Quicksilver's Quill Offers
To Dance By Moonlight
standard disclaimers
mbsilvana@yahoo.com
AN: Again, rough draft till I get my spell-check back-
should be within the week! This is dedicated to three
people- my new imouto,
SujaKino-yes-I-know-your-name-is-Kari, Sailor Opal,
and Anon. Probably these three are my most reliable
feedback artists.... Arigatou!
Quick Japanese Phrase Guide (not Really Nessessary,
but it helps a little- Usagi will use these words to
color her speech):
Machinasai : WAIT! Sailor Moon usually says this as
she makes her appearence.
Nani: What
Hai: Yes
Part Three: Misunderstandings
"Machinasai!"
The graveyard went still, and then everyone, vampire
and Slayerette alike, turned to see the newcomer.
An angel had descended to earth. That was the only
thing Xander, usually not one of the world's most
poetic people, could think. Sanding on top of a
gravestone was a petite figure with long golden hair
tied up in the most unusual buns- the Slayerettes had
the feeling that it was familiar, but their minds drew
a black when they tried to place it.
The girl had snowy white wings on her back and was
wearing a skirt so short that it hardly deserved the
name. Her outfit was bright and splashy, and the
tall boots and long gloves should have served to make
her look rediculous- but she didn't. She looked
like salvation personified, and right now, they needed
that.
"I am the beautiful sailor-suited soldier of love and
justice, Sailor Moon! On behalf of the Moon, I will
punish you!" the girl declared, striking some odd
poses.
Cordelia was thoroughly not interested. Using the
distraction that Sailor Moon had caused, she elbowed
one of the vamps and stuck the cross on the other,
causing his flesh to sizzle like a sausage. He
howled in pain, and Cordelia squirmed free, racing to
where Buffy was standing. "Ok, and I thought some of
BUFFY'S lines were corny," Cordelia panted, grabbing a
bottle of holy water that Buffy had dropped while
fighting.
Buffy staked the vampire she was fighting and turned
to yell at Sailor Moon. "Get out of here unless you
want to be on a vampire's menu!" she said.
"No! I right wrongs and triumph over evil!" the
girl said, then frowned. "That didn't come out
right..." she said.
The vampire thugs were finally getting over their
surprise. Three of them looked at Angelus for
dirrection. He shrugged rather carefully. "Go
ahead and eat her," he said after a moment of thought.
They didn't need to be told twice. All three lunged
forward, almost stumbling over each other in their
haste. The girl leapt upwards towards another
gravestone, landing on top of it. After wobbling
precariously for a second, she found a tentative
balance. "That's not NICE!" she protested.
"Whoever said the bad guys were nice?" Angelus
laughed at her. He swung his feet idly, looking
like a child.
Sailor Moon shot him a glare, but was dstracted when
the lackeys went after her again. Meanwhile the
battle had resumed, and aside from shrinking the odds
a little, nothing had changed.
"This is SO not fair!" Xander complained, trying to
avoid a red-headed vampire who looked like Stan
Kirsch.
"You're telling ME!" Willow said as she swung a cross
at a forty-something female who had been a member of
her synagogue until Angelus had gotten his fangs into
her. "Everytime I swing one of these things, I'm
promoting the Christian faith! I'm JEWISH!" she
said.
"Fine," Cordelia said as she started splashing the
holy water around. "How about you start throwing
some Stars of David like shuriken and we'll see what
happens? Just do it when I'm not around."
Willow muttered something that was quite impolite and
would have made her parents' hair stand on its end if
they would have heard it.
Buffy and Giles were standing back to back, cutting a
swath through the enemies. She was fighting using
her traditional stake, whiles Giles aimed his crossbow
with deadly accuracy. "What is that girl doing?"
Giles yelled, watching the oddly-dressed girl bounce
around in a remarkable display of timed clumsiness.
