I got your pawns and bishops and castles all inside the palm of my hand

[prodigal_slayer]

After arguing with Wes the entire time we were followin' the little tinkerbell spell he finally gave in. Not that I was opposed to knockin' him one good and takin' off anyway. Wouldn't have been the first time. Needed him to find Tara and the only way The Immortal was gonna let us do that is if he was busy fryin' a bigger fish. Namely me. For as

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[watcher_pryce]

How I found her, I’ve no idea, but I’m guessing it’s that Slayer connection. That, or the fact that Faith never seems to be able to shut up during a fight. I never understood the need to trade witty quips with the enemy, but apparently it’s a must and I’ve given up on understanding. Either way, it wasn’t very hard to find her. Them.

Just as we rounded the corner, my hand still holding onto Tara, I heard her made some remark about being gay. Gay? Wait, what? What? Gay what? Who? After all those years, you’d think I’d noticed something? Anything? Good lord. I froze in my tracks and looked at Tara in a very new light. My mouth opened several times, doing a fairly good impression of a fish on dry land, before Tara’s words startled me out of my stunned state.

She’s right, I can be completely stunned later. And trust me, I will be. Stunned. Later.

Letting go her Tara’s hand, I looked over at Faith and this Immortal fellow as they fought. I couldn’t help but nod my approval when I noticed she had worked on using her feet better just like I told her too. Excellent. That’s my girl. My eyes narrowed as the chap got up again and glared at Faith. Ah, getting serious then.

“Now would be a good time, Tara,” I muttered, pulling the bag I had brought along from my shoulder.

[magick_goddess]

I looked around the room nervously, trying to figure out where we were and if anyone besides the four of us was here. I didn't see anyone but that didn't mean anything and I learned that quickly.

"Ok..." Swallowing hard I looked down at my fingers, trying to ignore how sore and broken they were and concentrate on my fingertips. I needed to find a point of focus before I tried anything.

It took a bit longer then I liked but I finally was able to clear my mind, swallowing again I looked over at Wesley and nodded. "I'm ready..." I think, I hope. I have to do this, I can do this. People belive in me. I think.

Taking a deep breath I kneel down and take the candle that Wesley had pulled out, holding my hand over it before I lit it with my touch. I knew we needed to stay as quietly as possible or it would get us caught and if we got caught there was no way we were getting out of here.

"The gift of determination from the fire inside me. And the gift of energy from the water. Bless the Lord & Lady for these gifts."

I started to chant softly, feeling the energy singe at my fingers, making them burn and run up my hands. I had to be strong, I could do this. I'm my mothers daughter, not my fathers.

[prodigal_slayer]

As soon as I started to feel like I had a little bit of control in this fight for the first time ever he ripped it away from me. Almost like he was just teasin' me before he kicked my ass for like the tenth time this week. Really, I was gettin' kinda tired of that game. Couldn't we play a different one? Every time I'd lash out with a fist he'd disappear and reappear behind me, only to knock me down to the floor face first. Wuss!

I could see Tara and Wes out of the corner of my eye though, caught a glance of a flickering candle flame as my face hit the floor for the third time. A flame. They were doing the spell now? Oh good, that meant I wouldn't have to mop up the floor with my face again. Hopefully. In theory.

I stood back up again but he easily ghosted away from me, barely seeming transparent before he would appear again somewhere else.

"Don't you ever get tired of hiding behind that shit?" I asked him sardonically.

"Don't you ever get tired of hiding behind fists and sarcasm, Faith?" He shot back at me as he sent me sailing to the floor again, this time on my back.

"Not really." I grunted out as I sprung back up to my feet.

I took a few more wild swings at him knowing how useless it would be when suddenly it was like the wind got knocked out of him. He looked terrified for a minute but quickly recovered.

"What's the matter? Not gonna keel over and die on me now, are ya?" I asked him with a grin as I shot out with another punch that solidly connected with his jaw.

Tara did the spell and it must've worked because The Immortal looked just as surprised as I did that my fist had even connected with him.

