer's best friend. She smiled weakly at him.. she couldn't imagine what it was like to be him. Not anymore. He'd fought so hard to regain his humanity.. they'd been so much in love at one point. But it didn't compare. He had never really understood her. Not in the ways that had.. but in the same way. She'd never understood Faith.. not in the way he could.
Now him and Faith had even more in common.
The Voice
When I look at all these different worlds, and all the little attempts all the little people in them make to try and stop me, to save themselves.. to try and make their little existance count. It makes me feel sick. You human beings are sooooo FUCKING PATHETIC!!! My GOD! You honestly think you can stop something YOU ALL CREATED??? I am tired of your little interfering attempts to stop me. IT WON'T WORK MEAKLINGS!! GIVE IT UP ALREADY!!! I have found the Gateways to the Middle Worlds... and NOTHING you can do is gonna help you.
You all curse me and call me the big bad thing in the dark. You call me EVIL and TAINTED.. MAD and CORRUPT. You know what I call you?
WEAK AND SELF-PITYING...
And most of all STUPID! You think my beef is with you?
WRONG>>> even my MOTHER DEARESTS' NEED TO WAKE UP and see THE BIGGER PICTURE... I'm not after any one thing. I'm after it ALL. You call me cruel and unjust. I call myself PURE AND TRUE TO MY NATURE...
What was the line that guy said in that natural born killers movie said? Everything in Nature kills man, cos murder is pure... all your little human mortal souls is full of sin. You were born to sin. A Mother coming home to her kids and husband can also be the whore who was getting banged senseless next door. A hero or holyman, can also be the guy who killed someone's son. YOU GUYS ARE ALL TAINTED... ME?
I am destruction, I am Death.. I am the inspiration for the big bad things in the dark. I am the end.
OMEGA!
Heart to Heart
"You awake yet?" Xander asked as he got off the elevator and sat on the edge of the bed where Faith was sleeping.
"Well, I wasn't until about two seconds ago, no" she growled to herself before she sat up and pulled her long dark curly hair from her face. "How are you doing this morning Xand?" she smiled. This was starting to become part of the morning ritual, and she couldn't say it entirely sucked.. erm, well you know. It didn't exactly blow.. nope, she didn't mean that either.
"Nothing much, I'm grand. Just thought I'd bring down my favourite Vampire a cup of swines best.." he smiled handing her the cup.
"God you are an angel!" she beamed taking the hot cup from him. It was the only kinda warmth she actually got these days.
"Well not yet, thankfully, I hear that demention ain't doing so good these days" he joked with her.
"How is everyone tonight?" she said.
"Mostly heading off to bed, B, is over at Willow's tonight. Thought she should give you sometime to yourself for a while.. after that little argument you two had this morning" he said tactfully.
"I see, guess the demon in me IS getting a little too hard to be around these days" she said before taking a sip. "I can't exactly help it you know? I just feel the big bad deep down getting pretty freaking agitated. Something big is going down, I don't care how bad we paint them, most of the time the local demon population is just like a pack of animals and something lately has gotten them all spooked big time" Faith said and she saw Xander shift with growing unease.
"We just gotta keep trying then don't we?" he smiled.
Faith showered and dressed and they headed upstairs to the main office, and they both broke into a fit of giggles, there asleep in the chair was Dawn and Connor. Both had fallen asleep whilst researching the latest reports into the Middle Worlds.
"Those two remind me of what it was like for all of us when this whole thing started" Xander smiled as they went into the next room.
"Yeah, but can you imagine how different their experience is to all this, in a way I, both envy and feel sorry for them. Neither of those two kids were supposed to exist, and this is all they've ever grown up in. This war. They've never known anything different" Faith said as she looked at the two of them curled up beside each other. "But neither of them have ever had to adapt. They've never known what they were missing all this time, cos they never experienced it."
"You think they ever will know anything different to this? This life of war? Of loss?" Xander asked quietly.
"No" Faith said honestly. "Things for them will get worse, only difference for them is, how much longer will we be around to sheild them from the battle before it's their turn to weild the sword" she said before walking downstairs to the kitchen.
