Chapter 26.
Buffy stared through her hourglass prison at the quivering crate. Beyond it, Helena continued to scream and writhe in her bonds on the St. Andrew's cross, while Faust and Avurkana watched her with delight. The Scarecrow's toxin had plunged Helena into her most horrifying nightmare, reliving the slaughter of her entire family at the hands of the Lycanthru wolves.
And her fear was fueling the monstrous demon inside the crate, Kalderon, who would enslave all humanity throughout history once he emerged. From the look of his quivering prison, he was mere minutes away from rising to full power.
While Buffy remained stuck in a rising pile of sand with Batman, Xander, and Willow, unable to lift a finger to stop the beast from emerging. Doing nothing but help Xander hold the ends of Batman's cape to funnel the sand to one side of the hourglass.
"Batman, we're running out of time," she urged. "Helena's losing it, and that thing's about to burst out of its box. What are we gonna do?"
"Wait," Batman said dully as he held the top end of his cape, entirely focused on diverting the sand.
Buffy craned her neck forward, aghast. "Wait? Are you kidding? Wait for what?"
A small explosion jolted the cave near its entrance, splitting rocks apart with a blinding flash of light. Followed by another burst near it, and another closer to the center of the cave. Faust jerked toward each successive blast, gnashing his teeth. "Batman!" he growled.
From inside the hourglass, Xander meekly raised his hand. "Question. What's happening right now?"
Batman continued to watch the sand. "When dealing with extremely powerful enemies, such as sorcerers, I like to be prepared. Given the likelihood that we might be overpowered, I dropped several timed miniature explosives throughout the cave as we entered. They were set to go off after twenty minutes if I didn't deactivate them with a controller in my utility belt." He glanced outside the hourglass, where his stolen utility belt rested on the ground.
Xander squinted. "Annnd – how many more of those dynamite bomb thingies are there?"
"Eight," Batman said. "I'm hoping we won't need them. We just have to wait."
Buffy blinked. "Again? What are we waiting for this time?"
"For Faust to become too distracted to concentrate on keeping this hourglass illusion in place."
The series of explosions continued with a fourth and fifth blast that rocked the surrounding cave walls. The wolves glanced about nervously, finally turning toward the cave mouth to flee on all fours.
"Stop!" Faust ordered. "Come back! Kalderon is about to rise!"
"Then let him help you!" one wolf growled as he scrambled out.
"Cretins!" Faust grumbled. "You'll pay for this when Kalderon destroys you all!"
Avurkana squinted at the crate by their feet, noting that its tremors had dissipated. "He is not rising," she said, concerned. She stared up at Helena, still writhing and screaming above them. "Something is wrong."
Another blast seized Faust's attention. "We have no time to decipher it now. We need to leave before Batman brings the entire cave down on us!"
As he spoke, another explosion rocked the surrounding walls, and the giant hourglass suddenly vanished. Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Batman came tumbling to their knees, free of the illusion. Batman gathered his cape in his fist as he rolled across the ground, to land in a crouching position right beside his utility belt. Reaching quickly into its inside pocket, he fingered a collapsible Batarang and hurled it straight at the St. Andrew's cross. It cut through the ropes binding Helena's right wrist, embedding itself in the cross as her arm fell free.
"Run!" Faust ordered, waving his hand toward Batman to whip up a sudden sandstorm from the dirt floor.
"Down!" Batman ordered, swirling his cape around to shield himself from the massive dust cloud as Buffy and the others hugged the ground. When he looked up, Faust and the others were gone. Including the old witch, Avurkana, and the box that held Kalderon.
Impossible. Even if the box had not been made immovable, as it was in Giles' library, they couldn't have lifted such a heavy box and run out with it.
Unless Avurkana had done it somehow, spiriting it away with her magic. She apparently had power even beyond that of Faust.
Great, he grumbled privately.
He would address that later. He located his controller and deactivated the remaining explosives. "Buffy, help Helena down," he ordered.
