Part Forty: All Fall Down
In an instant, the burning was replaced by cool breeze and the taste of ocean. Justine opened her eyes to sunlight glistening of the surface of the water, waves rolling gently onto the shore. Willow and Amy were beside her, staring slack-jawed at a beautiful, dark woman.
“We’re alive,” said Willow, looking up at the woman. “But the world …”
“Is still in peril,” said the woman. “But you had done all you could.”
“I know you,” said Justine. “I … I had lost you, but now… You’re here. You’re … Jasmine.”
“Those days are passed," said Jasmine, looking almost embarrassed, “and now I repay my debt to your world, for the trouble I caused. You women did your work well. You’ve bought the heroes time.”
In the sky, images appeared of a battle. Faith, obviously turned again, wrestled with Buffy in the endless city. Angel dodged Doc’s sword, but nearly fell before his contaminating touch, until Giles—arriving on the scene—pushed him out of the way, the fall of Doc’s hand re-releasing the demon Eyghon. Spike and Connor fell back to back against the encroaching horde of monsters, now moving directly under the influence of the First, who wore Wesley’s face.
“So, wait,” said Amy. “That wasn’t Wesley? So why did he do all this, bring us here? It’s all a little …”
“Byzantine,” said Willow.
“I was going to say, loopy,” said Amy, “but that works.”
“There is more to this game than seems apparent,” said a voice. The women turned to face it, to see Wesley standing before them. As one, they readied for a fight, but Jasmine stilled them with a wave of her hand.
“Wesley is not here to fight,” she said. “Indeed, this is all going according to plan.”
“Plan?” shouted Willow, losing her temper. “The world’s going to Hell, literally, and nearly every person I love is fighting for their life in some extra-dimensional time share. I need a lot more than secret-decoder ring clues, here, Wesley.”
“The First is destroying Illyria’s being,” said Wesley, his voice low. “Illyria is composed of almost pure temporal energy. If he succeeds in eradicating Jasmine and what’s left of Illyria, he’ll be able to resurrect Glory, and she’ll lead an army into an Earth that borders all dimensions, trailing behind her an army composed of Wolfram & Hart’s monsters, led by your friends, corrupted by evil.”
As the images in the sky cascaded, Xander’s fists fell like rain onto Gunn’s face, over and over again, until the man fell unconscious.
“So can we stop it,” said Willow. “Can we save everyone?”
“Everyone?” said Wesley. “No, I don’t think we can.”
The images in the sky changed again—this time, it was Los Angeles from above, electric lights billowing out in all directions for miles. Illyria’s city seemed superimposed on it, now, the combatants seemed like a movie projected on the skyscrapers’ walls.
“Illyria’s energy was bound together by the tattered remnants of Fred Burkle’s soul,” aid Amy, her voice growing more somber. “And Illyria’s composed of temporal energy. She’s made up of time.”
“I get it,” said Willow. “We need to reassemble Fred’s soul, leave Illyria’s energy disparate.”
“Yes,” said Wesley, the word hanging icily in the breeze.
“Can we even do that?” asked Justine. “And if we do, what happens to…”
“We can do that,” said Willow, looking up at Jasmine. “You know how, don’t you?”
“Yes,” said Jasmine, “But there is a price for this magic. A high one.”
They were all silent for a moment.
“I’ll pay it,” said Willow. “I’ll do anything to save the world.”
A flash of light strobed from Amy’s hand, and Willow fell to the ground.
“Sorry, babe,” said Amy, “looks like you’re benched for this one.”
Amy gulped, as she realized the enormity of what she was about to do.
“Lay it on me, Jasmine,” she said. “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.”