Title: The Choice
Author: Adalisa
Email: [email protected]

Feedback: I love it. It's inspiring... and let's face it, it's the only real reason to keep writing.
Distribution: Mama Chelle's site, XanderSlash's site, the WWOMB and my site. Anywhere else, just ask. I won't say no.
Web site: http://members.tripod.com/luxshine/

Summary: The End of the world is coming. The Slayerettes are divided between the two groups that will be involved on it, and one wrong choice could doom them all.
Rating: R for Violence
Warnings: Violence, Characters dying.

Disclaimer: Buffy, Xander, Angel, Riley, and all Buffy characters are property of Joss Wheldon, Warner Bros. X and all the characters in that story are property of CLAMP and Kadokawa.

Content: X/A, pre-slash
Series: When Destiny becomes us, pt. 2
Spoilers: The whole series is warped some how. But good knowledge of it up to Hush would be good.
Notes: This is my longest and most complicated series so far, because unlike Xander the Vampire Slayer, it is not cut in many episodes. And that makes it a little harder to stay in a plan. This part ended up dragging for too many pages, so I decided to make the series of 4 parts. If you know the comic X (Or X-1999 for those living in America) you will probably guess who's who and where this is going. It's an AU, so many of the people who is dead in the series might be alive here. Anyway, I hope it's a good ride.

Xander looked around, worried.

He didn't want to leave Anya, but at the same time, he needed to see what had caused the black out.

"What's happening?" Anya asked, trembling. Xander was going to answer, when a burst of wind threw them to the ground.

"Little demon, are you afraid?" A female voice rang and suddenly the darkness gave way to a strange gray desert.

"Who is there?!" Without relinquishing his hold on Anya, protecting her with his own body, Xander tired to find their attacker. "Who is it?!"

A crystalline laughter echoed through the landscape, turning into the sound of a thousand wings fluttering. Xander barely had time to blink, before a swarm of black butterflies, that in the distance seemed to be a great tsunami of darkness, threatening to engulf them.

"RUN!!!" Xander yelled at Anya, forcing her to run before him so he could shield her. He didn't thought on the fact that they were supposed to be in his basement, or that Spike should be near. All he wanted was to get Anya away.

Anya tripped, falling with her ankle twisted at an odd angle, her eyes shinning with tears. Xander knew he couldn't let her alone, so he covered her with his body, trying to keep the strange butterflies away from her.

As the sudden swarm closed in, he could see the ruby-red eyes of the creatures, which seemed to mock him. The touch of their wings were like razors, and he could feel as his arms went numb, as thousand of cuts, small, flaring pain, were inflicted on him. His clothes provided only temporal protection against them, he knew that it wouldn't be long before he was naked... and dead.

But at least, Anya would have a chance to escape.

Suddenly, the butterflies retreated, swirling in front of them, melding into a human shape.

A woman in a black dress. A woman whom he knew very well.

Amy Madison.

"Don't you get tired of the white knight routine, Xander?" The Witch asked, her tone not amused. "And you really should pick your prot�g�s better... That's a demon you're trying to save, you know?"

"What are you doing, Amy?" He asked, shielding Anya behind him "Why attack us?"

"'Cause she's a threat to everything." The witch answered, as the sleeve of her dress began to swirl, separating into small butterflies that formed a bigger one, a black Butterfly the size of a falcon, "And 'coz I can."

"I am not..." Anya began to protest, when the black monster started flapping it's wings, flying towards them.

"Anya!! Duck!!" Xander yelled, throwing her to the ground before trying to tackle Amy. But he passed right through her body, feeling a thousand cuts on his arms and face.

Amy just laughed, and Xander turned around to see the swarm of butterflies recreating her body.

"I am far more powerful than before, Harris." The witch mocked, rising her right hands where seven flames glowed, before leaving her skin embedding themselves into the ground.

Xander ran towards Anya, as everything began to disappear. The Witch just laughed, seeing how the butterflies kept slashing his body, trying to stop him, so he almost didn't caught his girlfriend's wrist before she fell to a gray void.

