Title: Something Worse

Author: Jedi Buttercup

Disclaimer: The words are mine; the worlds are not. I claim nothing but the plot.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: B:tVS, SG-1. Faith wakes up screaming. 750 words.

Spoilers: B:tVS post-"Chosen". Stargate SG-1 "Origin" (9.3)

The second vision was much different from the first. In place of the medieval village square and Inquisitorial pyre, she seemed to be overlooking a vast plain the blue-green color of glacier ice. It stretched as far as the eye could see under a shroud of mist and fog, and in the center of that chilly expanse a rocky outcropping rose, crowned with a domed, golden city caressed by errant rays of light. It was at once beautiful and forbidding, and unlike any place on Earth that Faith had ever seen or heard of.

A flash of light speared up from the ground a short distance from the city, and a series of small wavelets lapped away from it in an expanding circle. Whatever the ground was made of, it was covered in an inch of clear water-- it had to be hell on footwear, but the three people left behind when the glare faded didn't seem to notice. She recognized two of them from before, but the third was a mystery, some kind of albino humanoid with cloudy eyes and a walking staff topped with a blue orb.

"The power and greatness of the Ori cannot be denied," a strong, resonant voice spoke over the image as the three travelers strode toward the city. "Those who reject the path to enlightenment must be destroyed."

The strange plain was gone in an instant, replaced once more by the village pyre and the panicked faces of its victims. Then the flames flared up into a massive wall, blocking out everything else.

"Great holy armies shall be gathered and trained to fight all who embrace evil." The voice that spoke over the crackle of the fire was the same as before, slightly raspy but paced like a practiced orator used to rousing passion in the hearts of a crowd. "In the name of the gods, ships shall be built to carry our warriors out amongst the stars, and we will spread Origin to all the unbelievers."

The vision pulled back, altering Faith's point of view just enough for her to see the speaker. He was tall, with the frosted hair and eyes of the albino she'd seen before, and wore a strange etched chest-piece over his robes that arrowed upward into thin curved strips behind his ears. It looked like nothing so much as a crazy priest's outfit, an association that filled her with foreboding. The last thing the Slayers needed was a new version of Caleb coming to town-- one with even more power and hatred behind him.

"The power of the Ori will be felt far and wide, and the wicked will be vanquished!"

"The fuck we will!" Faith screamed, or tried to scream, and woke to find herself thrashing in her own bed back in the Slayer complex. Her heart was racing, she was covered in sweat, and she knew, in the same way that she always knew when another Slayer was near her, that she wasn't the only one who'd Seen that night.

She waited a few minutes, long enough to catch her breath and run a brush through her damp, tangled hair, then threw a robe on over her birthday suit and padded out into the office section of her suite. Giles had insisted that all the main Council members have a video-phone with conference capabilities, including she and Robin, and Faith was about to put it to good use.

The phone rang only once on the other end. Faith winced as B answered; it was several hours later in the day there, but the older Slayer looked just as wrung out as she felt.

"You Saw it too?" she asked, already certain of the answer.

"Holy armies, star warriors, smash the wicked," Buffy nodded, her mouth creased in a grim frown. "And still no idea where exactly these Ori are coming from, or what they are, or how to fight them. I called Giles after the last vision, but he couldn't find any references-- I hope he recognizes the city or something from this one, 'cause I'm starting to get the feeling this is kind of urgent."

Faith clenched her fists. "He'd better. 'Cause no way is this going to happen, not after the shit we went through in Sunnydale. "We cut down the First Evil, B! How can there be anything worse than that?"

"I don't know, Faith," Buffy said, her voice quiet and her eyes hollow with old pain.

"But there's always something worse."

Go to: Top | Series Index | Buffyverse Xover Series | Fan Fiction Index

© 2005 Jedi Buttercup.