Spike groaned, turning in his sleep. A fly landed on his cheek and he waved his hand to get rid of it. He tried to get comfortable but the sand in his bed was slowly seeping into his clothing, making him feel itchy and uncomfortable.
Wait a minute, Spike, he thought. Sand in my bed?
He opened his eyes and blinding sunlight filled his vision. He cursed, holding his coat over his head and looking around for a place to hide away from the burning sun. He scanned around him. He was in a vast desert with nothing to see but sand. A signpost was barely visible off in the distance, but there wasn't much in the way of shelter. He was going to burn up alive here in the desert. It was then that he realised he wasn’t burning. He tentatively pulled the coat from over his head, waiting for his flesh to catch on fire, for the flames to engulf his body, but they didn’t.
He waited a minute, staring at his own flesh as though it were alien. Finally he let out an exultant sound of joy. He was cured! Somehow, he was no longer a vampire.
He thought of everything he could do now, how he could go for walks in the park. He sucked in his cheeks thoughtfully. He probably no longer had the chip either and that meant he could finally punch Xander out. And maybe... maybe he could tell Buffy what had been haunting him for the last few weeks, what had tugged at his insides, bleeding him dry and making him feel like he was bloody burning alive from the inside.
Buffy. Where was she?
He ran towards one of the signs, eyes searching for her in the sand. “Buffy!!" he called. He stared at the sign as though it had offended him. He was about to kick it when the writing caught his eye.
“What..?” He stared at it.
‘Hud vyn du ku,’ the sign said. Spike shook his head. It must be some kind of demonic script. He and Buffy had probably been sucked into a hell dimension. He wished he knew where she was. He decided to walk in the direction the sign pointed. Wherever he was headed it couldn’t be worse than where he was now.
……………………………………………….
Buffy groaned, her eyes fluttering open. She frowned. The last thing she could remember? Spikes crypt! Spike did this. She felt a surge of anger and sorrow. Sitting up, she realised she was in a house of some kind. Woven rugs covered the floor. Her jacket and scarf hung on the wall. She stood up, taking her stuff from the hook. She could hear voices outside.
“You really think she’s from Zanarkand?” a deep, womanly voice came through the door in a disapproving tone.
“I… I don’t know, but she appeared out of nowhere, and the pyreflies... I don’t know why, but I have a feeling about her,” a soft, voice answered. “And anyway, I can’t just leave her here at Djose.”
Buffy shook her head, annoyed. She could only understand half of what they were saying. Djose? Pyreflies?
“I’ll go check to see if she’s awake,” the second girl said. As the door began to open, Buffy prepared herself for battle.
A girl walked into the room in a long purple pleated skirt, a white halter-necked top and a ridiculously large yellow bow on her back. She looked like a giant birthday present. Buffy cautiously dropped her fighting stance.
Upon seeing her awake the other girl looked slightly startled. “Oh, hello. I am the summoner, Yuna, from the isle of Besaid.”
“Uh, wha...? Oh, I’m Buffy, from... California. Um, ‘summoner?’ Huh?”
“Oh. As a summoner, it is my sacred duty to protect Spira from Sin.”
“Wow, this whole ‘sacred duty’ thing gets shared around a lot these days.”
“Yuna, we have to go,” a Hawaiian-sounding accent floated in through the door. Buffy looked questioningly at Yuna.
“Hey.”
The worst hair that Buffy had ever, EVER seen came through the door, literally followed by the head attached. Buffy’s eyes widened and she stared at the strange spectacle before her. Yellow chaps covered blue-black board shorts and a strange... well, it could be described as a shirt. Maybe. The clothes may have been considered only unusual if not for the hair. Standing four inches high in the front in the shape of an orange wave, with the rest of it spiked up. The sight itself would have given Cordelia an aneurism.
“Are we ready to go?” he asked.
Yuna turned. “She only just woke up. I don’t know if she’s strong enough yet.”
“Yeah, and all this said as though I weren’t even here,” Buffy commented to herself. To her surprise, Yuna turned around, a horrified look on her face and bowed in apology.
“Forgive me. I didn’t mean to… I am sorry.”
“Whoa,” Buffy shook her head. “I didn’t mean for it to be a big thing. I was just saying... Never mind. Where are we supposed to be going?”
“Forgive me. I did not ask you. We are currently in the Djose Temple Inn. We are going to the Moonflow and from there, we go to Guadosalam. I thought ... I wanted to ask you to come with us because when you appeared I thought that you must be from Zanarkand.”
Buffy realised that with all the weird, she had forgotten about Sunnydale, about Dawn, and about Spike.
“Spike. Do you know who he is?”
Yuna seemed to consider this question. She held her arms, clad in flowing, floor length material, out to the side. “I am afraid I do not know him. Perhaps someone in Guadosalam will?”
Buffy chewed her lip. “Okay, I’ll go with you to this Gaudysammy place. It’s not like I know anyone else here."
