DestinyBy PSUBrat
Warning: Chapter contains character death
The First of Many"Xander? Xander wake up," Anya pleaded as she shook him several times. She had wakened a few minutes before and was not at all happy to find that they had been separated from the others.
"Hmmmm?" He asked sleepily. "Just a few more minutes, An. The alarm hasn't even gone off yet."
"Xander LaVelle Harris, wake up this instant!" She demanded firmly as she punched him in the arm, hard enough to get her point across.
"What?" He demanded grouchily. "What is so important that it can't wait until morning?"
She glared at him. "Open your damn eyes and you might understand."
Slowly he opened his eyes, looked around and then sat bolt upright. The sun was no longer high in the sky but was setting over the horizon causing everything to be a deep shade of purple. "Wait. Weren't we just with...?"
"Yes."
"And didn't we just see...?"
"Yes."
His mouth dropped open as if to say something but he just gaped instead. After collecting himself, he continued. "Okay, so...what does this mean?" He asked, gesturing with his hands and then scrunching up his face. "And why am I still in this damn dress?"
"I'm guessing, and it's just a guess here, that we've been chosen to face our trials first. As for the dress, it's not a dress, not really. It's called a tunic and was quite fashionable at one time."
He looked at her with an exasperated expression. "Luck and me…Two things that don't go together. Ever. I wonder why we got picked to go first?"
"Oh I don't know. Maybe because you're the only real human of the group? I mean I'm human too, now, but I was once a demon and a pretty good one at that. Giles and Wesley are human but they're both very powerful magic casters, same with Willow and Tara."
"So prey on the weakest link first type thing?"
"Yes. That's what I would have done when I was a demon. You always want to find the weakest and take them out first. Get it over and done with. Makes things tidier in the end."
He shook his head and looked away from her. Leave it to Anya to tell it like it is and not even bat an eyelash doing it. Wonderful. Now what? They were alone and it was getting darker by the minute. He figured it was just a matter of time before it was pitch black. Standing up, he surveyed the area. There wasn't much around but rocks and sand. "We should probably look for weapons or something," he stated, thinking that it would be a good idea just in case their trials didn't involve hugs and puppies.
"I've already looked, when I was waiting for you to wake up. There's not much here. Just some rocks."
"I wonder when things are going to get started? Not that I'm excited to get this show on the road or anything but if I'm gonna die...actually, I'd rather not die."
"Xander don't be silly. You're not going to die."
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a circle of torches lighted around them. "Uh, An? Where did they come from?"
***
"Is everyone alright?" Giles asked with concern as he picked himself up off the ground. The last thing he remembered was a bright light and then blackness. Blinking hard, he tried to take in the group. Everyone appeared to be fine.
Wesley stood, trying to test his equilibrium. He wasn't sure how long they had been unconscious; it couldn't have been too long since the sun hadn't moved in the sky. Perhaps it had just been an instant.
"I think we're all okay," Willow replied while helping Tara to her feet. "What do you think that was?"
"A translocation," Wesley responded looking grim. He had begun scanning their surroundings when the thought had occurred to him.
"A who?" Cordelia asked with a frown.
"A translocation," Giles repeated in a whisper. "Who's missing? Is everyone accounted for?"
"Xander's missing!" Dawn suddenly yelled; eyes wide and full of fear.
"So's Anya," Tara added.
"Then it's started," Wesley stated with a sigh. "There's nothing we can do now."
"So...what? Are we just gonna get picked off by pairs now? Is that what they're going to do?" Cordelia demanded as she stepped into the middle of the group. "Cause I gotta say, if that's the case, it sucks."
"Quite." Giles agreed as he sat down on a large rock.
"Why did they take Xander and Anya first? I know someone had to go first, but why them?" Willow asked on the verge of tears. Her best friend since childhood was now out there somewhere facing something awful and she couldn't be there to help him. It was too much.
Giles looked at his hands and shook his head. "I don't know Willow. I don't suppose there's neither rhyme nor reason as to how we're going to be picked. We just will be."
Wesley walked over to the rock and sat down next to Giles. He was deep in thought. "I'm sure," he mussed. "That there is a pattern to the choosing, but we won't understand it until the next pair has been taken. I know that's not what everyone wants to hear, but we have no choice."
"You mean we can't even try to find them?" Dawn asked as she clung to Connor.
"I'm afraid not," Wesley replied. "We have no idea where they have been taken, if they're even in this dimension."
"I could try a locator spell," Willow suggested, quickly sitting down on the ground and crossing her legs.
"That's not a good idea," Giles stated as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You need to save your powers. You have no idea what your trials will entail."
"I can't just leave them out there!"
"Yes, Willow. I'm afraid you're going to have to. There is no choice in the matter."
"There has to be something!" Willow cried, anger rising up within her.
Wesley shook his head. "I'm sorry Willow, but Giles is right. We cannot help them through this."
***
Xander placed a protective arm around Anya as his eyes quickly swept the area within the lighted circle. It was a large circle, about one hundred feet in diameter but he could see nothing beyond it. It was as if nothing else existed but them and the fire. "This can't be of the good," he whispered, holding on to Anya tighter than before. "Have you seen anything like this before?"