"That was really impressive." The Witch gloated, while Xander strained himself to keep Anya safe, as the girl slipped to unconsciousness. "It's a pity that your luck finally ran out."

"Xander!!!" Buffy's yell rang through the void, breaking the strange barrier that the Witch had created between reality and the gray desert.

And in seconds, Buffy herself was there, protecting Xander with her body.

The butterflies stopped, retreating in their frenzied attack, back to the Witch's body.

"Buffy? How...?" Xander began to ask, Anya's weight straining his arm.

"Xander.... Are you two o.k?" The Slayer frantically searched the young man's face, shocked at the amount of blood covering his body.

"That was unexpected." The Witch said, making them turn around to see her. "You should be more careful on choosing whom to help, Chosen One."

Before anyone could do anything, her body dissolved in a thousand black butterflies that flew away. Soon, all the landscape was a swarm, dissipating quickly. Buffy tried to grasp Xander's hand, as they fell and he tried to cushion the unconscious Anya from hitting the ground.

"Xander?! Are you all right?!" Buffy asked, but he didn't pay attention to her. His eyes were focused on Anya, who rested on his lap.

Shaking her head, Buffy turned around to see their surroundings. "Oh, my..."

They were upstairs Xander's house. Probably in his parent's bedroom, judging by the marital sized bed. But it was hard to know, as it was covered with blood. The only clean spot was were Xander and Anya were. On the bed, there were two bodies, mutilated beyond recognition.

"Xander... We've got to go out... now..." She growled, making him snap out of his shocked states. "It seems that our friend Spike found a way to get around the chip..."

Spike growled. From his safe spot in the sewers, he couldn't see Xander's house, and thus, he couldn't know if his mortal friends were safe.

He had been in the bathroom, thinking about Anya's nightmares and Xander's reactions. In the short time he had been forced to cohabitate with the mortal, Spike had come to understand why Angelus had forbidden all vampires from hurting the boy... and come to accept him as a friend. Surprisingly, Xander had been quite understanding about Dru, and how Spike still missed her. About Angel, Angelus, and all that had happened...

And because of that, when he entered the basement again, only to find it filled with black butterflies, when he heard Xander's parents' scream... Spike ran upstairs, uncaring of the sunlight, ready to defend the mortals...

And had been too late.

The elder Harris were dead, their blood adorning the walls and the tiny black wings of their killers.

Killers who turned to Spike, ready to continue the job.

So Spike had ran again, out of the house and into the sewers, with only one thought in mind.

He had to find out what was going on.

And that meant going to L.A., to talk with Angel.

Xander sat in Buffy's living room, staring at the empty space. He didn't want to close his eyes, because when he did, all he could see was his parents, Anya and Spike, celebrating Anya's first year as a human, barely a week ago.

His parents, who had accepted all the weirdness in Xander's life without batting an eye, who had accepted Anya and Spike as part of the long, growing family, even managing to always have fresh blood on the fridge.

His parents, who now were unidentifiable masses of flesh, blood and bones on their bed.

"Xander." Buffy entered the room, pulling him back from his gloom thoughts.

"Where is Anya?" He asked, his eyes shinning with unshed tears.

"In my room, sleeping..." She said, before sitting down. "Look, Xander... I'm sorry, I didn't know the chip would break..."

"It wasn't Spike." Xander interrupted, full of conviction. "Even if the chip broke, even if he wanted to kill humans.... I know it wasn't him."

"How can you be so sure?" The Slayer frowned, not sure of why her friend was defending the bloodsucker fiend.

"There... there was too much... blood. If a... vampire... had..." Xander's voice broke in a sob, and Buffy walked closer, pulling her friend into a hug.

"Xan, I'm sorry... It's just that ever since this thing with the end of the World began... I can't help but think that I am not doing enough to protect you all... And, since Spike always tried to kill us... I... just..."

"No, Buffy." Xander interrupted, hugging her softly. "You've done all you can. Always. You protected me and Anya, when no one else could have saved us. And you know, as long as you need me, I'll be there for you too, o.k?"

