Fic: Shanshu 36 - The Sunnydale Crater

[dragonyphoenix]

Title: The Sunnydale Crater
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 466 - Anthomancy
Rating: PG
Summary: Another chapter for Shanshu
Word Count: 1654
Note: After two hours on the phone with Dad for Father's Day, I didn't read through this again. I hope it's okay.

Big Rico had refused to join them at the Sunnydale crater. “I have a business to run.” Mona, who'd never been afraid of anything as far as Millay could tell, had begged off as well citing some kind of an attack. William was still missing and yet they couldn't be bothered. In his place, Rico had sent Cassie, whom he claimed as a cousin although Millay couldn't see the relationship. Where Rico was dark and, well, huge, Missy's tiny frame – Rico claimed she was in her twenties but she could have been sixteen as far as Millay could tell – was topped by reddish-blonde curls. At least the girl was practical enough to wear jeans and sneakers, but even so Millay would have felt a lot more comfortable with Rico at her back. The thought must have shown on her face because Rico rested a meaty palm on her shoulder, in what Millay was certain was supposed to be a reassuring gesture, and said, “They're good folk. You're friend'll be safe in their hands.”

Morgan had worn shit-kicking boots himself but he was so busy being rebuffed by one of Buffy's girls – “Hi, you work out, don't you. I could spot you some time.” – that Millay didn't expect he'd be any help if it came down to a fight.

Sue Ellen, who'd apparently bonded with Buffy on the ride to the crater, was wearing a set of heels that Millay wouldn't have worn across a flat surface much less in sand. Their maroon tinge matched both her nails and her lips. “Now don't you worry, sugar. I once wrestled a gator in these pumps.” That Millay almost did believe. While wrestling an alligator, she wouldn't have been standing. Sue Ellen walked off with Buffy, the big dumb guy, some Brit she had with her, an all the girls who hadn't rushed straight for the side of the crater. Buffy seemed to be sending them off so they surrounded the group.

Everyone seemed to think that Dawn, who apparently should have been across the country at college, was key to getting William back. Millay didn't know how that was supposed to work but she was sticking to the girl's side all the same. Cassie, instead of joining the rest of Buffy's crew, a bunch of girls who were now scattering and forming a circle around everyone else, was sticking close to either Millay herself, Dawn, or Xander. Or maybe she just wanted to stay close to the cars. Millay wasn't quite sure, but then Cassie walked about ten feet closer to the crater and squatted down by the side of the road. Dawn followed after. Millay and Xander shrugged at each other and joined them as well.

“What'd you find?” Dawn was asking as she and Xander caught up.

“Henbane,” Cassie replied. She was next to a patch of plants, a pretty large patch actually, about two feet high, whose yellowish flowers had purple veins.

Millay leaned over to get a closer look and quickly backed away, waving her hand in front of her face. “God, that stinks.”

“It only grows where there's great evil.”

Couldn't Rico have sent a sane cousin? “Say what?”

“According to the science of anthomancy, henbane indicates evil underfoot.”

“That stuff?” Xander's surprise seemed to suggest he believed her. “But it grew all over the place in Sunnydale.” After a pause, he added, “Oh.”

“But we closed the Hellmouth.” Millay didn't bother asking Dawn what a Hellmouth was supposed to be. These people lived in a reality tunnel that made even Discordians look sane.

“The gate can be closed.” Oh, great, and now Cassie was pulling out all the mojo tricks, talking in some sort of odd echoing voice. “But the evil remains, dormant, ever-present, patient, waiting for their time to come again just as winter follows summer, so does arrive in the night.”

“Great,” Xander replied. “So you're saying there are some Turok Han still down there.”

“I don't know what, only that evil remains.”

“Closed,” Dawn said. “The Hellmouth was closed.”

“Energies still leak through,” Cassie replied.

“Think we should tell Buffy?” Dawn asked.

Xander shook his head. “I'm pretty sure she's ready for about anything.” He nodded toward the group closest to the crater. “Besides, I think they're ready.”

The group of five girls that Morgan had been hanging with had set up a stone table by the side of the crater. There were two large candles standing at the center of the table and four surrounding it, one in each direction. “What's all this?” Millay asked even though she had a sinking feeling that she knew. These people thought some kind of neo-Pagan ritual was going to bring William back? Millay was so going to kick Rico's ass for telling her she could trust these crazies.

“They are creating a sacred space for the spell to open the Hellmouth,” Cassie replied. Right, of course crazy-cousin knew what was going down, unless she was making that shit up. “It's especially important that we have a zone of safety in the midst of this great evil.”