Buffy nodded and ran to the St. Andrew's cross,
"Xander and Willow," he continued. "Check the rear entrance to the cave. Make sure none of the wolves are circling back around to ambush us."
Xander chuckled nervously. "Okay, sure. If we see one, we'll signal with a girlish scream. Which will mean, 'We found some wolves, please come rescue us immediately.'" He turned to Willow with a serious expression. "I'm in charge of screams, okay?"
"Just be careful," Batman said.
Xander raised his palms, with a mock expression of offense. "What else would I be, while exploring a cave that was once occupied by evil sorcerers and ravenous werewolves? Reckless and carefree?" He laughed at the idea, waving Batman off as he sauntered away with Willow.
Batman shook his head and turned to see Buffy jumping onto the St. Andrew's cross. She hung from the top of its beam by one hand as she plucked his Batarang free with the other and jabbed its sharp points into the ropes binding Helena's wrist and ankles. As she sliced through the bindings and Helena fell forward, Buffy caught her and eased her to the ground. Helena continued to quietly sag to her knees.
"Helena, you okay?" Buffy asked.
Helena didn't answer, her large hood hiding all of her features. The hood finally nodded.
"I'm sorry about your family," Buffy offered weakly.
"Thank you," Helena droned.
Batman stood before them both. "Helena, you've just suffered a hallucination. None of it was real," he said. "I'm sure it's difficult to understand when you've never experienced anything like that, but it's –."
"Actually, I have," Helena interrupted. "The Lycanthru attacked me last year. Made me blind and paralyzed, through their witchcraft, without ever touching me. Then all I could see was them. Attacking, grabbing, biting at me."
"Then you have experienced it," Batman said. "My apologies."
"Except it wasn't entirely imagined, or just images and feelings in my mind," Helena continued. "They transported themselves to attack me somehow."
Batman squinted. "What do you mean?"
Helena untied her hood and loosened the close of her white tunic. She gathered the tunic's fabric to one side, exposing the space between her neck and left shoulder, where she bore a strange wound. It looked similar to the scars on her face, except that it appeared to be from a savage animal's attack. "I mean they were really there," she said. "Chewing at me, biting me."
Batman studied the marks. "Some form of transcendental meditation," he noted. "I won't pretend to understand that. Can they do it anytime? They haven't used it on us yet."
"It's a ritual they perform, to seize control of a person," Helena said. "They can't do it without some strong connection to the victim. I've only seen them do it with someone's hair."
Batman lifted his chin. "Another good reason for you and I to wear hoods."
Helena stared at him, blinking. "Are you telling a joke?"
Batman frowned. "If I ever tell a joke, you'll know."
"Understood."
"I can see why you're so put off by witchcraft," Buffy said. "Look, we'll do what we have to, to stop Faust and Avurkana and get back home. And if we can do it witchcraft-free, we will. Deal?"
"Thank you," Helena said.
"I guess you've been through a lot," Buffy said in a pained voice. "I can't imagine what it's like. Losing both your parents, and your sisters."
Helena shook her head, looking up. "I had one sister. Suzette. Claudette is a missing girl that I've been searching for." She stared hard at the distant rock wall. "The Lycanthru took her. I've been searching for her for months. I went to the sawmill to meet Marceau, because he sent word that he had seen some Lycanthru there with Claudette."
"But the Lycanthru captured him," Batman said. "And likely transported him through the Remnant curse."
"They've been one step ahead of us lately," Helena said. "Every time we get close, they disappear again with her."
"Do you know this girl?" Buffy asked. "Is she a friend, or somebody else from your family?"
"No," Helena said. "Just someone I promised to protect. And I have yet to carry that out." She faced Buffy. "I'm sorry I was so gruff with you. I've been searching for Claudette week after week. I'm starting to wonder whether I'll be able to save her at all."
"I'm sure you will," Buffy said. "With everything else you've done around here, how hard could it be for you to find a missing girl? How old are you, anyway?"