[watcher_pryce]

Oh for goodness sake, how many times do I have to tell her about skipping on the witty banter? It’s driving me insane. I recall Rupert Giles telling me that his Slayer did the same thing. So either it’s a Slayer thing or it’s an American thing. I’m inclined to go with the latter. Then again, I’m still stuck at the whole ’my Slayer is gay’ thing. Not that it matters but..

Okay, focus here Pryce. We were going to deal with that later.

Clearing my throat, I took a deep breath and turned to Tara. I quickly helped her with the ingredients we were going to need for this spell. She was going to have to do the spell, all I could do was lend whatever power I had and toss some herbs. Which is what I did when Tara started to chant. Toss herbs that is.

I picked up my weapon again and moved to stand in front of Tara, just in case. My eyes were darting between her and Faith as she was still trading witty remarks with the tosser. It was then the spell hit and my eyes narrowed. He seemed to double over and when he looked up there was a look in his eyes that was definite fear. Faith’s fist shot out and connected with his jaw. I’m not sure who was more surprised. Faith, that wanker or I.

“You did it Tara,” I murmured, shifting the grip on my axe a little. “Don’t have too much fun now, Faith,” I called out to her and grinned as I saw that trademark slow smirk appear on her face. Ah, to late. She was already having too much fun. I suppose we might as well stand back and watch the show. And our backs, I’m sure he had minions of some kind.

[magick_goddess]

I closed my eyes and tried to center my calm as I did the spell, chanting the words softly as I felt it warm me from the inside, starting at my fingers and working it's way through my body.

"Faith...Faith listen to me, relax and let it happen. It'll come to you, fill you from the inside out. You'll know when the spell is done." I didn't have to have my eyes open to know that she was slightly freaked out that I was in her head again. hopefully she wouldn't be too mad at me later to argue. Right now what I wanted to do was get this spell done right and then sleep...for at least a week.

Taking a few deep breath's I felt the spell continue to work, my fingers still had that tingle in them and I ignored it, knowing that it was just proving that the spell did work. I opened my eyes slowly and looked over at Faith as she unleashed on the Immortal, taking him totally by surprise.

I bit my bottom lip and slowly stood up, looking around to make sure we weren't being snuck up on by anyone. I murmured the last few lines of the spell under my breath over and over, making sure the spell kept going. We didn't need Faith to lose the advantage we'd gained so far.

[prodigal_slayer]

I was just about to lash out with another vicious blow when suddenly something started to roar in my head. When I stopped totally freakin' for a second I realized it was a voice. Loud and clear and stronger than I'd ever heard it before. It was Tara, only it wasn't comin' from the outside. It was comin' from inside my head. That was enough to throw me so off balance I almost let myself get sloppy. Good thing I caught back up with myself just in time to dodge a punch or else I woulda had my ass laid out on the floor again.

It's hard to relax when you're in my head.

It was just a thought and I had no idea if she heard it or not and this was startin' to remind me of that time she got all ghosty on my ass and decided to wake me up so I wouldn't miss that mid-term. Still owed her one for that. Lemme just kill this bastard and then maybe next time I brought a pizza it wouldn't get flattened.

The Immortal yelled something loudly in another language and I blinked before lookin' around and realizing that backup was on it's way and not my back up. Someone else's backup.

"Wes!" I roared out but he was already on it, arrows flyin' left and right as I kept tryin' to tangle with the Immortal. Finally I kicked him so hard in the chest that he flew to the ground. Pressin' my boot to his chest I smirked down at him. "You're day is up, pal."

Just as I was about to stomp down he grabbed onto my ankle and I found myself on the ground, The Immortal rolling over on top of me, his fingers pressing down around my throat. We were over the magick I guess but I hadn't really counted on him bein' as strong as he was.

[magick_goddess]

"Sorry" I winced slightly when Faith snapped at me, most likely unsure if I heard her thoughts right back. Biting my lip a bit harder I looked around, watching as Wesley started to fend off more of the Immortals back up.

Looking around quickly I started running over in my head all of the spells I could think of to help Faith as I watched her land on the floor, with the Immortal having the current advantage.