Four of the girls took positions around the altar and the fifth stood in the center. Millay expected they'd chant but instead they sang, in a language she didn't recognize. Cassie, on the other hand, seemed to be able to translate. “They are singing for the stones, preparing them for the great work.”

“Stones?” Millay looked around and saw sand, vegetation, road, crater, and rubble. No stones unless you counted the rubble.

“This type of gateway always uses stones to delineate the portal.”

Oh, right. Gateway. Of course.

“And now they sing for the land, which has been tainted by evil and must be purified if we are to avoid being overwhelmed by darkness.”

Finally they switched to English. “Let the way be open,” the four girls chanted.

The woman at the center called out, “Let the way be open.” Actually she shouted it, or it sort of sounded like shouting given how well her voice carried, and she shouted it three times, not just once.

Nothing happened. Of course nothing happened but Buffy's crew and Rico's friend all seemed surprised. “Uh, did we forget to light a candle or something?” Xander asked.

The woman at the center, the one who'd been leading the ritual, turned, not to Buffy but to the Brit. Wesley or at least that's what Millay thought his name was. “What went wrong?” the girl asked.

“I'm not sure. Ah, perhaps … ah, I don't know.”

“It needs blood, man.”

It was Webb in that same Agnostic Front t-shirt he always had on. Millay had bets on with about a half-dozen people in her apartment building that he had dozens of those shirts hidden away somewhere. “Webb?” What was he doing here? How had he gotten here? She hadn't noticed him on the trip up.

He gave Millay a wave but didn't take his eyes off of Dawn. “The blood is the life, or no, not the life but the way. The way and the truth and the life.”

Buffy was between Webb and Dawn. Millay hadn't seen her move but she'd been off to one side and now she wasn't. “You are not cutting my sister.”

“Oh, hey, I don't have to do it. Anyone can.”

“Nobody is killing Dawn.”

Webb? Buffy thought Webb wanted to kill Dawn? Webb was the most harmless person Millay had ever met.

“Whoa, whoa, who said anything about killing? It just needs a couple of drops.”

“A few drops that'll let a Hell God lose?” Xander shouted from the side. “I don't think so buddy.”

“How exactly is Dawn's blood …” Wes trailed off under Buffy's glare. “I was merely requesting clarification.”

“It's not just her blood,” Webb said.

“Right, viscera too?” My, that Xander guy was snarky.

Blue lights appeared, twinking in the sky above the crowd. Webb pointed up to them. “The guides, man, they'll provide the focus to open the Hellmouth.”

As Wesley stepped forward, Millay thought that she'd never seen anyone's jaw drop to the floor before.

“Wes?” Buffy asked. “What are they? Should I kill them?”

“Spirit guides,” Wesley said. “And no, please don't attack. They're benevolent beings of the highest order.”

“Benevolent meaning white hats?” Xander asked.

“Very much so.”

“If they're white hats,” Buffy started as Dawn piped in with, “What do I do?”

“No.” Buffy spoke only the one word but Millay didn't see how anyone could have the power to ignore the strength behind it.

“It's the only way to get Spike and Willow back. I'm doing it.” Except it seemed that Dawn did have exactly that kind of power. She turned to Webb. “So I just cut myself and let the blood hit the ground? Where? On the altar? In the crater?”

Webb picked one of the henbane flowers and set it on the altar. “Into the mouth,” he said.

The flower didn't look at all mouthlike but as Dawn cut herself and let the blood drip into the open area between the petals, the earth shook below their feet. Great, perfect time for a quake.

“Incoming.” That came from one of the Slayers posted near the crater.

Figures rose out of the rubble. They were too many too count but Millay guessed about fifty. At first, taking in their bald heads, she thought of Uncle Fester but then the came closer. The first time Millay had seen Nosferatu, she'd had nightmares for weeks. These creatures looked like they'd give Nosferatu nightmares. As she took a step back, she was Morgan scrambling back to the cars. Buffy and her team stepped forward. Millay didn't like the odds. A dozen girls against four times their number?

“What are they?” The voice sounded panicked, as if someone was about to start screaming. Millay looked around and realized it was her voice.

“Oh shit,” Xander said. “Turok-Han.”

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

Why did I know that Dawn's blood was going to bring trouble? Oh lord. Poor Spike and Willow... they might never be saved.


Gabrielle

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Hey, if you need Dawns' blood, there will definitely be trouble. *grin*

Poor Spike and Willow... they might never be saved. Excellent. If you think that, then I'm doing my job well.

[rbfvid.livejournal.com]

Hee.. so who's bright idea was to open the Hellmouth AT NIGHT? =)

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I guess it is nighttime if the vamps can be out. So, uh, not mine! *laughs*