Real Girlfriends Dont Cry
Dawn slowly shifted Connors arm off her shoulder and sneaked off the couch, how long had they been laying there like that? Silently she cursed herself. This was getting a little too out of hand, they had spent nearly ALL DAY together. She didn't want to give him the wrong impression.
Hell, what impression DID she want to give him? It wasn't like he wasn't gorgeous. In that tall, dark and brooding kind of a way.. But isn't that what Buffy had always thought of Angel? Yeah, and look at how greatly that one panned out. Glancing over her shoulder she looked at his strong arms and firm waist where she had been not so long ago. Thank God, Buffy wasn't there, she'd be getting SUCH a lecture by now.
She left the room and went into the conference room.
"Morning sleep and Beauty" Faith said.
"Woah!" Dawn said as she nearly jumped out of her skin. "Do you HAVE to do that?" she whispered crossly.
"Sorry, it's a habit, not used to the whole super-stealth thing yet. Comes in handy though for sneaking up B, if she didn't have the whole Vampire sense thing..." Faith said thoughtfully before taking a bite out of her apple.
"Should you even be eating that?" Dawn said looking at the half eaten piece of fruit in her hand.
"Dunno, I mean, we both know I don't even need it. Just helps rinse the taste of that other stuff away you know?" she said softly before walking over to the table and sitting down.
"You been awake long?" Dawn asked.
"All night, I sleep all day remember? Not that I really need to.. lack of it just makes me cranky is all" Faith smiled.
"Like you were with my sister this morning?" Dawn said sympathetically.
"She told you about that huh?" Faith grimanced.
"Yeah, there isn't much these days that gets past the Dawnster" she said as she slumped into the chair beside Faith. A little while ago, Dawn did everything in her power to try and avoid the woman, now, she was so much a part of her family, she didn't know what she'd do without her.
"I wish I had some way of taking this away, the demonness... but I can't. I'm the only one who can jump through the demensional gaps. It tears apart a mortal body remember? And it's the only way we have of communicating with the other worlds. I can't give it up just yet" Faith said sadly.
"She just wants to be close to is all" Dawn comforted.
"I know, but it's that want that could wind up with me changing on you all and killing everybody!" Faith said.
"Angel was always going on about that one too, but he managed alright" Dawn said.
"Yeah, he managed so well that he ended running out on you guys all the way here because he couldn't handle it. I want to be able to handle it Dawnie. I don't wanna leave her the way everyone else in her life has done" Faith explained.
"I know" Dawn said.
"No, you do know, you can see it, but you can't know. When I look at her.. it's like a thousand suns burning up inside me. I love her Dawnie. But I know that won't be enough to save her in the end" Faith said before standing up and throwing her apple core in the bin.
Kiss of Midnight
Buffy pulled off her bathrobe and let her feet guide her across the cold stone tiles of the bathroom. She stood in front of the bath in her semi-nakedness and allowed the water to soak her hands, deciding it was satisfactory she pulled her hair back from her neck and crept under the pulsating stream and allowed it to fall over her face, reaching down like fingers, teasing and tickling the delicate flesh of her skin.
Moaning softly she rubbed the back of her aching shoulders before reaching for the shampoo, honey and vanilla scents erupted gently from the oval shaped bottle. She massaged it into her scalp, each bubble then sliding from her head and along the curve in her spine and down her shoulders, playing lovingly along her bottom before sliding down her aching legs and tickling her toes on their way down the drain.
She shifted her head back below the water, allowing it to kiss along her face and across her mouth and eyelids. It had been a tough hunt that night, her mother was away on business for the gallery. God she was glad, she didn't have to worry about explaining to her why she was coming home at three in the morning covered in blood.
She wiped the blood from her shoulder and then moved on to lather up her stomach and legs with the coconut scented bath gel. Sighing in relief and cupped her hands over the soft mounds of her breasts and began to gently stroke the bubbles away from her belly button and allowed herself to give a relaxed smile as the water trickled them down her legs and between.
The battle had been tough tonight. She wished Faith had accepted her offer to come back and spend the night with her. But also a little glad she had been allowed to have this time alone, she so needed to unwind.
Taking a deep breath she put her head back below the stream of water, allowing it to caress its warmth all over her body once more.