Ethan looked up to Giles, as the ex-watcher hung the phone in another unsuccessful attempt to reach Xander Harris' house.

As soon as Jenny Calendar had more strength, she had begged them to take her to the boy's presence. However, Ripper had insisted that she was too weak to go to the boy's house, so instead, he would call Xander.

So far, they didn't had had any luck.

"I'll go to check on Jenny." Ripper finally said, leaving Ethan to his thoughts.

The Warlock was trying to figure out the mystery of the idea of the two shinken, when an urgent rapping on the door called his attention.

Outside, barely covered with an old blanket, Drusilla tried frantically to get inside.

"Dear, come on in" He quickly said, helping her to escape from the burning sunlight. "What were you doing outside?"

"The horn is blowing." She said, her childlike voice shaking. "The angels are flying towards the city, the shinken is crying for its sister to be born..."

"Jenny is not in her room!!" Giles was halfway down the stairs when he noticed Drusilla's shaking body on Ethan's embrace, feeling a strange flare of jealousy going through his heart. "What's she doing here? Who invited HER?"

"Meet another of our happy group, Ripper." The younger warlock smiled. "Little Dru is our contact with the rest."

The vampire looked at Giles, and her eyes seemed to clear a little when she smiled. "I remember you. We made the night sing, and you helped. Your blood painted the stars, when my daddy made you scream..."

"How delightful that you remember." The ex - watcher shook his head, and finished to walk down the ladder. "Jenny's gone. We have to find her."

"The second Shinken is about to be born." Drusilla said, leaning down on Ethan's shoulder. "The time for the choice is here."

Anya knew she was dreaming. She knew the dream almost by heart, when she saw herself in the darkness, in the void.

But this time, it was different.

This time, the void's ground felt like water, barely holding her weight.

This time, she was surrounded by tiny shreds of glass, that flew in a spiral pattern around her body.

Curious, she caught one, disrupting the whole pattern.

Inside it, she could make the shape of the Californian coast, but as she tried to caught another, it moved away, cutting her finger. A drop of blood fell from it, rippling the strange liquid ground.

Suddenly, from each ripple, a hooded figure emerged.

Anya faced seven people, all mirrored in the water that to her feet felt as solid as the ground.

One of the figures moved its hands towards the hood, but Anya didn't want to see, she didn't want to know. So she ran.

She ran until the ground finally melted under her, and she fell into a gray ocean.

The air left her lungs, and she knew she was going to die. With her last thought, she sent a prayer to D'Hoffin, so he would protect Xander.

Suddenly, she felt a wire across her wrist, like if she were being pulled up. Afraid, she opened her eyes, only to see she head been crucified over light posts, the clouds opening to reveal a mirror... A mirror were another Anya was crucified, only that she was dressed and the wires that held her tightened, first drawing blood, then trespassing her body, slicing it to pieces.

Terrified, Anya closed her eyes. She didn't want to know anymore.

She wanted her common life back, when the nightmares didn't reach her.

She wanted to be with Xander, and never wake from the dream where he really, truly loved her.

Buffy was still holding Xander when suddenly the embrace changed, feeling less comfortable and more primal.

Scared, Xander pulled away. He hadn't felt very comfortable near Buffy ever since the incident with the beer, the one that remind him that he still was attracted to her.

But the Slayer didn't seemed put back with that movement. Instead, she held Xander's chin, caressing it.

"Bu... Buffy?"

"Xander." She said, her eyes clouded. "I'd never notices how often you..." With each word, she came closer, as if to kiss him.

"Buffy!!!" He yelled, making her stop. She looked at him, confused.

"Xander? What happened?" Her voice was genuine, she didn't know what she had just said.

"Xan... der..." Anything that the young man could've said, was forgotten when he saw the bloodied body of Jenny Calendar, half supporting herself against the door. "I... need... to tell... you something..."

He rushed to catch her, followed by Buffy who closed the door, fearful of the neighbors looking at the house.

