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Current P.O.M. When Rath opened his eyes, he found himself in a large, cavernous room. He could hear what sounded like chanting, the words spoken in a strange language he didn't recognize and rolling off him in tranquil waves. It was soothing, but he didn't want to be soothed just now. He looked down at saw that he wasn't as alone as he'd first thought he was. Mikey G and Dawnie were also here, collapsed on the floor. "This can't be good," he muttered, kneeling next to the young girl and shaking her shoulders gently. When she started to stir, he turned to his double and slapped him hard across the face, not bothering with the gentle approach this time. "Ow!" Michael cried, sitting up quickly and rubbing his stinging cheek with one hand. He gave Rath a baleful glare but just got a smirk in return. "Got ya up, didn't it?" was the New Yorker's only comment, his eyes already scanning the room they were in and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He heard soft murmuring behind him as Michael moved to see if his sister was okay. But he ignored them, quickly rising to his feet and stepping in front of them when he spotted movement in the shadows. Later he'd wonder over his sudden protective instinct, but for now he just made his face into a calm, expressionless mask and watched as figures began to step out into the room, forming a circle around the three of them. In a matter of moments, they were surrounded. And it didn't take a strategic genius to know that was a bad thing. He felt Michael stand up behind him and unconsciously took a step backwards, the two of them presenting a more unified front. He might not like his double all that much, but there was something to be said for sticking with the enemy you knew... or whatever. Besides, little Dawnie was okay. Not to mention, Liz would kill him if he ditched Mikey G and the wee one here, he just knew it. As the figures moved into the light, their brown robes swaying softly with each step they took, Rath made a face and muttered something about "monks" and "unics" that couldn't have been very flattering. However, the robed figures refrained from comment. "What do you want from us?" Michael asked. Rath risked a quick glance behind him and saw that Guerin had moved Dawn between the two of them. She held tightly to her brother's hand, her knuckles almost white, and tried to look brave. Rath caught her gaze and offered her a quick smile accompanied by a rather lewd gesture at the monks' expense, which startled a small, somewhat hysterical giggle out of her in return. She rolled her eyes at him and thwapped him on the shoulder but at least she didn't look like she was about to pass out from fright any longer. One of the monks stepped forward from the group, immediately bringing Rath's attention back to the problem at hand. "Yeah, like what Mr. 'File, Save As' said," Rath added, throwing a glare in for good measure. "What da hell do ya want from us?" The robed figure clasped its hands in front of it, almost like it was praying, and then reached up to remove its hood, revealing the face of a kind-looking old man who favored Dawn and her two protectors with a fond smile. "I see we could have done worse by you, young one," he said, speaking to Dawn directly. "What was once considered a mistake can now be seen as the hand of the Lord at work." His gaze lifted to take in both Michael and Rath and he crooked one finger towards them. Both men gasped, feeling something strange pass through them. Dawn's eyes widened when she saw them surrounded by a strange, green glow. But then she looked down and saw that her own skin was beginning to glow as well. The muscles in her jaw worked silently as she tried to process that strange, little tidbit. "What's happening to us?" she whispered, looking up at the monk who'd spoken to them. The man smiled, gesturing towards them with one hand. "Only what must happen," he intoned. "Do not fear, I am just completing the bond that was already there between you." "Bond?" Rath asked, eyes narrowing. "Ah didn't sign up foah any freak bondin' ceremony." He ignored the hurt look in Dawn's eyes that she valiently tried to hide and felt like an asshole for doing it. But he didn't cave. "I know this comes as a surprise to you all," the monk said, not unkindly. "But it is as it must be. The Key was made from the essence of you both, for good or for ill, therefore the bonding has already begun. We would leave it to progress naturally, as was intended, but time, I'm afraid, is no longer with us." Rath frowned, unaware of the identical frown on Michael's face. They looked more alike in that moment than they ever had. "I think I speak for all of us when I say, 'Huh?'" Michael waved one hand towards their surroundings and then crossed his arms, glaring. "Explanations would be in order right about now." The monk ignored him and focused instead on Dawn. "She knows the truth," he told them, voice soft. "She just refuses to admit it to herself." "What truth?" Dawn exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing onto both Michael and Rath, taking one of their hands in each of hers and gripping so tightly that Rath felt himself wince