"Yo B!" Faith called as she came into the house through the back door. "Decided to stop by after all, that new landlord of mine.. he's been busting my chops about rent for the last few days.. guess it's better if he sneaking about tonight that I'm here.. don't you think?" Faith joked as she came into the hallway. She hated having to admit to Buffy about her living arrangements.. it wasn't exactly the kind of thing she wanted to advertise to little miss perfect. She didn't want to be some kind of a charity case to her.
"B?" Faith said as she frowned. Slowly she began to sneak up the stairs, she didn't want to wake her Mum, hell knows how Ms Summers would react to having trailer trash Faith lurking about the house for their daughter at this time of night. She walked past Joyce's room and then she remembered that she was away for the night. Grateful, she walked along to Buffy's room, no one was there. Frowning she turned to call out again. Maybe she wasn't home yet?
"Owwwww."
Faith heard Buffy's moans from the bathroom.
SHIT! Angel was here. God she was an idiot, no wonder Buffy had sounded a little bit glad that she had declined her offer to stay the night. Well to hell with this, no way was Faith gonna hang around here and interrupt their little party.
She started to storm down the hallway and had almost reached the top of the stair case when the bathroom door suddenly opened.
"Faith?" Buffy asked.
Faith couldn't do anything but stare for a second, there was little miss perfect in all her perfect little nakedness no more than six feet away from her. She stared dumbfounded at Buffy for a second, mouth half open. Buffy reached for a towel.
"You made it" she smiled, god she looked pretty when she smiled.
"Uh.. yeah, I was in the neighbourhood and I was just passing through.. thought I'd make sure you got home safe, but then I heard moaning or something, so I thought I'd best go" Faith said, still half expecting to see Angel appearing behind her any second now.
"Oh" Buffy giggled, Faith felt a tightening somewhere in her stomach. "No, that was just me.." Buffy said. Wow Sweet Jesus! Was B playing with herself?
"I was just in the shower" she explained, her wet hair beginning to curl slightly as it dripped onto her still bare shoulders.
"I see" Faith responded dumbly. She could have kicked herself for being so stupid.
"Faith?" Buffy asked quietly.
"Yeah?" she answered distractedly.
"Will you stop standing there staring at me like that and kiss me already?" Buffy asked. Faith didn't need telling twice, three quick steps and she had crossed the distance between them and was holding Buffy in her arms, kissing her passionately. She tasted sweet, like sunshine... God, that smell, that wonderful clean, perfect and pure Buffy smell.
Faith grabbed Buffy by the waist as the smaller blonde wrapped her legs around the taller girl's waist. She broke their kiss slightly. Buffy smiled at her as Faith opened the door to the bedroom before pressing her lips back onto the brunette's.
Pressing her back against the bed, Faith threw the towel to one side, her eyes gazing hungrily over the beauty in front of her. Buffy was already peeling back Faith's shirt and top and bra, only her leather pants remained.
"Oh God Buffy, have you any idea how long I've wanted you like this? How long I've needed this?" Faith asked, her breath rasping as Buffy slide her fingers into her hair.
"About half as long as I've wanted to do this.." Omega said before turning back to her true form and shoving her wolf-headed dagger into the back of the girl's skull before throwing the body on the floor and going into the bathroom to pick up the other one she'd left staining the bathroom tiles with her blood.
Revival
Omega wandered silently into the great hall of Korint, this was her last demon god, her last hurdle before she took on the underworld masters. Since her "birth" she had spent most of her time evading them, not that she really needed to. Her father, Caleb, had taught her to keep herself hidden, to never underestimate their strength. Afterall, the slayers had won the important battles since the war between light and dark began. Why else was the world still there? She gazed at the writings on the walls, carved with the bones of the ancients themselves. They were beautiful, their patterns intricate and silken, she smiled, these were more than pictures, they spoke to her. Sang to her.. she could feel them whispering through her core, as timeless and eternal as she was.
The doorway. This was where she was heading, this was what she had been aiming for. The bridge between the realms. Not just any realms. To all realms, to everyting that should, could and would have been. She needed to have all of the dark energies from everywhere. Not just this version of reality. But of all the versions, every doppleganger, every possibilty and eventuality, were within her reach. These walls were made from the same fabric from which she had been created, that had created the First, her building blocks. She looked at the carvings and allowed her fingers to graze its solid frame. A wave of power shifted through her and she smiled, completely intoxicated. This was what she had been searching for, a power to match her own. An energy that could sing to her own and make her glow.