"Miss Calendar..." The Slayer said, trying to ignore the numerous cuts on the woman's body. "When did you woke up?"

"That is not... important..." She coughed, caressing the boy's face with a mother- like touch. "I'm... sorry that... we didn't had time... to talk... to explain... But it is time... for a new life to begin..."

"What are you talking about?!" Buffy demanded, as Xander tried to hold the gypsy's weak form. "Why are you so wounded?"

"The shinken is not a common sword..." She gasped. "... It is alive... And it must... be born from... the body of a woman. The First... was born... two days ago... too soon... and it... was stolen..."

"Born?" Buffy's eyes opened wide as she began to place pieces in the puzzle. The way in which her mother had been killed... the date... "What do you mean with 'The First'?"

"Fare... thee... well... Chosen One..." Miss Calendar gasped, and she began a chant in Rumani, that neither Xander nor Buffy could understand. Light surrounded her body, and her clothes were thorn away. Then she floated away from Xander, moving her hand into her stomach, pulling out a strange sword, with a red jewel in it's handle. As it came out, Miss Calendar's wounds re-opened, severing her skin, her veins, her muscles, her bones... And as the Shinken shone in all its glory, the woman's body was thorn to pieces in a blast.

Tara was barely leaving campus when two of Riley's friends stopped her.

"Suh... Sorry..." She stammered, trying to get away from them, shielding her charge with her body. "I've got...got to..."

"Don't worry, Messenger. My name is Forrest." The tall, black student said, his smile warm. "Graham and I just want to make sure you are safe."

"You... you know?" The young witch looked at both men, startled. "But... how?"

"We too are messengers." Graham said, very softly. "It is our duty to protect you when the choice has been made."

"I... I fear we're too late..." Tara smiled sadly. "The Angels made the first attack. The choice is about to be made... The Second Shinken has been born... And it's crying for its sister."

"The one kept in the Initiative." Forrest added, nodding. "We saw it when someone handed it to Dr. Walsh. If the choice is for the Demon's side, we won't have to worry much..."

"But if she chooses the Angels..." Graham interrupted, looking towards the house that hid the entrance to the Initiative.

"We've got to get out of here." Tara finished.

The three left the campus without anyone else noticing, praying that if they were too late, at least there would still be time to help preserve the world.

"No! No, no, no, no!!!" Anya's scream echoed through the Summer's living room. Xander turned around to see his girlfriend stumbling down the stairs, her eyes fixated on the blood mess that had been Miss Calendar's body. "My... body... my blood..."

"Anya..." Buffy tried to stop the ex-demon, but the girl was focused on her way.

Xander moved towards her, forgetting the shinning sword, the strange wailing sound that had started after Miss Calendar died... everything except his vacant eyed girlfriend.

And his girlfriend was oblivious to all. She just stumbled into the bloody floor, crawling towards Miss Calendar's head.

It was the dull, wet sound of Anya's knees against the carpet what made Xander react. He got up, decided to go after his dear Anya, but Buffy's arms stopped him.

"Buffy, let go!! She's not well!!" He yelled, because he knew that struggling was fruitless.

"There are two Shinken... two sacred swords..." Buffy said. But her voice sounded eerie, absent. "Thus... there must be one more choice..."

She ended her words nuzzling his neck, almost in a lovers' gesture.

"Buffy?" Xander tried to turn around, but all he could see was her friend's cold blue eyes.

Behind them, Anya had reached Miss Calendar's head, cradling it as if it were a baby, crying but not seeing.

"My body, my life..." She said. "My blood..." At the same time she singsanged the words, a circle of blood formed around her, the floor inside it turned to liquid, surrounding her, as if trying to drown her.

She looked around, amazed, and drop the severed head. She was breathing underwater, in a gray ocean just like in her dreams.

"You shouldn't be surprised." A voice said, and she turned to see who was speaking.

"Miss Calendar?" She asked, still in shock. The woman in front of her was dressed completely in white, smiling sadly. "I... I saw you die..."

