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Chapter 35 ***Lost in Your Mind***

It was dark. Not the dark most are used to with streetlights and headlights helping to break the gloom of night. This was true night. Stars overhead glittering like millions of tiny jewels, their light unencumbered by the glare of the modern world. A bright moon sat full and heavy, just rising over the horizon, illuminating the sparse foliage of the desert in its pale glow.

Willow turned around completely, her eyes straining against the dark to search the desolate landscape. The moon reflected off of a lone desert tree’s sun scorched leaves as they swayed in the light breeze. The crackle of fire caused Willow to jump and turn towards the sound, her eyes momentarily blinded by the sudden light.

As her vision cleared she noticed she stood before a raging fire, the flames leaping towards the heavens, the heat scalding in its intensity. Willow took a step back and ran into something that wasn’t there a moment ago. Turning she noticed that Buffy was sitting on a large rock, her gaze unwavering from the fire.

“Buffy, what are you doing here?” Willow asked as she took a seat beside her friend. Her gaze never moving, Buffy pointed towards the fire. Willow turned and noticed a woman standing on the other side of the fire, her hair long and matted, her body covered in mud and rags.

“She was the first.” Buffy said quietly, her voice a whisper over the fire.

“We’ve met.” Willow replied wryly as she remembered the primal spell that caught the Scoobies in a dream and at the mercy of the first slayer.

“What do you know of the beast?” Buffy called across the fire, her voice echoing in the night.

“Strong. Fast. Hell god.” The First Slayer replied; her voice gravely, her body moving with the flames as she paced before the fire. “From a dimension of unspeakable torment, where she ruled with two other hell gods.”

Willow stared at the Slayer across the fire, her mind barely able to comprehend the information being given.

“Along with the beast they were a triumvirate of suffering and despair. Ruling with equal vengeance. But the beast's power grew beyond even what they could conceive. As did her lust for pain and misery. They looked upon her, what she had become ... and trembled.”

“A god afraid?” Willow squeaked, looking at Buffy in shock.

“Such was her power.” Buffy replied; her stare never wavering from that of the Slayer across the fire. “They feared she would attempt to seize their dimension for herself, and decided to strike first. A great battle erupted. In the end, they stood victorious over the beast ... barely. She was cast out. Banished to this lower plane of existence, forced to live and eventually die trapped within the body of a mortal ... a newborn male, created as her prison. That is the beast's ... only weakness.”

“Kill the man,” The First Slayer called out, “and the god dies. She’s found a way to escape her mortal prison form for brief periods.”

“Ben!” Willow gasped; her mind clear of the cloaking spell while within this place.

“Ben.” Buffy replied as she finally turned her eyes toward her friend.

Willow blinked and found herself in a dark cavern. Torches adorned the walls, the flames casting long shadows on the bones strewn about the floor. Willow rounded a stone pillar and saw Buffy sitting in the middle of a large bed. Dawn sat in front of her. Willow watched for a moment as Buffy brushed Dawn’s hair while the teen flipped through a magazine, before slowly making her way closer to the bed.

“What about the key?” Dawn asked pointing to her magazine.

“The key is almost as old as the beast itself.“ Buffy replied, as Willow made her way around the bed to look over Dawn’s shoulder at a picture of a glowing green ball of swirling energy. “Where it came from, how it was created ... the deepest of mysteries. All that is certain is that its power is absolute. Countless generations have sacrificed their lives in search of it, to destroy it before its wrath could be unleashed.”

But the monks found me first!” Dawn laughed as she flipped through more pages, their pictures showing a group of brown robed men scrambling about casting a spell.

“Yes.” Buffy replied with a fond smile at her sister. “They created you with their magicks. They thought they could harness your power for the forces of light.”

“How do you know all this?” Willow asked incredulously.

“I don’t.” A voice replied from behind her. Willow jumped to her feet and saw a second Buffy standing before her.

“This comes with the whole slayer package.” Buffy said as she watched herself and her sister, a sad smile on her lips. “You know about the dreams. This is an extension of that.”

“So you know all about-” Willow waved her hand, searching for the correct words to describe what has been going on.

“No.” Buffy replied with a shake of her head. “It’s all here but I don’t consciously know. It’s all here.”

“Where’s here, Buffy?” Willow asked; her eyes trained on her friend.

“Here is Spike’s crypt.” Buffy laughed without humour. “Don’t you recognize the place?”

“Why are we here?” Willow asked. Buffy walked over to the second Buffy and sat on the bed behind her, taking up a brush.

“We’re here because it’s safe.” Buffy began brushing the hair of the other Buffy as a rumble filled the room. “He’ll be back soon and he won’t like you here.”

Willow flinched as the rumbling grew louder.

“Buffy, what’s that noise?” Willow yelled over the ever increasing roar. Before Buffy could reply there was silence. No sound broke the air as Dawn rose from her seat, a glow surrounding her.

“It’s time.” Dawn’s voice echoed through the eerie silence, the green light filling Dawn’s body. Willow watched in horror as the teen’s skin cracked and peeled away to reveal a swirling green mass of pure energy. Willow shaded her eyes as the light grew; her skin beginning to burn from its intensity. Willow’s last thought before the green fire consumed her was to wonder who was screaming so loud.

***Next Chapter ***When You'd Scream***

***Thanks To Slackerace for the terrific beta job. You are a doll for getting back to me so quick! Thank you to everyone who continues to read and review. My live journal ID is Bugg1322 for those who have asked. I have the rest of the story plotted, just need to type and beta, and me with the next 2 weeks off work. . .***

***TO my reviewers ( in no order): Cordykitten, songgal1, Kar, carrie, Jem, jane, samica, Angie, spuffylurkergirl, Enchantress, Angela, sirc, Aisling. You special few have reviewed this year so you are worth a mention. Those kind words mean everything.





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