I quickly went down into my bag and pulled out a knife, murmuring a few words softly to myself as I ran the blade over the palm of my hand, letting the blood fall onto the lit candle.

Strength of day, Strength of night, Give her strength, Beyond our sight.

It's been so long since I've done a spell like this, I just hoped that it worked and that Mr. Pryce could handle the Immortal's back-up.

[watcher_pryce]

Blood hell, how many henchmen does this sod have? They kept coming from all directions, but luckily they weren’t very well trained. Either that, or they didn’t think we’d pose such a particular threat and weren’t giving it their all. They were in for a surprise as well as their leader. I could see Faith ‘kicking arse’ from the corner of my eyes. Tara, I noticed, was concentrating hard on the spell.

Which was all I could spare them for the moment. I made certain The Immortal’s little minions stayed away from Tara so the she could do the spell. As I swung around to take out another one of my opponents, I noticed Faith faltering for a moment. “Watch your footwork, Faith,” I muttered, ducking a swinging axe. I’d not paid attention close enough as another demon or whatever they were tackled me from behind.

I felt the air rush out of my lungs as we both hit the floor hard. Letting out a growl at my own stupidity, I maneuvered the axe so that I could swing it back and hit the chap in the stomach. He let out a loud ‘oof’, which gave me the opportunity to roll out from under him and jump back up. Narrowing my eyes, I glared at the lot of them, gripping my axe more tightly. Alright, enough playing around. Time to get down to business and do some serious damage. Good lord, I’m starting to sound like Faith.

[prodigal_slayer]

The Immortal's hands were still locked around my throat and the whole world was startin' to grow dim. This would be just my luck. I'd finally get the upper hand on the magick part of it only to prove that I couldn't cut it as the slayer. Cause I was about to die, I could feel it in my bones. I tried to claw out weakly at him but it was already too late and I could feel myself start to fade away.

I'd just given up and over to it when I felt a tingle down at my toes, it traveled up the length of my body and locked around my heart. For a minute things got even blurrier and I thought that this must be what dyin' felt like. But if this was dying? Why did I feel so strong suddenly?

We are forever.

Suddenly my hand lashed out and I felt my fingers lock around something squishy, it ran over my fingers and I pressed it harder. The Immortal's fingers suddenly loosened from around my throat and I couldn't feel anything. Nothing but power. Nothing but death. It would've freaked me out if I'd been more lucid.

Shovin' the Immortal away from me hard I stood up and slowly looked down at my hand stained with blood. In it I held a heart, or what was left of it before I crushed it. Without so much as a thought I crushed the rest of it in my hand and let the gore drop to the concrete before turning my attention back to The Immortal. Or what was left of him before I ripped his heart out. He was laying still on the floor, a gaping hole in his chest, his eyes large and unblinking.

Licking my lips slowly I turned to face the rest of The Immortal's friends as they closed in around us. They all took one look at me before starting to back towards the exit. As they should.

They could never hope to destroy us.

[magick_goddess]

I never knew that it was possible to feel exhausted and wired at the same time. I felt like I could run a mile without blinking and if I stopped for a second I'd pass out into a deep sleep.

Leaning against the wall I watched as Faith killed the Immortal, crushing his heart in her hand and forcing his minions to retreat and leave us three alone.

My heart was pounding hard and I could feel the slow throb in my fingers again from scraping my way out before. I looked around and saw that we were finally alone, Faith standing over the Immortal's body with a smirk across her lips. She looked feral and powerful, it scared me slightly.

Licking my lips I brushed my hair from my face and slowly walked with Wesley up to Faith. "H-hey...are you ok? H-how do you feel?" She looked like she was ready for another fight. I turned and looked at Wesley who seemed slightly confused, but pleased that the Immortal was dead. "H-how about you? A-are you ok...I'm umm s-sorry I couldn't help with the fighting."

[watcher_pryce]

At least after a while those minions kept coming. Still the ones left were strong and I kept fighting them, keeping them away from Tara. Away from Faith so she could finish off this Immortal bastard. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, a ripple went through the room. All the creatures I was fighting suddenly looked afraid and past me before they suddenly hightailed out of here.