"I'm sixteen," Helena said.
Helena blinked, then squinted. "I don't know what that is," she said. "But if you can help me fight the Lycanthru and this witch, Avurkana, we'll get along fine."
"Deal," Buffy said. She smiled at Batman. "See, Batman? We made up nice, and now we're best buds. Happy?"
Batman stared back at them like a statue. "Delirious."
She put up a finger. "Okay, was that a – ?"
"No," he insisted.
Willow and Xander had been walking through the cave tunnel in silence for nearly a minute. They were obviously moving toward something, because they could still see some of their surroundings, even after leaving the large passage lit by torches. There had to be an exit nearby, but where exactly were they headed? And why, for the first time ever, was Xander not talking?
She decided not to wait any longer, and broke the silence herself. "Look," she said. "What happened back there when we were trapped in the hourglass ... that was a normal thing that happens when two people – who are just friends – are facing certain, or very likely, death. Along with the threat of demons preparing to overthrow the human race, and being stranded three hundred years in the past, far from home. So ... under those high-pressure circumstances, friends can start to feel ... more than friendly. But that's all it is. Just a feeling. It passes. And those two people can still be just friends. So –" She held up her palm in a stopping motion, keeping Xander at arm's length. "They can just stay friends."
Xander leaned toward her. "I'm not going to jump you, Will. Like you said, we're friends. And we'll always be friends, no matter what. Nothing's changed."
Willow relaxed, but felt a sting of disappointment when he didn't argue. "Oh. Well ... that's good. That nothing has changed. Because nothing should change. Because I'm perfectly happy ... with the sameness. And with Oz."
Xander shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded. "And I'm perfectly happy with Cordelia," he said.
Willow cocked her head at him, looking dubious.
"Mildly happy," Xander said.
Willow raised her eyebrows.
Xander blew out an exasperated breath. "Okay, I'm frustrated, desperate, and eternally confused, but she's my girlfriend and there are perks. So I'm good."
Willow shrugged. "Good. And ... I, too ... am good. So nothing needs to change. And we're not going to act any different around each other. Or around anyone else."
"Right," Xander agreed. "All still good. All still the same. Nothing changing."
"Right," Willow said. "Because ... even if I had any feelings now, the way I used to ... I no longer do. Because that ship has sailed. Left the harbor. Put out to deep sea. Far, far, far from the shore."
"Will, I got it," he said. "No more ship."
Willow studied him, uncertain. "Good," she said. "Because I don't want anything to change. At all. We're gonna get out of here, and get back home to the people we care most about."
"Right. We will."
Willow lifted her chin, imperious. "And when I see Oz, I'm gonna kiss him. A lot." She pointed at him a few times, as if poking him. "And there's nothing you can do about it, Mister."
Xander lowered his chin, meeting her gaze with a tolerant look. "Nor would I try to."
Willow remained focused on him with a look of mild surprise. "No? Well ... okay, then. Good."
Xander waited a moment. "And should I be worried about you trying to stop me from kissing Cordy?"
Willow wrinkled her nose. "No. Of course not. And also, ew. And ... I don't even care what you and Cordelia do together. As long as I don't have to hear any details. Or see anything that happens before, to lead up to it. And – And where's the freakin' exit? Did Helena turn into mist and just seep in here?"
"Oh, hey! I see it!" Xander said brightly, pointing up at the top of a dirt slope. Starlight winked down on them through a small opening within the upper rock wall. "So, yeah. Looks big enough for a person to crawl through. Or possibly one of those large wolves." He swallowed, nervous. "Okay, I'm sincerely frightened now. I think we've seen all we need to see. Why don't we head back, while we're still, you know –?"
"Alive," Willow said, nodding quickly. They turned and rushed back down the path to rejoin the others. Even the act of moving toward Buffy, Batman, and Helena was already making Willow feel safer.