when her fingernails cut into his flesh. But he said nothing. "You know that of which I speak, child," the monk replied. "You feel it. The power, the vast emptiness, the unlimited space of your true form." Dawn shook her head, silent tears begining to form at the corners of her eyes. "No," she whispered. "You're lying.... you... no..." With a small sigh, the monk raised his hand and waved it toward the three of them. A wave of power hit him and Rath dropped Dawn's hand, gripping his head and collapsing to his knees, dimly aware of Michael doing the same thing and Dawn screaming for them both. But then he felt his body dissolving away and all he could see, all he could feel, was the power. It flowed through him in waves, bright and green, and it overwhelmed his senses. No... stop... please... He felt so alone, so lost. And all he wanted was for it to end. Then, before he even had time to register the change, he was back in the cavern with Michael, Dawn and the monks. He could feel the cold floor through the knees of his jeans and his heart beating rapidly in his chest and each breath he exhailed, turning to mist in the cold air. Dawn was crying and he could feel her hand on his shoulder, gripping with a strength that surprised him. He heard Michael moan quietly and turned to look, seeing his double on his knees beside him, hands braced on the stone floor and his entire body trembling. "What da hell was dat?" he gasped out, his voice sounding rough like he'd swallowed shards of broken glass only moments before. "Me. It was me. I'm so sorry..." Dawn's voice sounded tiny and scared. Rath found himself reaching up to take her hand in his and gripping tightly in reassurance before he was even aware of deciding to move. His gaze and Michael's locked and he could see his own steely determination echoed in his double's face. "Now you all have seen the truth. The true form of the Key is infinite, boundless. The power to open endless dimensions and the power to close them again. But we had to give her form and boundaries for her own protection. She is made from blood, and it is blood that determines her fate." "My blood," Michael whispered. "Our blood," Rath corrected. "Yes," the monk nodded. "This was unforseen, but fortunate. Two protectors instead of one. And if the Key is to survive the coming months, she will need you both." "What do you mean?" Michael asked. "One comes that seeks the Key for her own ends. She calls herself goddess and there are few alive who would dare to argue with her. If she were to succeed, if she were to gain the power of the Key, this world would be destroyed." Dawn made a soft, little, broken sound, like a whimper. "So what do we do, then?" Rath asked, pushing himself to his feet. He knelt in front of nobody. "You must protect her," the monk replied. "How?" Michael asked, rising to his feet as well. He slipped an arm around Dawn's shoulders. "The goddess is too close. We must move quickly. But there is a link between them, and she will know if we move the key. If you all were to leave, she would follow. Unless..." Rath made the connection and nodded grimly, his mouth tightening. "Unless ya leave somethin' else foah her ta get disracted by. A decoy." The monk nodded. "Yes. The bond between you three can be manipulated. Hopefully this will be enough to let us do what must be done." Rath looked over at Michael and sighed. "An' Ah'm da one who gets to play decoy, right? While Mikey G and Dawnie hit da road, Ah gotta stay heah and keep Miss Goddess busy." He saw the grateful look in Michael's eyes and glared. This was stupid. It was all stupid and he wasn't going to do it. No way, no how was he playing martyr so that the skinny little brat and his double could go off riding into the sunset. It was suicidal. It was moronic. And he was *not* doing it. So when he took a step forward and held out his hand to the monk, his voice quiet as he told him to get on with it, nobody was more surprised than Rath himself. The monk smiled at him, as if he'd known all along that this was what would happen, and took Rath's hand in his own. Then there was a sudden, bright flash of pain... ...and Rath opened his eyes to find himself sitting in UFOnics, a worried Liz, Wesley and Kennedy surrounding him. He jumped to his feet, looking down at his hands and saw a jagged scar that ran in a circle around his left wrist. It hadn't been there before. The scar glowed with a soft, green light that slowly began to fade, even as he watched. And he could *feel* it, the change. Something was different. It was as if he was connected to this world, to everything, in some fundamental way that had been lacking before. "Fuck," he whispered, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. It was done. And he knew that Dawn and Michael were gone already without even having to ask. He could feel their absence like an ache inside, which was rather annoying, come to think of it. Looking over at Liz, he attempted a smile but his wide eyes and anxiously twitching hands gave him away. "Dis ain't gonna be fun," he muttered to himself. "Zan would be laughin' his ass off, if he knew how stupid Ah was..." Written by Sonya, Nominated by James
P.O.M. - Buffyvamp Archives (part one) |