What is everything afterall if not energy? Humans, seek each other out to make these kinds of connections. Slayers, find it through their dreams of one another, every energy... reaches out for the one that will help it resonate that little bit better. Humans call it love.. Demons call it power. The angels called it music.. all want something to sing back to them, to give them.. bliss. Omega looked thoughtfully at the carvings and smiled, soon it would be over. She would have her eternal rest because there would be no end, no start. Just... blankness.
HSSSSSSSSSS!!! Dragthna hissed as he charged at her. Irritated she vamped out and lunged at him, she didn't even need the fangs to feed, there was no demon side inside her, if anything, her soul was completely human, because, whether it was fair or sane.. a human soul, is the fabric of what binds everything together. The same intangible essence that she herself was sprung from. Still, she just liked the way her victims trembled before her when she wore that face. Besides.. it was only fitting really, her first mother had one of those faces now.
Dragthna slithered across the floor, the great halls watch dog, Omega laughed, how many times had Hollywood milked this one? She wondered bitterly as she looked at the large snake demon, it spat its poison at her and she rolled her eyes, she raised her hand and watched as the electrical bolts from her fingers encircled the demon in front of her, when she was done, she noticed the squealing demon was turned entirely inside out, and was now a large circular ball of wriggling, shrieking flesh, whose eyes stared up at her helplessly. Smiling silent she sighed, as much as she would to have loved to have experimented to see exactly how long an immortal beast like that could survive in that condition.. she really needed the last ingredient.
She lifted up the blade of Rowtak, a sword she claimed from the former world of the God Glory, she started viciously hacking and slicing into the beast, she let out a bloody roar, and started lashing out in a frenzy as the cool blade slide easily into flesh, she gave an exasperated gasp as she drew back to catch her breath before hacking into it again, the blood now oozing from the creature was making her task all the more difficult. Bit by bit, blood splattered the walls, blood seeped into those beautiful cracks in the bone and it started to glow, an ancient, warm glow, it engulfed her and when she was satisfied the creature was dead, she lay down in the blood and bathed. Slowly her head fell back, and for the first time since she was born from Buffy's womb, six months ago. She slept. she was home.
The Voice
Do you ever question your existance? Okay I know you mortals are only there to be squashed like bugs and many of you are so unaware of your place that you probably don't even care...
But seriously, do you ever ask about your place in this reality? In this universe. I know I'm doing a lot of demension hopping and killing off loads of WHAT IF versions of myself. Mine is the only reality of consequence. So it's not like it really matters what I do..
But is that all I am? A destroyer? Is that all I exist for? To bring the end of this universe?
To have no love, no hope, no compassion.
I have a mission, a will, a lust for the kill. But is that enough?
Can I justify my existance with that?
Without love and hope and compassion. I am not human.
I already know I am not human. No human is worthy of me.
I have a human soul.
But what does that mean? Is there really any point to my existance if the only mark I leave behind in those who would remember should I perish is scars and burn marks in their flesh.
NO I AM NOT BEING WEAK!
To understand what I am to destroy... I think it only proper that if I am to be the end of everything then I must at least respect and understand what was there in the beginning. I WILL NOT SUFFER THIS INSOLANCE!!! Just because that other mother in the other world said I didn't have to do things this way.. that she loved me and I could have a family does not mean I should cease my function and lose sight of my objective...
I HATE THESE FUCKING HUMAN EMOTIONS!!! how can you suffer each day with these feelings? constantly controlling you... a slave to your own humanity... your own weakness....
I will free you of it all soon though. I will burn the very essence of your love to pieces. I will kill everything you care about. I will free you. I will have my BLISS!!!