"That's a very relative term, dear Anyanka." Miss Calendar answered, and pointed to the surface, way up their heads. "Up there, in the real world, I am dead. Here... I might still have a couple of minutes."

"Why am I here?" The ex demon asked, looking around. "Where is here?"

"I can't answer two questions." Jenny Calendar shook her head. "We are in the realm of dreams. The place between being awake and asleep."

"But..."

"Ah, Ah..." The teacher shook her head again, placing a finger on top of Anyanka's lips. "No more. You've got to follow your path, or all will be lost before time."

"I am scared!" Anyanka insisted, tears running in her eyes.

"So was I, dear child." Behind Miss Calendar, stood Joyce Summers, all dressed in black. "But we all have to fulfill our destiny."

"What do you mean? What destiny?" Anyanka wanted to run away, to Xander, and forget the crazy visions. To forget all.

"For every action, there's a reaction." Miss Calendar said.

"For every choice, there's a path not taken." Joyce added.

"The Chosen One."

"The Mirror Star."

"You must tell him what you saw." Both women finished, and their body dissolved away in the currents of water.

"No! Don't go!! Don't leave me alone!!" Anyanka began to panic, water entering her lungs. She closed her eyes, wondering if she would wake up or if this was the end. But as before, she was grabbed by a hand, and pulled towards the surface.

"Don't cry, kid." A female voice echoed through the gray void, as a bed appeared in front of Anyanka. "I've got you."

On the bed, there was a sleeping figure, but Anyanka couldn't see the face of her savior.

"Who are you?"

"One like you." The voice answered, and Anyanka walked closer, decided to get a look of the sleeper. "One of the people who is destined to fight for the fate of Earth."

"The fate... of Earth?" When Anyanka was almost at the bedside, a breeze ran through the room, changing it to a landscape. A mantelpiece was placed on the ground, a picnic basket at its side. Sitting there, wearing a red and white checkered dress, was a smiling dark haired girl.

"The Storm is upon us." The girl said. She looked just one or two years younger than Buffy, and Anyanka was sure that she had seen her before. "I'm afraid I'll miss my picnic with my father."

"Who are you?" Anyanka asked again, a little nervous by the black clouds in the horizon.

The girl turned fully to look at the demoness, and her brown eyes stilted like a cat's. "I am Faith."

"Bu... Buffy... What are you doing?" Xander asked, very shaken. But the Slayer seemed too focused on Xander's fingers to notice.

"I've made my choice." Buffy answered, her eyes cold. "Now I know what to do."

"That... That's good Buffy..." He stammered as his body screamed at him to get away as fast as he could.

"Don't you want to know which side I choose?"

"Buffy... Do you have to be this close?" Xander tried to move again, surprisingly managing to get away, just a few steps. "Look, I'm happy that you've got your calling in life but... Anya needs my help and..."

"That's just it!" Buffy's grin grew wider, almost evil. "You're always siding with demons... Every moment of your life... And I've just decided to be an Angel..."

In the moment the words left her mouth, the seven stars in her left palm dissolved in flames, and the very air around her ignited.

"It's time for the battle to start." The Slayer laughed, as the flames engulfed them all.

"Buffy!!!!" Xander yelled, before his whole world turned red.

Miles away, inside the Initiative's secret compound, Riley and Willow looked up from their research and smiled as they heard a loud hum.

"She choose us." Willow said, looking at the glowing tattoo on her hand.

"The Shinken calls for her." Riley answered, holding her tight as the shock wave reached them.

Ripper and Ethan looked at each other, while Drusilla hugged herself tightly and began to cry. Their tattoo's were glowing, and all around them, the air seemed to be charged with energy.

"The choice was made." Ripper said, almost defeated. "But she didn't choose us."

"The mirror is awakening." Drusilla moaned in pain. "But it is too soon... The star will be destroyed."

Before either man could try and make sense of what she was saying, the doorbell interrupted.

And before they could answer, the shock wave hit the house.

Wesley smiled as he heard Marcia's insane laughter echo through the walls of Faith's room, feeling her caresses over his skin.