Confused, I looked around and was shocked at the sight that greeted me. Faith, holding a now crushed heart in her hands. The blood dripping down on the floor as I followed it’s trail to the body laying there. The chap was quite obviously dead. If the eyes hadn’t given it away, the rather large gaping hole in his chest would have. “That’s new and…unexpected,” I murmured, tearing my gaze away from the body with some effort. I know Slayer strength, but I had no idea she’d be able to do that.

I glanced up at Faith and worried about the look in her eyes. As though she was far away and struggling to come back to us. It was a dangerous look. One that made her think she was invincible. A dangerous look, a deadly look. One, if she kept that up, would eventually lead to her death. I wasn’t having it. Narrowing my eyes, I watched Tara walk over to her before joining her quickly. Faith still just stood there, bleeding heart in her hand or what was left of it, coating them with a dark red color.

“Faith?” I prompted, not making any movement to reach out and touch her. I held my hand out to stop Tara from doing the same. If she’s still in this trance, she may not know the difference right away and I’d hate for her to feel guilty afterward for wounding either of us by accident. “Faith? It’s over.”

[prodigal_slayer]

Everything was a void for a few long drawn out minutes, nothing but violence raging underneath my skin. I couldn't even see and I didn't know why. But it was like I knew where things were so I was seeing something. I was seeing everything. Just as soon as it hit me I was gone and I realized both Tara and Wes were staring at me with worry scripted across their faces. Whoa. That was like...trippin' on mushrooms and it'd been a really long time since I'd done something like that. Everything felt kinda mushy in my head but I was still all wound up. It was a weird feeling.

"What? How long was I out?" Was I out? No. I wasn't out, something else just moved in for a few minutes and things were slowly startin' to make sense again. Fought the Immortal and Tara did some kinda spell just when I thought I was as good as dead. Then it was like everything was inside of me.

Every slayer.

Taking a deep breath I shook my head as it cleared and glanced over at the slumped over body of The Immortal on the ground. A smile spread across my face cause I knew that the city was finally mine again. At least until the next thing decided to move in and make me miserable for a few months. But for now? There was another one down.

"I'm starving." I finally said, turnin' back to Wes and Tara.

[magick_goddess]

All the nerves in my body still felt like they were standing on end, everything felt wired and alive. My ears were buzzing as well but that was starting to lull it's self into a dull hum.

Looking over at Faith closely I could see her mind spinning as she tried to figure out what had happened. I wasn't even sure myself, it was a strength spell that I remembered from my mothers books, I had no idea what it would do to someone as strong as Faith was.

I smiled slightly when Faith seemed to return to her normal self, looking at us instead of through us and into the wall. I finally felt my heartbeat returning to normal and I shifted slightly, smoothing out my skirt; ignoring the dull throb in my fingers as Faith mentioned food.

"Yeah...that...that sounds really good." I crossed my arms and looked over at Wesley. "C-can we um go back to my p-place? I'd...I'd like to change or s-something..." Although if I remember how my apartment looked before they knocked me out I don't think that I want to go back there. "W-we don't have to..."

[watcher_pryce]

And just like that she was Faith again. As though someone had turned a switch and had shut of the strange girl who had been standing there, squashing this wankers heart with just her hands. I blinked at her, worried about this sudden change. Had it been the spell? I wasn’t certain, but I was going to need to find out. I wasn’t all to sure if this ‘change’ had exactly been a good things. She’d not been responding to either Tara or myself.

Clearing my throat, I glanced at the now useless body of the Immortal. I guess we can leave him here, let his servants who ran off take care of him. There were some of them left as well, fallen where I’d managed take them down. Not that many, but some. At least we got out of this alive, I guess that was a lot to be thankful for.

“Are you both alright?” I asked, glancing from Tara to Faith and letting my eyes come to rest to rest there. Tara and Faith. Right. I still remembered her words of course, but now was hardly the time talk about that. We needed to regroup first, freshen up and calm down. And… I don’t think Tara going back to her apartment is a good thing. I wonder if the police have come by yet.

“Why don’t we go back to my place. I’m sure Faith has something that’ll fit you for now.”