The After Years
Katelyn stood nervously behind the large group of people all struggling to see that nights latest duty rota. Not that it was an eagerly awaited event, like to see if you'd gotten that star-role in one of her mother's-day school plays. No, people here weren't wanting their name on that list. To be the nights Runner, that was certain death, and certainly suicidal, to be put on the scavanger squad, that was almost as bad, running through the decay of the old cities which had once been all powerful testiments to the greatness of men, it always made Katelyn laugh. Back then, people's greatest struggle was who got to the top of the corporate ladder, who got the fame.
These days, being the most well-known, most beautiful would only get you killed. You only got an identity among the crowds in the Hives if you'd lived through some real bad shit. Like Caeyra, the Hive leader and best demon slayer they had, there were rumours that one of her parents had BEEN a demon. No one fought better than her, no one matched her. That was why they all followed. Demons feared her name. Like the ancient Greeks hero Achillies, she was invincible.
Shifting through the now thinning crowd, Katelyn stood in front of the sheet. Sure enough, there was her name. K L Hamilton. She felt queesy... what was her post?? The world almost fell out from below her feet. Watch Tower. Numbly she shifted aside.
"What did you get?" Nati asked. Searching the list frantically. Watch Tower. "It's not so bad" Nati tried to comfort.
"Not so bad? Did you forget that almost everynight now we've lost EVERYBODY who was out on that thing?" Katelyn said. If life as a runner, fleeing hundreds of demons and vampires, starving demons and vampires at that. Or being a scavenger and having to run around the streets in the cover of darkness to collect food rations from the ruins of old shops where you can encounter anything wasn't bad enough.. How was standing with a large spotlight in the middle of a large tower with no place else to go? She shuddered. Gangrels. Demons with wings that looked like some sort of satanic angels. She could almost hear their shrill screams as she thought about the nauseating cold climb to the top of that tower.
"It's okay! You're posted with Caerya!" Nati comforted. Almost dumb- struck Katelyn stared at the smaller ginger haired girl. Maybe it wasn't so bad at all. Regaining her composure she went to sign in at the mess hall. She needed to feed up and prepare for that nights activities.
Gateways to Oblivion
Faith sat in her cage twiddling her hair nervously around her finger, she rocked slightly. It was a comfort thing. A nervous habit she'd developed these last few weeks. She could hardly imagine that just weeks before she was running from some Korean chick at Boston High who went by the name of Kendra. Then that WOMAN came and killed her right in front of Faith, next thing she knew, here she was, stuck in some cage.
The cage wasn't even particularly big, about 8 ft by 8 ft. She hadn't been able to gather much information about where she was or what her nameless captor even wanted. One thing was for sure, she wasn't going home anytime soon. She was going to die here. She heard a buzzing sound. Uh oh! SHE was back! Faith hurled herself into the furthest corner of the cage and tried not to make her presence too well felt. Bambi eyes, look at me, all harmless and going along with the scary Purple Haired chick.
Cautiously she watched as Omega dumped the latest kill on the floor in front of the fire. She saw the blade being pulled from the rib-cage and swallowed hard as Omega threw the knife into a bowl of water on the table top.
Noticing her spectator, Omega stood and grabbed the arm of her latest victim, it was another version of her mother. This one was a human slayer though, not a vampire like the REAL one. She sniffed the air it was thick with fear and smoke, the girl needed to change her clothes. Omega surveyed the damage to the outfit the "Faith" in her hand was wearing and compared it to the "Buffy" sitting beside her.
She dragged the corpse of the dead Faith towards the cage where the other one was watching from. She watched as fear gripped the girl's face and she screamed in horror at seeing a dead version of herself. She backed away from the cage and tried frantically to get out of Omega's grasp. Omega rolled her eyes.
"What is that?" Faith cried. "Who was she?"
"You need to change" Omega said bluntly.
"What are you going to do to me? WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE??" the girl wailed again. They went through this same routine nearly everyday. Granted she had never been this close to the bodies Omega brought back from her demension hopping trips.
"You want to stay in those clothes or are you going to swop them for these? I really can't be assed going shopping for you. I tend to imtimidate the sales clerks in case you didn't notice" Omega snapped, her pale red eyes burning angrily.
"Where.. did you get.. her?" Faith cried.
"A similar place I got you" Omega said matter-of-factly before throwing the body into the cage and walking over to her seat at the table.