Yuna looked delighted. “We must leave at once. I delayed our departure to make sure you were okay.”
“Ah, it's no biggie,” Buffy waved the situation away. “I've been through worse. Though once I get my hands on Spike...” She left her plans for what to do with the vampire hanging in the air.
“Why are we wasting time?” a gruff voice asked. “We must leave as soon as possible.”
“We are coming,” Yuna called.
Buffy followed her out of the bedroom and found herself in the strangest building she’d ever been in. The shop was painted in a variety of colours, filled with strange bottles and unique weapons. A glowing orb sat in one corner. Buffy ran her fingers longingly over the weapons, her breath catching when one of the swords caught her eye. It was finer than the others. The blade was only three-inches across and was silver in colour, its black grip set with an ornate silver cross. She looked at it in awe. Yuna came up behind her, startling her.
“Oh, for…”
“Hey, no more forgive-me-ness, got it?” Buffy looked at the other girl, realising that her eyes were two different colours.
“Fo--. Okay.” She bowed. Buffy cast a regretful look at the sword, turning to leave.
“Would you like it?” Yuna asked.
“Huh?” Buffy had no idea what the girl was on about.
“This sword. You looked like... If you want it I will get it for you.”
“Oh, no. I could never... It would cost...”
“Don’t worry,” Yuna said. She picked the sword up from the shelf, placing it on the counter. A minute later she handed the sword to Buffy with a slight bow.
Disturbed by the noise, one of the native animals of the area, began doing laps around the counter. No one else seemed to notice. Buffy’s jaw dropped. It was small, with a body like a squirrel and a face like a kitten,
“That is soo cute!” Buffy exclaimed.
A tall man, clad in red, turned grumpily to her. Most of his face was concealed by a very high collar and dark glasses. “We have wasted enough time!”
Buffy had the feeling that he expected her to bow the way that Yuna did. She caught herself and looked miffed. “Sorry,” she said, just as grumpily.
She walked out of the inn, daylight falling on her. She closed her eyes, basking in the warmth, when she opened them again, she gasped. A large demon was looming over her, ferocious yellow eyes staring out of a blue, furred face. She looked wildly around, wondering why no one else had noticed it. A woman in a black dress came towards her, gliding over the ground like a princess, her head held high. She turned to place a disapproving look at Buffy.
“I see we have picked up another one,” she stated.
Yuna cleared her throat. “Everyone! Everybody, this is Buffy," she introduced Buffy to those gathered around. She motioned towards the graceful woman in black.
“This is Lulu, and he," she pointed to the strangely dressed man with the bad hair, "is Wakka. This is Sir Auron,” she nodded towards the grumpy red-clad man “and he is Kimahri.” To Buffy’s surprise, Yuna pointed to the large, blue-furred creature. “He is a Ronso.” She explained, in an abstract answer to Buffy’s unspoken question.
“Oh, okay.”
“Oh!” Yuna exclaimed. “Where did Tidus go?”
“Heh!” A boy came running out of the inn, long spiky blond hair waving wildly in the breeze. “Wait up!”
Yuna turned, “And this is Tidus.”
“Oh. Er, hey” he said, giving her a questioning look.
“I’m Buffy,” she said, offering her hand.
“Come along,” Auron said. “Enough time wasted.”
……………………………………………….
Spike stopped in front of yet another sign. After wandering around for several hours, he was getting bloody tired and pissed off with whatever hell god had sucked him into this dimension.
'Home ec haynpo'
“Bloody hell!” Spike announced, delivering a kick to the sign. It flew out of the ground, landing several metres off in the distance. He stared in the direction the sign had gone and saw a dark shape off in the horizon. He walked towards it eagerly. Buffy might be there, or Dawn.
Dawn had mysteriously vanished only a short time before he and Buffy were sucked into this other world, so it stood to reason that she must have been brought here too.
Spike’s face was beginning to burn. He had forgotten that the sun had that effect on humans. He grinned to himself as he thought about it. He was human...
He grimaced at the thought of actually living in a place like this, although he had seen a few animals off in the distance that had run away whenever he approached. He couldn’t imagine how they could survive in this desert.
Slowly, a city began to loom in front of him, looking like a strange, mismatched collection of tin cans stacked on top of each other. Though it looked like chaos, the vibe it exuded was peaceful. Strange beasts pulled brightly coloured machines, strange figures waved their arms and shouted to each other, and bright flags waved in the hot desert breeze.
Spike stood on the rise above the city, looking down at the movement below. Suddenly, he was hit in the back with what felt like a taser and he blacked out.
……………………………………………….
Buffy’s head was spinning. Everything that had happened, it was too strange. Vampires she could deal with; she’d just defeated Dracula. The Dracula. She was coping with the constant personality clashes between she and Riley. True, sometimes by crying herself to sleep, but she was dealing. So why couldn’t she look after her kid sister for one week? And now she was in this screwed up place. She shook her head. Maybe...
