“Spike!” Buffy called, alarmed. For no good reason the vampire had collapsed to the ground.
Spike returned to the present, every part of his being sang with the knowledge that Buffy was alive and well and right here before him. “Buffy, where’s Dawn, have you seen her?”
“Dawn’s fine- well, she’s safe, she’s back at home, in Sunnydale.”
At this point Auron re-entered the room and began arguing with Cid.Buffy turned to cast an anxious glance at the two of them.
“Don’t worry.” Spike reassured her, standing up. “They’ll be fine.”
Buffy turned around, back to Spike and put the full force of her gaze on him. “You would know, wouldn’t you? It is your game, right, the one I saw back in your crypt?”
Spike nodded. “Seems to be.”
“Okay, I’m only going to ask you this once, did you put me here.”
Spike looked as though he’d been slapped. “No. Buffy, I didn’t..”
“Okay, Spike, I’ll believe you.”
Spike frowned, that was funny, usually she’d just punch him in the nose and ask again. And when she’d seen him, when she said ‘Spike’, it wasn’t in a voice full of fury, disgust or any of the other emotions that she usually said his name in, it was as though she was relieved to see him.
He shook his head, it was crazy, he was still holding on to a thread of hope, a tiny chance that one day she might see past what he was and give a damn about who he was.
“Okay, we need to find Yuna, do you know where she is?”
“Uh, let me think for a sec, I only just worked out when in the game we are. Yuna..” He sucked his cheeks in, in concentration. Buffy looked away, not because he was a vampire, not because he was a fiend, but because a brief thought had flashed across her mind in that moment- wow, look how blue his eyes are.
“Oh!” Spike said, interrupting Buffy’s attempts to squish her thoughts. “Bevelle, the Guado, they stole Yuna and took her to Bevelle where she was forced to marry Seymour!”
Buffy frowned. “But.. Seymour’s dead?”
“Yeah..” He looked as though he was about to explain but she shook her headd, she killed plenty of things that were dead, they’d killed Seymour, they could kill him again.
She shook her head. “We’re wasting time, so.. Yuna’s in Beville?”
“Bevelle.”
“I have to tell the others..”
“Whoa.” Spike grabbed her arm. “What, are you a guardian now?”
She raised burning green eyes to his blue ones. “Yes, I am, and I need to help Yuna.”
Spike was taken aback, his slayer, a guardian? It was a funny thought and somehow it all fit. She went to tell Rikku and he stopped her again.
“Wait, Slayer, you can’t just tell them you know where she is, they’ll think you’re in league with those bleedin’ Guado.”
Buffy chewed her lip. “But..”
“I’m not gonna let any Yevon laws or harebrained teachings send my little niece to her death!” Cid announced, up until now Buffy had been ignoring the argument but she turned as he said this.
“What.. Niece?” Buffy frowned, that explained a lot.
Spike nodded. “Yuna’s mother was Cid’s sister.”
“Oh, well.. I have to tell them..”
“Vydran, e vuiht ran!”
“Huh?”
“They found her.” Spike said.
“Yuna?” Buffy ran over to the sphere, she saw Yuna, her hair pulled up a lot like Buffy’s and Rikku’s, she was dressed in a backless, white dress, small white wings on her back and feathers lining the bottom part of her dress as it parted, in the centre, just above her knees, sitting on the ground like a cloak as she walked. She was covered in a shimmering, see through veil and Buffy glared as a blue haired being she had come to hate came into view.
The scene disappeared leaving a room full of shocked faces.
“Where was that!?” Tidus asked, hotly.
“The Palace of St Bevelle, heart of Yevon.”
Spike snorted in contempt as Lulu said this. Yevon? He shook his head and began searching his clothes for smokes, he knew all about Yevon.
Tidus pumped his fist in the air. “Gramps, let’s move.”
“Easy, kiddo.” Cid said. “Bevelle’s defences are top notch.
“Oh we can kick all their asses.” Buffy said, coming to stand beside him.
“Yeah, Yuna’s there, so we go get her, and that’s all.” Tidus added.
Cid looked like he was about to agree when Rikku stepped forward, shaking her head. “What’s Seymour doing alive, didn’t we take care of him in Macalania.”
“He’s dead.” Auron answered, shifting his weight. “ His attachment to this world has kept him here.”
Buffy had an urge to ask him. ‘Like you?’ She didn’t though and contented herself with giving Auron a knowing look.
“Okay, full speed ahead!” Cid called.
“So.” Buffy turned to Spike. “What have you been doing since we got here?”
“See this ship?” Spike asked, waving his hands around. “Getting it ready to go.”
“Okay, how come you know how to speak Al Behd?”
“I know how to speak lots of languages.” He frowned. “Damn, I left them at Home.”
“Left what?”
“Nothing. Well, languages.. I can speak all sorts, French, Latin, Ancient Sumerian, several demon dialects, oh, and I can speak English, which is more than I can say for you bloody Americans.”
Buffy looked shocked, Spike let out a soft chuckle.
“Whoa!” Brother called.
“What?” Buffy answered.
“Look.” Wakka pointed.
Buffy looked out of the window, something large was flying beside them, with a lizard shaped body and translucent wings, it was obviously a dragon.
“The great Wyrm Evrae, guardian of Bevelle.” Lulu explained.
“That’s it, all they have to guard the place is a worm?” Buffy stared out of the window.