"The choice was for us." The invisible girl whispered, her words a faint touch over Wesley's mouth. "The demons will die!"

Wesley's eyes brightened, and he held her closer, locking in a passionate kiss that grew in intensity as the shock wave hit the hospital.

"Faith? The Other Slayer?" Anyanka asked, incredulous. She had only meet the Mayor's helper once, and this girl didn't seemed like a psychotic killer.

"I know, I've changed a little." Faith smiled, not noticing Anyanka's look of surprise. "A couple months in the dream realm do that to you. But you ain't gonna have the chance to find out why."

"What do you mean?" Anyanka took a step back, very aware that the Slayer was stronger than her.

"You know there are two Shinken?" Faith waved her hand, and from the ground came two swords that were a replica of the one Anyanka had seen in Buffy's living room, before...

She closed her eyes, not wanting to remember. Seeing this, Faith smiled. "One is for the Chosen One." At her command, the ground around one of the Shinken shaped itself in Buffy's shape.

"And the other?" The former demon managed to ask, even when she didn't want to know.

"It's for the Twin Star. For the Mirror." Faith answered, her face passive for a moment. "And the choice has been made."

Anya didn't answer, just turning her eyes towards the second shinken...

And the image of Xander standing behind it.

Spike almost swerved the car when the shock wave hit him. He had been driving his black Desoto on his way to L.A., the one with darkened windows that protected him from sunlight, ready to get some answers from his sire.... And the throbbing pain had been unbearable, making the chip's induced one feel like a caress. He had barely had the time to park, to wait until the pain dissipated.

He breathed deeply, even when he didn't need to, and managed to control the tremors that ran through his undead body.

"The choice was made." He thought, and frowned. He didn't know why he had thought that, or what it meant.

Once he could take the wheel without shaking, he took the road again. It was still and hour or so to get to L.A. and now he had the feeling that time had run short.

He never noticed the seven stars now shining on his left palm.

The Witch moaned in pleasure, as she felt the energy shock wave created by the choice.

She was in an empty warehouse, accompanied only by her lovely messengers, the black wings of death, that now were fluttering excited.

The trip to L.A. had been incredibly fast, thanks to the renewed strength of her magic. So now she had time, time to take pleasure in the knowledge that the choice had been made in their favor, before going out to take care of the demons. Now, she knew Buffy wouldn't stop her attempts ever again.

Cordelia was checking the Demons, Demons, and Demons! Web page when she heard her lover scream.

It had been a couple of weeks since she had found out that Doyle was half demon and, even when she still had some doubts about his role on the upcoming battle for the end of the world, she couldn't remember a time when she had been happier.

Her only complain was the pain that Doyle had to suffer everytime a vision hit.

She rushed into the inner office, noticing only briefly that Angel was not there before kneeling at Doyle's side.

"Are you all right?" She asked, offering him a glass of water, helping him to sit back on his chair. "What did you see?"

"The choice..." He gasped, holding her close. "Buffy is now the seventh Angel."

Angel woke from his nightmare with a silent scream.

He could barely remember glimpses of what he had seen, but what he did remember was enough to scare him. It had been centered on Angelus, on those brief weeks when the scrouge of Europe had roamed the streets of Sunnydale.

And in an overwhelming sense of loss, suffering and pain.

Xander came to himself only to see the charred remains of the Summer's house. He was sorely wounded, bleeding profusely from a large gash on his forehead.

He managed to lift his head and saw Buffy, standing in a large stone that perhaps had been part of one of the inner walls, holding Anya and the Shinken in one hand.

"Bu... Buffy... why?!" He asked, coughing blood.

"Why? You don't know?" She laughed, and a new wave of fire, flames shaped like knives, hit Xander. "I am the chosen one, the one who holds the destiny of this Earth on her hands... And you... You've always been behind me, all this time and I didn't notice. You're my shadow. My Mirror. I am an Angel now, so you're a demon. And my enemy!"

"Buffy... I..." Xander gasped, trying to stand up, every muscle of his body aching.