"No. Never. I've seen a lot of things in my time but I've never been part of an attempted Last Judgment. Heard stories, yes, but never thought they were true. Demons like to talk big, ya know. Like 'I was there' or 'you should have seen what I did to the guy who tried it'. Stuff like that."
"Well," Xander stated as his eyes widened at the sight of a demon entering the ring. "I think you better start remembering some of those stories cause we're about to get underway."
The demon lumbered into the circle, eyes fixed on its prey. It didn't know how it had gotten here or why, but it knew it had been hired to destroy these two humans.
"It's a Fyarl demon." Anya stated matter of factly.
"You mean the same thing that Giles turned into that last time Ethan came to town?" He asked turning towards his girlfriend, eyes wide.
"That's the one."
"Okay. So let's kill this thing," he stated stepping forward as anger began to take control of him.
"Xander no! We can't just kill him by breaking his neck or anything. We need silver."
"Silver?"
"Fyarl demons can be killed by anything silver."
"News flash here, look around, there's nothing even remotely silver available to us."
"I know that, but maybe I can remember a spell to turn a rock into silver or something."
"I think you better think fast with that spell cause he's looking kinda hungry." Silver or no, he was going to take this thing out...with his bare hands if need be.
"Just keep him busy."
"Uh, right. How do you suggest I do that?" He asked as he watched her draw a circle around herself in the sand. "Play tiddly winks with him?"
"Do whatever you think is best, sweetie."
"Right," he stated as he frantically looked around for something to keep the monster at bay. Suddenly an idea crossed his mind. "Okay big boy, let's see what you can do with fire." Grabbing a torch out of the ground, he jabbed at the demon, which notably flinched away. "Ah ha! So not big with the fire, huh?"
The demon eyed the boy with the fire cautiously. Fire bad. All it wanted was to crush the male and then have some fun with the female.
Xander felt, more than saw the demon lunge for Anya. In a matter of seconds, he had moved to place his body between that of the demon and Anya who had started chanting something. "No way are you going to touch my girlfriend," he growled as the anger finally consumed him. He lunged at the demon, fire in hand and jabbed at it with the torch over and over. The demon howled in pain as its flesh singed and burned. "I'm really tired," <jab> "of having to fight demons," <jab, jab> "who want to hurt the women I love."
Anya, silver dagger now in hand, looked up in time to see the mucous shoot out of the demon's nose. "Xander watch out!" But the warning was too late. She watched helplessly as Xander's body was encased in the paralyzing mucous.
Xander fell to the ground with a thud. He tried to get back up but found he couldn't move. His eyes widened in horror as the demon picked him up, and began crushing him. He heard his bones snapping as the pain became blinding and hot, his life flashing before him in a series of pictures and sounds. He thought he heard Anya scream something before he felt himself fall to the ground in a broken heap.
Anya stood over the demon, her hands bloody and shaking. She watched quietly as the body disappeared from sight, not understanding why or how. Turning she ran over to Xander and kneeled beside him. "I told you to distract him, not attack him. Why didn't you listen to me?" She was distraught as she looked at him, his body bleeding and struggling for breath. "You never listen to me. Why don't you ever listen to me?" She was almost hysterical now.
"I-I'm sorry," he managed to reply between gasps. "I was just trying to protect you."
"Why do you have to be so loyal?" She demanded as she struggled to not sob in front of him.
"I told you nothing good would ever come out of your relationship," a voice stated from behind them.
***
Anya turned her head to peer over her shoulder, searching for the source of the voice. At first she saw nothing, but then a darkly clad figure stepped into the circle. Quietly she watched as the form removed the hood of the cloak. She inhaled sharply as recognition set in. "Halfrek!"
"Anyanka," Halfrek stated with disdain.
Turning back to Xander, she tried to make him as comfortable as possible. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow, if she didn't get him help soon she wasn't sure he would make it. "Thank goodness you're here," she cried. "Xander's hurt. I'm afraid he might be..." She couldn't bring herself to say the word.
Anya's back was still to her so she knew that her friend couldn't see the smile that was slowly creeping across her face. "And that affects me how?"
Anya frowned as she slowly turned around. "What?" She demanded, freezing at the sight of Halfrek's expression, terror and dread began coursing through her body.
Halfrek laughed at the look of horror on Anya's face. "My dear friend… Did you think I came to help you after everything?"
Tears streamed down Anya's cheeks as she shook with a mixture of fright and anger. She didn't have time to get into this with Halfrek, not now, not with Xander so close to death. Taking a deep breath and straightening up, she moved to stand in front of her friend. Crossing her arms over her chest, she hugged herself closely as she looked at her friend through watery eyes. "Are you going to help me or not?"
"Let me think about that a second," Halfrek replied with a smirk as she tilted her head to the side as if contemplating the request. Her eyes narrowed as she continued. "I believe my answer is, not."
"What?" Anya asked, shocked and somewhat appalled at her friend's behavior. "Xander is dying. How can you just stand there and not help me?"
She sighed as she looked over at the broken form on the ground, her tone deadly serious. "Very easily. I'm not here to help. Think about it Anyanka. Why would I be here now, of all times?"