Auron stepped forward. “It is not the dragon king- still, do not underestimate it’s power.”
“Get up on deck, we’re gonna fight that thing.” Cid called.
“Buffy, c’mon.” Rikku called, stopping in the doorway and waving.
Buffy turned to Spike, half bowing as she left, at loss for anything to say.
“Wait, Buffy, I’m coming!” Spike called.
“Hold your chocobos, son.” Cid called to Spike.
“I have no time.” Buffy answered, turning before she left.
“What?” Spike turned to Cid, annoyance clearly showing in his sapphire eyes.
Cid looked fierce as he stared at Spike, then his face visibly softened. “You look after my girls, look after yourself as well. I’m proud to call you an Al Behd, and, uh..” He cleared his throat. “If you ever decide you want to stay, I’d be glad to call you my son as well.”
Spike didn’t know what to say, a few months back, before he got this sodding chip he would have ripped Cid’s throat out as soon as talk to him. At that moment he realised something, everything had changed, forever. He was never going to be the same again, nothing was. It wasn’t the chip, it wasn’t Buffy, it wasn’t his sudden trip to Spira that no-one could have predicted, it went deeper than any one thing. It was a culmination of everything that had happened, the roller coaster of events and emotions that he’d been travelling for months and now he had gotten off the roller coaster to find he was nowhere near where he had started and he never wanted to be there again.
“Watcha standin’ around for, get on up there and fight that worm!” Cid roared.
Spike stepped sedately out of the door, into the hall and, suddenly, he found himself running, towards so much, running towards the battle, running towards Buffy, running towards the future.
“Hey!” He called as the hatch opened and everyone piled onto the lift. He raced, jumping up onto it.
“Wait! Spike, it’s sunlight up there..”
“Don’t worry, love.”
“But, Spike.”
“The sun here is the nice, non-lethal type, you’ll see.”
“Hey.” Cid called through the loudspeaker as they arrived on deck, wind buffeting their faces, blowing their clothes around and whipping their hair over their faces.
“This is the quickest thing in the air, so if you want me to move it just gimme a yell and I’m right on it.”
Spike ran over to the edge of the deck as the giant creature noticed them and flew over to where they were standing. It arched its’ long, muscled neck aver the deck, noxious breath and sharp teeth hanging over the lot of them.
Buffy and Auron jumped towards its’ head from either side, both stabbing towards it’s neck. Buffy felt a feeling of satisfaction as her sword plunged into its’ flesh, claws and tail flailing.
As she pulled back, however, she realised that it was an Aeon, the blood that fell from its’ neck wounds shimmered as it hit the deck, disappearing into twinkly light.
The dragon began to writhe around, lashing out with it’s long claws and breathing poisonous breath all over them.
As Buffy swept her sword at it’s side it lashed out with a claw, slashing Lulu open completely.
“Lulu!” Buffy screamed, racing over to where the black mage lay, motionless on the deck. She was stopped as Evrae swept it’s tail towards her, nearly knocking her off her feet. “Lulu!”
She jumped to her feet but Kimahri got there first, he reached into his pocket, pulling out what appeared to be a shimmering feather. She frowned as he dropped the feather over Lulu, it floated down and she was, suddenly, engulfed in a blinding, white light.
Evrae chose this moment to try to bite Buffy’s head off, she ducked, plunging upwards with her sword.
“Buffy, get down.” After fighting demons with Spike Buffy knew better than to question him when he said this, she hit the deck as a spray of bullets shot over her head, filling the great Wyrm with lead.
Buffy jumped up, looking at Spike, up until this moment he’d been delivering kicks and punches to it. She was distracted as she saw Lulu stepping forward to deliver the finishing stroke, a shard of ice that severed its’ head from it’s body.
“Lulu.. But, how?” Buffy stared at her as she casually dusted herself off, everything about her- even her dress- intact.
“But..”
“Pheonix down.” Spike told her, staring at the pyrelfies as they filled the sky.
“You haven’t had to use it yet? What about potions?”
“Um, I don’t think so..” Buffy thought about the shining, healing light that they occasionally created. “Maybe.. So ‘pheonix down’ brings people..”
“Back from the dead? Yeah.”
“So, why don’t they use it on everyone in Spira?”
Auron stepped forward. “Pheonix down only works on those who have just died, and only if they were killed fighting for a just cause.”
“So.. Why didn’t someone use one on you, I mean, I assume you were fighting for a just cause?”
Auron was quite visibly taken aback, he stared at the Slayer as though she had grown horns, this reaction very quickly vanished and he took her arm, leading her away from the others, though Spike followed.
“You knew?”
“Oh, come on, ‘why are you still here, Sir’ Seymour speaks shit a lot of the time but.. obvious much? If Tidus wasn’t so blonde he’d know too.”
“I would..” Auron cleared his throat. “I would prefer if this remained confidential..”
“Yeah, I know, no biggie, you’re not the only dead guy around here.”
Buffy looked past him at Spike, the sun shone through the clouds, playing on his white blonde curls, his blue eyes exposed his soul to the world- thoughts, Buffy mentally corrected herself, it exposed his thoughts, she felt a wave of sadness as she thought this, she had forgotten that he had no soul. But as she watched a look played across his face and she recognised it, she’d last seen this look in Guadosalam, on the Farplane. It was the look of a poet, a dreamer, a man in love and any of the other many things that made up William.