There were numerous times when the vamps should have
caught her, but she always managed to tumble away just
in time. It would have been almost comedic if the
situation hadn't been so grim.
"Trying to get herself killed," Buffy responded as
she pounded another vamp into dust.
"I am NOT!" the girl protested. "I just don't have
any wands left! I broke my last one when I fought
Galaxia!"
It made absolutely no sense to the Slayer.
Unfortunately, that was just the time that Angelus
decided that he was hungry.
The new thing was a blonde, and as he had stated
before, Angelus had a fondness for blondes. After
pausing less then a second for thought, he dropped off
of his perch, hitting the ground wearing his game
face. "It's supper time!" he said cheerfully.
"Forgive us if we don't watch you do the Snoopy
dance!" Buffy snapped, trying to work her way towards
Sailor Moon. The vampire henchmen would have none of
that, and threw themselves at her with renewed ferver.
Sailor Moon stumbled backwards, trying to find her
balance. Angelus smiled and advanced on her, and
then the fighting shifted.
A rose struck between the two, and things stilled
again after Cordelia staked the vampire who had been
trying to feast on her. "Sailor Moon, call forth
your tiara!"
"Nani?" the girl stuttered. "I don't wear it
anymore!"
"Think of it!"the voice commanded, and then a dark
figure plummeted to stand by the angelic girl's side.
"H-hai!" she stuttered, and then held out her hand.
Concentrating intensely, she spun around on her toes,
and above her hand, a small ring of golden light
appeared. "Cool!" the girl exclaimed.
Buffy recognized magic when she saw it, and she had
no clue whether this was going to help or hurt them.
From what she had seen before, she was betting on
hurt. No one EVERY came to the Hellmouth to help.
She wasn't about to let the strange magic hurt her
friends.
Buffy leapt to the top of the tombstone nearest to
her, then leapt again, reaching for an overhanging
treebranch. Her slender fingers getting a tight
grip, she swung forwards and around, building up
speed. Then with skill worth of an Olympic gymnast,
she realeased at eaxtly the right moment, propelling
herself at the blonde girl who was working magic.
Sailor Moon was just about to release her recovered
tiara. "Moon Tiara-" she began to call, but stopped
with an abrupt 'OMPH!' as someone deposited their feet
in her stomach rather forcefully. "Aiiieeee!"
Sailor Moon screamed as the Slayer landed on her,
grabbing her by the Odango and slamming her forehead
into marble angel that decorated one grave.
"Oh, no you don't!" Buffy snapped. "There's NO WAY
I'm letting you get away with casting any spells!"
"OOMPH!" the girl exclaimed, trying to get her face
out of the dirt.
"Buffy!" Giles yelled. "There's vampires to Slay!"
"Not for her," a grim voice said, and the sky seemed
to go still. The man who had encouraged Sailor Moon
to throw the rose stepped forward, and everyone saw
that he was hearing a long cape lined with red satin.
Underneath it he was wearing a formal outfit,
complete with with gloves. Over his face he wore a
white mask that covered his eyes.
The entire battle stalled yet again. This time,
though, Angelus looked at the man in front of him, and
his face shifted, becoming human in appearence again.
"Come on," he said to the vampires who remained.
"We're getting out of here," he continued, sounding
thoroughly unsettled.
One second he was there, the next the ancient vampire
was gone. The approximately twelve survivors of the
thirty he had used to launch the original assault
followed, but no one pursued. The battle wasn't going
to be about vampires- it was going to be between the
mysterious masked man and the Slayer.
"How dare you.... release her this instant," he said
in a dangerously calm voice.
Buffy did so immediately, trying to tell herself that
she was obeying because she would have to have both
hands free to fight, not because he was telling her
to. Sailor Moon lay on the ground, slightly dazed.
Her pale was was smudged, and her white outfit was
covered with dirt. Willow stepped towards her, but
Xander grabbed her arm, holding her back, shaking his
head negatively. Right now the only thing they
should do was watch, his look told her.