Just like her conversation with Xander had given her a safe sense of closure. She had harbored a crush on him forever, but he had never reciprocated. And he never would. He might have had a fleeting feeling of something more than friendship tonight, but she needed more than that. And Oz was totally committed to her, just like she was to him.
So that was that. No more worrying about Xander and his fly-by-night emotions. They were with the people they were meant to be with, and she was meant to be with Oz. Which was exactly what she wanted.
Within a few short minutes, they had made their way through the tunnel to the broad passage where Batman, Buffy, and the Red Rider stood waiting.
"Hey, guys, you miss us?" Xander joked as he skidded to a halt. "We checked the back entrance. Found no werewolves. Which, I'm counting as a win."
"Good," Batman said. "Xander and Willow, I'd like to officially introduce you to Helena Basque – the Red Rider."
The girl in the red cloak peeled back her hood. Willow took a sharp intake of breath at the triple scars marring the girl's face, which had become far more striking up close, without the obstruction of the sandy hourglass wall. Willow felt a genuine sense of anguish, unable to look at Helena's face without imagining it being torn open.
She cleared her throat, gaining control of herself. "Uh, hi. I'm Willow." She offered her hand.
Helena looked down at Willow's hand for a moment, as if it were something alien. Then reached out and shook it. "Helena," she said.
Xander held up a hand in a half-wave. "Hey, thanks for having us over. Nice place you've got here," he said. "We're from the future."
Helena blinked at him. "From ... where?"
Xander glanced at Batman, catching his reproving grimace. "Uhhh ..."
Willow stepped to his side. "He means ... DaFuture."
Helena knit her brows. "DaFuture? That's a province here in France?"
Willow shrugged. "Sure. Okay."
Batman exhaled audibly.
"Right. That's where we're from," Xander agreed quickly. "A magical faraway land. I'm Marty McFly –."
Willow clenched her teeth and talked quietly out of the side of her mouth like a ventriloquist. "We don't need to change our names."
"Sorry, this is all kinda new," Xander answered in a soft voice. He placed a hand on his chest, as if introducing himself to Helena in a foreign language. "Actually, my friends call me Xander. And this is Willow. And you've already met Buffy. And ..." His eyes fell on the masked man with his arms folded over his chest's bat emblem, as the batwinged cape wafted around him. "... uhhh ..."
Helena waited another moment. "Batman?" she offered.
"Yeah. Right. Batman," Xander said, sighing.
"That was easy," Willow whispered.
Xander whispered back. "Yeah, I thought we were gonna have to call him 'Bob' or something."
Willow shook her head slightly. "He doesn't really look like a 'Bob.' Maybe a 'Biff.' Or a 'Hank.' Or a 'Clark.'"
Xander raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Clark? Maybe if he had glasses or something."
Batman soured at both of them. "Do you both know that whispering voices still carry in a cave?"
Willow hung her head, glancing up sheepishly. "Sorry."
Xander resumed his conversation with Helena. "So that's who we are. And where we're from. DaFuture. And we're just trying to get back there. Back to ... DaFuture."
"Yeah," Willow said. "Because we're all ... DaFuturians."
Xander leaned closer to her, dropping his voice even more. "Too much to remember, Will. And making it harder to keep a straight face."
"Okay, sorry," she said.
"So, yeah," Buffy joined in. "That's our home. DaFuture. It's a place –."
"Province," Batman interjected.
"Province," Buffy corrected. "Not far from here."
"Far," Batman insisted.
'I mean, far," Buffy adjusted again. "Way far. So, so far."
Helena looked around at them all. "I've never even heard of it."
"You probably wouldn't have," Xander said. "It all started a long time ago. In a province far, far away."
Batman began to rub his forehead with his fingers, as if nursing a migraine.
Helena focused her gaze on Xander. "And that's where Pierre and his parents are, with Marceau? Because those witches, Faust and Avurkana, switched all of you with them?"