Her thoughts were cut short as a giant demon plunged onto the path in front of them. It resembled a giant flower, huge vine-like tentacles thrashed in the air and from its upturned mouth exuded a stench worse than anything she’d ever smelled… even the roasty toasty mayor.
Clasping her sword in her hand, she prepared herself for a big fight. Auron, Yuna and Lulu, however, calmly stepped forward as though this were nothing new to them. As the giant plant demon thrashed its tentacles and spat a viscous liquid at them, they dodged and attacked. Buffy plunged her sword into its springy flesh. Auron viciously slashed at it, taking a large chunk out of its side as it oozed green blood everywhere. Lulu raised her arms and to Buffy’s great surprise, a ball of fire shot towards it, engulfing it in a flame that it tried to slap out with its tentacles.
It shot forward with a viny limb, slapping Buffy in the side and leaving her winded. Auron grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away from the beast as Yuna calmly spun her staff in circles. Buffy watched, entranced, as a flicker of flame fell from the bottom of the staff, spreading across the ground in a great cross. She tried to step forward but Auron held her back as suddenly, the earth seemed to erupt and Yuna was thrown high into the air by what looked like a meteor.
Straining her eyes to see, Buffy realised that another demon, with large horns on its’ head and flame hanging, like tassels from its’ limbs, had taken hold of the girl as it too fell to the ground. Yuna, however, seemed unafraid and the great, red furred beast gently put her on the ground, turning towards the writhing, spitting plant.
What followed was so strange that Buffy could scarcely believe it. At a word from Yuna, the new demon attacked the plant with its’ claws and fiery breath. The plant finally shuddered, falling on its side and dissolving into a pillar of shining orbs which rose in the air where they seemed to disappear.
“Wha...? What was that?” Buffy gasped.
“That,” Lulu answered, stepping forward, “...was a fiend, a soul of the dead that stays on in this world. They are angry at the living and so attack us. There will be plenty more on the way. If you cannot handle it, I’m sure the rest of us can protect you.”
“Cannot handle..? Wait a minute. I can so kick their arses.”
“She does have potential as a warrior,” Auron said, taking his long, slow strides forward. “I’m sure that given practise, she would make an acceptable guardian.”
Buffy was furious. They wouldn’t last two seconds against the Master, Adam, or any of the other monsters she had gone up against.
“Given pract…? I fight dead things all the time!” She shook her head, frustrated.
“Please,” Yuna stepped forward, shadowed by the looming demon. “Do not argue. I’m sure we all want the same thing... to defeat Sin. I would like... I would like Buffy to come along with us. Maybe, maybe not as my guardian, but as a companion.”
The boy called Tidus stepped forward. “You. You’re not from Zanarkand, are you?”
Buffy shook her head. “Listen, I don’t know where this Zanarkand place is. I just want to get home and find my sister.”
Tidus nodded. “Yeah, I just wanna get home too." He had a faraway look in his eyes and Buffy decided not to question it. He sort of reminded her of Will in a strange way. They both had the same bubbly attitude, although he was a little over the top, swinging his giant sword around and cheering whenever someone said something he approved of.
Yuna was standing a short distance away from the red demon. As Buffy watched, Yuna held her staff and the demon vanished in a puff of smoke. Buffy blinked.
“I assume you are as clueless as Tidus,” Lulu said evenly, noticing Buffy. “Yuna is a Summoner. She is one of the few who can defeat Sin.”
“What’s this sin business? You keep saying it and it makes zero sense.”
“Sin is a great evil that was brought upon us a thousand years ago. It ravages villages and kills many people. No one is safe so long as Sin remains. A Summoner's sacred duty is to travel from temple to temple, praying at each, all the way to Zanarkand where they will receive the final Aeon and defeat Sin," Lulu explained.
Tidus’ answer to this was a loud whoop while everyone else stood in an uncomfortable silence. Yuna looked as if she wanted to change the subject.
“Okay, so Sin is, like, a big demon. Got it. And Yuna can kill it. But what is an Aeon?”
“Ifrit, the fire demon you just saw, he is one Aeon. They are powerful beings, brought forth by summoners.” Lulu continued.
“Okay, so we go to a bunch of temples, collect Aeons and fight Sin,” Buffy nodded. “It... it sounds kinda simple. Why hasn’t anyone else done it?”
“My father, Lord Braska, he defeated Sin. Ten years ago,” Yuna looked sad.
Auron stepped forward. “We have talked enough for now, we must continue.”
Buffy noticed Tidus giving the tall man strange looks. “Wow, he’s, like, super grouch, isn’t he?” Buffy said.
“Yeah, he’s always been like that,” Tidus said, suddenly getting an exultant grin on his face. “Let’s go get Sin!”
Buffy was left with major confusion. That kid was weird. She shrugged it off. Nobody else around here was exactly normal.
“He-ey!” Wakka called. “You comin’?”