"_This_ is your Shinken." The Slayer continued, not paying any attention, holding the sword up. "It's crying for you."

She spoke slowly, and behind her the scarred ruins of the house began to shake, to fly around, forming a great cross made of melted metal. The wires that had made the house's electric installation grabbed Anya's unconscious form, strapping her to the cross.

"Anya!! No!!!" Xander had no strength left, but he stood up, ready to try to save his girlfriend. But Buffy was faster, pinning him against the remains of the outer wall, piercing his left hand with the shinken, nailing him completely to the concrete.

Xander screamed, far beyond pain, as Buffy nailed his other hand with sharp glass, the charred wires piercing his legs, at the same time she caressed his body, in a mockery of a lovers' touch, nuzzling his neck as if she was a vampire. "Don't strain your voice, Xander dear..." She whispered against his ear. "I still don't give you enough reasons to scream."

With that, she took the shinken and flew to stand in the metal cross, right above the unconscious Anya. Then she lifted the sword, and with one swift movement embedded it on the former demoness' chest, laughing while Xander screamed, no longer for his pain, but for the sweet Anya, whose blood now tainted the blade red.

Anyanka gasped, touching her breast, where a fleeting pain had begun to form.

"I'm sorry." Faith told her, as the landscape became gray. "Your time is done."

"Can't be." The demoness turned to the Slayer, her face showing her determination. "I must... I must tell Xander that he is the one who can..."

"He knows." Faith smirked. "Well, he knows that he and Buffy will fight. But he might not be able to beat her."

"I have to tell him...!!"

"No." Faith insisted, walking closer to hug Anyanka. "You can't go back, girl. Sorry."

"But..." Anyanka couldn't finish, not when she saw her reflection mirrored in Faith's eyes, the way in which she was fading. "I need more time!"

"Life's unfair." The Slayer shrugged, kissing her cheek. "Deal with it."

Anyanka sighed, feeling her body disappear. "Could you at least tell him I love him?"

Faith shook her head and closed her eyes, not wanting to see Anyanka's final moments.

Ethan and Ripper ran towards the Summer's house, still reeling over what the messengers had told them.

The fact that Buffy wasn't the only 'Chosen One' was not a real surprise, after all, they had been investigating that possibility. But that Xander was the Mirror Star, and all the secrets that had been revealed after that... It was too much.

And it did not prepared them for the devastation around the Summer's house, for the image of the crucified Anya with the shinken in her chest... To see Xander held in his place by broken glass and debris, cruelly stabbed on his body.

Buffy turned her hard, blue eyes towards them, and smiled.

"Giles. I'm surprised." She said mockingly. "All this time I thought you were against the demons, now I find that you're one."

"Don't judge books by the cover." The voice coming from Anya's body wasn't the demoness. It was a more grave tone, a calculating one. "This girl's life wasn't yours to take, B. It was the Mirror's right."

"What's an Angel doing here?" Buffy floated to be in eye to eye contact with Anya's death body, which had opened its eyes. "Couldn't you be less dramatic, dream invader?"

"You know who am I." The non-Anya answered, grabbing the sword blade and pushing it further inside the girl's body. "Now, come and get me, B."

Buffy grinned, and turned to see Xander, whose eyes started to look vacant.

"Xander... Just remember..." She said, a laugh hidden in her voice. "...This is all your fault, for always siding with the demons."

Then she flew away, and the wires holding Anya tightened, shredding her body to pieces, that fell to the floor with a sickening wet sound.

"ANYA!!!" Xander screamed, pulling himself out of the shards that held him, opening more wounds, unnoticing the blood that kept gashing out from them, uncaring of Giles and Ethan, who were trying to reach him. He only kneeled in front of Anya's head, cradling it lovingly on his arms. "Anya..."

Mayor Wilkins opened his blind eyes, tears running on his cheeks.

//The poor girl is dead// He said, even when no sound came from his voice //Because of what she was//

"A demon?" Asked the young man who had the charge of taking care of him when Drusilla and everyone else was gone.