Still hugging herself, a look of confusion spread over Anya's face. "I don't know what you mean."
"Yes you do, Anyanka."
Anya suddenly gasped as she finally realized what Halfrek was getting at. "No. No you can't be," she whispered.
"But I am, and I'm going to kick your sorry excuse for a demon ass all over this circle and there won't be a damn thing you can do about it."
"Why are you so spiteful? What have I ever done to you Halfrek? I took you in and gave you a job when you became human..."
"That's it right there. Even after you became a demon again you just couldn't leave your humanity behind, could you? No. You had to drag me into it by pleading with me to help your little mortal friends. And what did I get in return, certainly not your thanks or theirs for that matter. I was punished. I had the one thing taken away from me that made me who I am."
"Don't you dare blame me for your problem, Halfrek! You didn't have to help. You chose to help knowing full well what the punishment would be if you did!"
"Whatever. I have another appointment to go to. Can we just fight now?"
"I'm not going to fight you Hali." Her face showed her exhaustion as her shoulders slumped.
"You don't have a choice you know. It's either kill or be killed. What's it going to be Anyanka?"
Anya slowly looked over to where Xander's broken body lay on the ground. There was no movement and she couldn't tell if he was still breathing. She needed him to be okay but she also knew that it was up to her to get him help. If that meant having to kill someone she had been a friend with for centuries, then so be it, Xander was more important. Turning back to Halfrek, she glared at the woman before she spoke. "Alright. Fine. Let's get this over with."
"Splendid," Halfrek stated smiling sweetly. "The rules are; there are no rules. Oh, and your demon powers have been returned to you to make this a fair fight. Let's just see who can summon the worst thing possible on the other."
"How about we just go for an old fashion cat fight first?" Anya asked as she tackled Halfrek to the ground. She rolled Halfrek onto her back and grabbed a handful of hair, tugging hard.
"Ow! Stop that!" Halfrek exclaimed as she grabbed a handful of Anya's hair and pulled. While holding onto Anya's hair with one hand she began trying to scratch her face with other.
"Bitch!" Anya screamed as one nail raked her cheek, taking a small layer of skin with it, beads of blood forming in its place. She let go of Halfrek's hair and began punching her face.
As Anya began to gain the upper hand by trying to choke the life out of her, Halfrek chanted a few words between gasps and sent Anya flying to the other side of the circle. Slowly she picked herself up off the ground, her hand flying to her neck, trying to rub away the pain that Anya had caused. "You stupid little girl. You don't get it do you? You can't harm me by conventional means. You have to take my life with magic. It's the only way."
"I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not. It's over."
"It's not over by a long shot, Anyanka. If you don't kill me, lover boy over there dies. Do you want that?"
"Anya, I'm dead either way," Xander stated forcefully between gasps. Neither woman had noticed him swim back into consciousness.
"Xander," Anya screamed as she ran to him and dropped to her knees beside him. "Stop. Don't say that. You're not going to die."
"I am," he said, smiling weakly as his eyes started to flutter closed once again. "So go kick her ass."
"Xander?" She pleaded. "Don't die." There was no response. A sob escaped her body as she stood, gathering all of her courage and strength. "Halfrek, I'm going to plead with you one last time. Please help me get him out of here. If I ever meant anything to you..."
"If you ever meant anything to me? You're kidding, right? Anyanka we were never friends, not in the truest sense. We were always co-workers who were trying to out do each other. I didn't mean a thing to you, but you meant a great deal to me. I looked up to you and now because of you, I've been reduced to this." She was shouting now and gesturing wildly. Her face was flushed and fury shone in her eyes. "I blame you for everything, well, almost everything. But it's because of you that I became human again and it's because of you that I had my heart broken again. Do you know what it feels like to get your heart ripped out?"
"Yes," Anya screamed. "I was left at the altar, remember?"
"But the two of you worked it out, didn't you? And now you're ready to kill me to save him. So, no, I don't think you understand. I have nothing now. Nothing. You took it all away from me. Now it's your turn to know how it feels."
"Hali, no. Don't do this," Anya pleaded.
Halfrek laughed as she held out her hand, chanting in Latin.
Anya looked down and suddenly a bloody, gaping hole appeared in her chest. She looked at Halfrek in shock and then her eyes traveled to Xander. "I'm sorry," she whispered before her eyes rolled back and she fell to the ground, lifeless.
Halfrek walked over to where Xander lay on the ground and crouched down beside him. She held out her bloodied hand, Anya's still beating heart in her palm.
Xander opened his eyes slowly and gagged as he took in the scene. "Anya," he wheezed. He closed his eyes and let the tears flow, wishing for death to come faster.
"What's left of her anyway," Halfrek replied with a smile. "Would you like me to wrap it? No, I guess not. You won't have a use for it where you're going. Ta-ta Alexander; you loser…" She disappeared into the night, leaving Xander to breathe his last breaths alone.
"Willow," Xander whispered, feeling his life force ebbing away. "Where are you?"
Just then a blinding flash of light turned the darkened night into day. Willow and Tara suddenly stood in the circle, bewilderment and fright etched on their faces.