"That seems to be the case," Batman said, recovering quickly. "Given the speed of their exit, I'm certain that Faust and the others are long gone. And there's not much here to –." He paused, stepping toward a rock and bending down to reach behind it. He drew out a small burlap cloth. "This doesn't belong to the Scarecrow," he said.
Helena gasped. "It's Pierre's," she said. "He carries those rags in his trousers when he's working at his father's shop." Her gaze dropped, her eyes glassing over. "He was here. They took him," she said in a trembling voice.
"They brought him here, along with the others," Batman said. "After the Lycanthru loitered about the sawmill long enough for your friends to spot them, they ambushed them and brought them back here. The wolves surely meant to ambush you as well, but –."
"But I received the message too late," Helena droned, still looking forlorn as she stared straight ahead. "I wasn't there to protect them."
Batman brought the rag to his nose and sniffed, smelling the oily residue and noting the rough patch in its center, likely from grazing the heat from a smelter. "Your friend Pierre is a blacksmith?"
"Yes, as his father's apprentice. A brilliant one," Helena said. She held up her repeating crossbow, admiring it. "He built this for me."
Batman studied it with equal appreciation. "That's impressive."
Buffy put a hand on Helena's shoulder. "We'll get him back. We'll find a way to bring everyone home."
Helena straightened and sighed with a clear sense of determination. "And I'll help you however I can, so you can all get back. Back to DaFuture."
Xander pressed his lips tightly together. "Really struggling with the straight face," he muttered.
Batman examined the St. Andrew's cross behind Helena, and the thick iron spikes that held the two wooden beams together. "This was put together in a hurry. Any idea where they would have collected this wood and iron?"
Helena examined it, as if seeing it for the first time. "That's also from the Leónes' shop," she said. "Those beams were cut last week for another project that Pierre was working on with his father. And no one else has iron spikes that huge."
"Then that's the next place to search for clues," Batman said. He observed Xander and Willow, blinking through slightly bloodshot eyes. Even Buffy seemed less alert, now that they had survived their latest skirmish. "Tomorrow, that is," he said. "We'll get a fresh start in the morning. For now, we could all use some rest."
Xander giggled nervously. "Great. Any motels close by? Please tell me we're not sleeping here in the cave. Or in a tree."
"Don't worry," Helena said. "I have a place we can stay."
"A failure!" Faust fumed as he marched toward the cover of the blackened forest, with the Scarecrow, Avurkana, and the Lycanthru wolves accompanying him. "An utter waste of time. Sheer disaster!"
"Redundancy will not help you now," Avurkana joked, floating a few inches off the ground behind him, as the crate encasing the demon Kalderon drifted through the air after her.
Faust whirled. "You find this amusing? I performed the Remnant curse. Traveled through time, to position myself as a Summoner of Kalderon, to usher in his destructive reign on all of history. All we needed was to feed him the fears of this time's Champion, which we did. Or so we presumed." He cast an accusing glare at the Scarecrow.
The Scarecrow put up his hands in defense. "Don't blame me for your own error," he said. "I delivered that girl her worst nightmares, as you could plainly see. Why that wasn't enough to raise your demon, I couldn't tell you."
"But I could," Avurkana said, with a smug grin. "The Scarecrow is right. We were in error."
"We?" Faust challenged.
Avurkana bowed in deference. "I will accept full blame, if that puts you at ease. The Red Rider is clearly the Champion of our time. But you brought new Champions here, which has altered the present time. Moreover, the Champion's terror alone is not enough. It must be heightened. Multiplied by the fears of others."
Faust narrowed his eyes. "What are you suggesting?"
"We could not raise Kalderon through Helena Basque's fears because she has no followers here. No one to witness her terror and join in with it, as they watch their Champion fall. Her followers were transported by the Remnant curse to your time, so we have lost their leverage. To raise Kalderon, we need a new Champion. One whose weaknesses we can exploit, and whose followers will grow horrified at the sight of their Champion's destruction." She smiled like the devil. "To raise Kalderon, we need to exploit your friend. Buffy Summers."