"Who are you?" the Slayer demanded. "What do you
want?"
The man glared at her, ignoring her question. "To
think the line of Slayers has fallen to this," he
said, his voice still even with suppressed rage.
"Attacking one of those whom you are sworn to guard."
Buffy blinked in confusion. "What are you talking
about? I keep demons and other magical disasters
from getting free! That girl could have easily
attacked one of my friends!"
The man gestured with an elegant hand. "Obviously
the Slayer is not what she should be," he said. "How
can ANYONE of pure heart attack the very avatar of
love and justice herself? I suppose I have no choice
but to rid the world of my mistake."
"Your MISTAKE?" Buffy said, not liking what he was
saying. "What are you talking about?"
The man shook his head, denying her an answer.
Shutting his eyes slightly, the raised his hands, and
around him a storm of deep reep rose petals swirled,
reforming his clothes into armor, taking away his hat
and mask, unveiling a prince.
Buffy didn't know why she wanted to call him a
prince, but her instincts told her he was one.
Around her the other Slayerettes had fallen to their
knees, unconciously swearing fealty without even being
aware of doing so. She held to her feet stubbornly,
though it went against all of her instincts.
"I am the one who created you," he said, his solemnly
beautiful voice ringing through the clear night air,
"and now it is my responsibility to unmake you," he
said. Holding out his right hand, he pointed at her.
"Come back to me, Guardian spirit. Return to thy
Prince," he said firmly, crooking his index finger and
gesturing.
Buffy wanted to scream. It felt like some fiber
that had been woven into her soul was being wripped
free, and it was beyond any pain she had ever imagined
possible. With a slight shiver, she collapsed to the
ground finally, watching as a glowing golden mist
arose from her body to solidify into a small golden
crystal, which floated over to the Prince's hand.
He gave it a sad look, then waved a hand, and it was
gone.
Buffy crouched on the ground, watching as the Prince
made his way over to Sailor Moon. Reaching out a
tender hand, he brushed Sailor Moon's pale blonde
bangs back. "Wake up, Serenity," he said softly.
Her eyes fluttered a few times before opening all the
way. "Endymion?" she asked, then sat up, grasping
his hand eagerly.
Around her, her strange outfit turned into ribbons,
giving Xander his best glimpse of feminine flesh he'd
ever seen. The Ribbons danced tauntingly for a few
seconds before resolving into a very pretty looking
white gown that fell to her feet. Endymion helped
her rise, then clutched her protectively before
nodding once to Giles. "Tell the Watchers they are
disbanded. Their time of service to the Crown has
finally come to an end," he said.
Giles looked, then nodded. "Yes, Your Highness," he
said, bowing on one knee.
Endymion glanced around once more, then a warm golden
light engulfed the pair, and they were gone. Giles
sat staring at the place where the couple had vanished
from, unable to speak.
Willow, though, finally shook Xander's restraining
arm off her own, and raced to her best friend. Buffy
lay on the ground, staring up at the full moon. Her
eyes were strangely blank, and Willow wondered what
had been done to her.
"Buffy, are you ok?" she asked hesitantly.
The blonde girl lay still before finally whispering.
"No, I'm not. I'll never be ok again."
"What's wrong?" Willow asked gently, picking up
Buffy's tiny hand.
Buffy sat up slowly, as though she was trying to find
her lost equilibrium. With tearfil eyes, she turned
to face Willow, Xander and Cordelia, who had been
silently listening. "I'm not the Slayer anymore."
END PART THREE
Feedback, ne?
Coming Next Time
Part Four: Loss
Buffy tries to cope with what has been done to her,
while the pieces of the puzzle finally fall into place
for the rest of the Slayerette crew.
=====
Quicksilver
Lady of the Labyrinth
Full time student and part-time writer
http://www.homestead.com/quicksilverslabyrinth
"You haven't lived until you've danced the dagger's edge."
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