"You still haven't told me what you want from me... I mean... why aren't I.." she trailed off and looked at the body of her other-self. Omega didn't answer, instead she looked over at the fire and allowed only her thoughts to give her the answer.
Because she didn't want to be alone.
Buffy pulled off her bathrobe and let her feet guide her across the cold stone tiles of the bathroom. She stood in front of the bath in her semi-nakedness and allowed the water to soak her hands, deciding it was satisfactory she pulled her hair back from her neck and crept under the pulsating stream and allowed it to fall over her face, reaching down like fingers, teasing and tickling the delicate flesh of her skin.
Moaning softly she rubbed the back of her aching shoulders before reaching for the shampoo, honey and vanilla scents erupted gently from the oval shaped bottle. She massaged it into her scalp, each bubble then sliding from her head and along the curve in her spine and down her shoulders, playing lovingly along her bottom before sliding down her aching legs and tickling her toes on their way down the drain.
She shifted her head back below the water, allowing it to kiss along her face and across her mouth and eyelids. It had been a tough hunt that night, her mother was away on business for the gallery. God she was glad, she didn't have to worry about explaining to her why she was coming home at three in the morning covered in blood.
She wiped the blood from her shoulder and then moved on to lather up her stomach and legs with the coconut scented bath gel. Sighing in relief and cupped her hands over the soft mounds of her breasts and began to gently stroke the bubbles away from her belly button and allowed herself to give a relaxed smile as the water treakled them down her legs and between.
The battle had been tough tonight. She wished Faith had accepted her offer to come back and spend the night with her. But also a little glad she had been allowed to have this time alone, she so needed to unwind.
Taking a deep breath she put her head back below the stream of water, allowing it to caress its warmth all over her body once more.
"Yo B!" Faith called as she came into the house through the back door. "Decided to stop by after all, that new landlord of mine.. he's been busting my chops about rent for the last few days.. guess it's better if he sneaking about tonight that I'm here.. don't you think?" Faith joked as she came into the hallway. She hated having to admit to Buffy about her living arrangements.. it wasn't exactly the kind of thing she wanted to advertise to little miss perfect. She didn't want to be some kind of a charity case to her.
"B?" Faith said as she frowned. Slowly she began to sneak up the stairs, she didn't want to wake her Mum, hell knows how Ms Summers would react to having trailer trash Faith lurking about the house for their daughter at this time of night. She walked past Joyce's room and then she remembered that she was away for the night. Grateful, she walked along to Buffy's room, no one was there. Frowning she turned to call out again. Maybe she wasn't home yet?
"Owwwww."
Faith heard Buffy's moans from the bathroom.
SHIT! Angel was here. God she was an idiot, no wonder Buffy had sounded a little bit glad that she had declined her offer to stay the night. Well to hell with this, no way was Faith gonna hang around here and interrupt their little party.
She started to storm down the hallway and had almost reached the top of the stair case when the bathroom door suddenly opened.
"Faith?" Buffy asked.
Faith couldn't do anything but stare for a second, there was little miss perfect in all her perfect little nakedness no more than six feet away from her. She stared dumbfounded at Buffy for a second, mouth half open. Buffy reached for a towel.
"You made it" she smiled, god she looked pretty when she smiled.
"Uh.. yeah, I was in the neighbourhood and I was just passing through.. thought I'd make sure you got home safe, but then I heard moaning or something, so I thought I'd best go" Faith said, still half expecting to see Angel appearing behind her any second now.
"Oh" Buffy giggled, Faith felt a tightening somewhere in her stomach. "No, that was just me.." Buffy said. Wow Sweet Jesus! Was B playing with herself? "I was just in the shower" she explained, her wet hair beginning to curl slightly as it dripped onto her still bare shoulders.
"I see" Faith responded dumbly. She could have kicked herself for being so stupid.
"Faith?" Buffy asked quietly.
"Yeah?" she answered distractedly.
"Will you stop standing there staring at me like that and kiss me already?" Buffy asked. Faith didn't need telling twice, three quick steps and she had crossed the distance between them and was holding Buffy in her arms, kissing her passionately. She tasted sweet, like sunshine... God, that smell, that wonderful clean, perfect and pure Buffy smell.