//The Mirror's first beloved. // The Mayor answered, his tears stopping. //You must go and find Angel now, Lindsay. We need him. The Mirror will be lost without him.//

"I'll do that." The young lawyer assured his charge, standing up and picking up a briefcase. "Try to sleep while I am gone, sir."

"We have to get him to L.A." Forrest said, looking at Xander's body in Giles' living room. The boy had not put any resistance to be moved from the remains of Buffy's house, except when they had tried to separate him from Anya's head, and now was sitting there, completely disconnected from the real world.

"Why?!" Giles demanded. The shock of seeing his Slayer, the girl he had loved like a daughter, killing Anya in cold blood still had not settled in. But he was not going to allow another of his adopted family to be hurt. "What's in Los Angeles that can't be found here?"

"The other demons." Drusilla answered, playing quietly with Tara's hair, much to the young witch alarm. "My two daddies... The Mirror's heart. They all wait for us there."

"There are others besides the Angels and the Demons involved on the end, Mr. Giles." Forrest, who seemed to lead the group of messengers continued, glancing at Graham, who was standing guard at the window. "And just like we are the Mirror's allies, he has too many enemies in Sunnydale."

"The... the Angels have their base he... here..." Tara stammered, and Drusilla decided to caress her cheek, just to see if she could make her feel better. But it only helped to make the girl even more jumpy. "The... de...deh... demons wait for... for us... in L.A... The... they will ah... help...Xander."

"Who are the others?" Giles demanded again, not wanting to be kept in the dark. "How do we know...?"

"Does it really matter, mate?" Ethan interrupted, his usual cynic tone subdued. "Look at the boy. For all we know he's one step in the grave. If Drusilla's 'daddy' can help him, then we have to go and see him. If not, we're loosing the battle even before it starts."

Giles stared at his old friend for a long moment, before turning to see the three messengers. He still had his doubts, still wondered if it would be possible to regain the past... But at the same time, he knew deep inside that it was impossible.

"Where are we going?" He asked, looking at Forrest.

"To Wolfham and Hart." Graham answered, his eyes never leaving the street. "And we have to leave _now_"

Following his gaze, Ethan saw a group of soldiers, marching towards the house.

Angel looked at his unusual guest with mistrust.

Spike had arrived to Angel Investigations just a few minutes before, covering himself from the burning sun, demanding some answers.

The situation in Sunnydale wasn't pleasant, not if what Doyle told him was true. And when he had tried to contact Buffy, or Giles, all he got was a dead line.

And the fact that Spike's hand now had a matching tattoo to Doyle's, didn't help matters.

"Why are you here, Spike?" He asked again, trying to contain his anger. Anger at his childe for waiting so long. Anger at Doyle for lying. Anger at himself for not realizing, for not wanting to face what Angelus knew.

"I already told you. Slayer's going insane, killing demons just because. And something killed Xander's parents. Things are really screwed up there." Spike looked up, his eyes haunted. "You know something, don't you, Peaches?"

"Spike, I haven't talked to Buffy in months... I don't..." Angel began, only to be interrupted by his angry guest.

"Back when you were fun, sire, you used to talk a lot about the end of the world." Spike began to tell him, trying to keep control of his game face. "That me, and Dru had a place on it. And then it was all fine, 'cause you said you would explain. But now some friends o' mine got hurt, and I want to know why."

"Friends, Spike?" Cordelia interrupted, from the safety of Doyle's embrace. She had a crossbow in her left hand and looked very ready to use it. "Since when 'happy meals on legs' are friends?"

"You knew the Harris, 'Delia?" Spike said, thoughtfully as if that was answer enough. And even when Angel didn't fully understood the statement, it seemed that it was enough answer for Cordelia, who simply looked down, truthfully grief stricken.

"I don't have those memories, Spike." Angel finally said, trying not to look at his childe straight to the eye. "Angelus and I are not the same person, and some secrets can be kept from one another."

"But then how...?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt." The voice came from the front door, and everyone turned around to see Lindsay McDonald standing there. "But I need you all to come with me to Wolfham and Hart."

The end