Faith grabbed Buffy by the waist as the smaller blonde wrapped her legs around the taller girl's waist. She broke their kiss slightly. Buffy smiled at her as Faith opened the door to the bedroom before pressing her lips back onto the brunette's.
Pressing her back against the bed, Faith threw the towel to one side, her eyes gazing hungrily over the beauty in front of her. Buffy was already peeling back Faith's shirt and top and bra, only her leather pants remained.
"Oh God Buffy, have you any idea how long I've wanted you like this? How long I've needed this?" Faith asked, her breath rasping as Buffy slide her fingers into her hair.
"About half as long as I've wanted to do this.." Omega said before turning back to her true form and shoving her wolf-headed dagger into the back of the girl's skull before throwing the body on the floor and going into the bathroom to pick up the other one she'd left staining the bathroom tiles with her blood.
When I look at all these different worlds, and all the little attempts all the little people in them make to try and stop me, to save themselves.. to try and make their little existance count. It makes me feel sick. You human beings are sooooo FUCKING PATHETIC!!! My GOD! You honestly think you can stop something YOU ALL CREATED??? I am tired of your little interfering attempts to stop me. IT WON'T WORK MEAKLINGS!! GIVE IT UP ALREADY!!! I have found the Gateways to the Middle Worlds... and NOTHING you can do is gonna help you.
You all curse me and call me the big bad thing in the dark. You call me EVIL and TAINTED.. MAD and CORRUPT. You know what I call you?
WEAK AND SELF-PITYING...
and most of all STUPID! You think my beef is with you?
WRONG>>> even my MOTHER DEARESTS' NEED TO WAKE UP and see THE BIGGER PICTURE... I'm not after any one thing. I'm after it ALL. You call me cruel and unjust. I call myself PURE AND TRUE TO MY NATURE...
What was the line that guy said in that natural born killers movie said? Everything in Nature kills man, cos murder is pure... all your little human mortal souls are full of sin. You were born to sin. A Mother coming home to her kids and husband can also be the whore who was getting banged senseless next door. A hero or holyman, can also be the guy who has killed someone's son. YOU GUYS ARE ALL TAINTED... ME?
I am destruction, I am Death.. I am the inspiration for the big bad things in the dark. I am the end.
OMEGA!
"Please!" the dueller cried out. "Please don't hurt us, we are yours, you have our most humble alligence" he pleaded with Omega as she lifted her Scythe and killed off one of his comrades. The Naswu were a fierce army, one of the most reputed in the underworlds. Whenever there was a great battle to be fought, they were hired out to the highest bidder. The last reports of them fighting on earth had been during the crusades, since then they had devoted themselves to serving Luscian.
She had slaughtered most of them easily and now that she had absorbed Lucian himself, she was merely draining the leftovers. She laughed at his feeble suggestion. It was a pity that the other Hell-God who had reigned here was no longer around, she was certain that Glory would have been a much better challenge.
"Every great Goddess needs an army worthy of her.. Let us be that army, we will serve you without question, and will offer the many heads of your enemies as tribute. If you spare us, we will be your humble slaves and help you bring about and police your mighty empire" he said, as he knelt down on one knee, Omega smiled. Such a fool.
"Do you know my name?" She demanded.
"We have never seen such power, let alone lived long enough in its presence to attempt an action such as ask, but if I may be as bold, I ask you" the dueller beesched her. "What is your name? My Goddess?" he said, raising his head slightly and looking up at her.
"I am the Omega" she growled. She watched the demon's face contort in pain as she reached out a hand and let the fire of the Oristbis pour through her fingers and scorch him. He screamed in pain. "I am the end, the apocolypse. I am your deliverance" she said dismissing him into flames. She drank up the cool essence left behind. This would be too easy. She climbed up the Imperial Steps and stood looking out over the barrion, flaming land, there were others out there, new essences for her to drain. She could sense them. Soon she would bring them all home, soon she would claw them into the darkness with her. She smiled wickedly.
Her dark green eyes burned red for a few brief moments and she watched as the whole world burned, her smile grew wider, she watched the demons flee from their hiding places. Fools, there was no hiding from her. She began to sip all the essences from the air. Soon she would be ready to jump.
...continued in part 11...