411 - Aurochs - And If My Love Had Never Let Me Go - dragonyphoenix - BtVS

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Title: And If My Love Had Never Let Me Go 14/?

Fandom: BtVS, The Unwritten
Prompt: 411 - Aurochs
Warnings: None
Rating: PG
Summary: Trekker wrote a series called In Another Life where Rupert went back to the Council but never broke up with Ethan. In the chapter “The Dark Age, Postscript”, Ethan is drawn into a universe where his and Rupert's relationship had ended. It was such a fascinating idea I couldn't help but play with it. This is a remix of that chapter.

Whedonverse to Tom Taylor verse

Tom and his friends, Lizzie and Savoy, had stepped to the side as they’d entered the dingy motel room in a vain attempt to avoid the crowd. Everyone else in the room was had a double because they’d brought characters from one variant of a story into another. The bearded Giles, kneeling at the side of the bed where Ethan had passed out, had come through with them. The clean-shaven Giles, standing on the opposite side of the bed, was taking Ethan’s pulse. The bearded Giles was obviously Ethan’s lover even though Ethan had been here, in this second story variant, when they’d come through, but Ethan was also back in the first story variant, lying in a coma in a hospital room. That didn’t include the third Ethan, the short-haired Ethan, who had up and vanished when no one was looking. Tom hadn’t quite followed it all but he did know that things didn’t look good for this Ethan.

“He’s alive, but there’s not much time.” The clean-shaven Giles removed his finger from Ethan’s pulse point but still held Ethan’s hand in his. The bearded Giles didn’t look pleased that the other Giles was holding Ethan’s hand but didn’t object. Clearly he wasn’t about to waste time on inconsequential bickering while his lover lay dying.

“No” The Xander who’d come through the portal, the one wearing a Scooby Doo t-shirt, spoke up. “He’s one of the good guys. He doesn’t die. Not on our watch.”

“So Jesse’s alive in your dimension?” That came from the other Xander, the one from this world, the one wearing a bat shit ugly Hawaiian shirt. The other Xander and both Willows looked shocked at that although Tom didn’t know why.

“Xander.” The long-haired Willow shut her friend down with just that one word. They, along with the second Buffy, weren’t particularly upset that Ethan was dying but at least the girls were trying to hide their hostilities.

“There’s one thing that can save him.” Lizzie’s words dropped like a stone into a pond. Tom could see the ripples on the faces in the room, hope on most but with a mix of why bother from the teens of this world.

“The Grail,” Lizzie added. Tom stifled a groan. Lizzie had been close to his father, which Tom didn’t get since Wilson had manipulated her as much as he had Tom. Seeing Wilson’s decapitated corpse, the head and body separated and fallen to the ground, had wounded her and this, saving another from death, was her way of dealing with that pain. Tom watched, unable to stop it, as the purpose filled her.

“The Holy Grail?” this world’s Xander asked. “As in Monty Python and the?”

“The Holy Grail.” The scoffing came from the clean-shaven Giles. “It’s a myth.” The man didn’t drop Ethan’s hand but he looked ready to pummel someone, possibly anyone, for raising his hopes.

“I’m thinking it’s not so big a myth to them.” The hand waved by the Buffy who came through the portal included Lizzy, Savoy, and Tom himself.

Lizzie nodded. “If it’s in a story, we can get there.”

“How would that work, exactly?” asked the bearded Giles.

“He has this map,” Xander explained. “He mutters a few words, a big hole opens up in the map, and we jump through.” He paused. “It’s a lot safer than it sounds.”

“Tom,” Savoy interrupted. “We’re not thinking of doing this?” Savoy seemed uncomfortable around Buffy, around both Buffys, but Tom hadn’t had time to explore why.

“Yeah,” he replied, glancing down at Lizzie. “We are.”

The clean-shaven Giles glared about the room. “You honestly expect us to believe you can bring the Holy Grail here, to this motel?”

“No,” Lizzie said. “We can’t bring the Grail here; we’ll have to bring Ethan to the Grail.”

“Good riddance,” Tom heard this world’s Xander mutter.

“We’ll start in Chrétien’s romance,” Lizzie said.

“But the Grail doesn’t heal in that story,” the short-haired Willow said. “There’s a procession and the Grail is just used to carry around a Mass wafer.”

“It’s a thin wafer,” this world’s Xander muttered. Buffy pulled him aside and whispered something that left him pale.

“The stories all connect, one to another,” Lizzie replied. “If we get into one Grail story, we can get to the others.”

“We should go now,” the bearded Giles said. “While there’s still time. Buffy, if you would.”

“Got it.” She looked like a little girl but she hefted Ethan off the bed with no trouble at all.

“How long can you carry him?” Savoy asked.

“As long as you want.”

The clean-shaven Giles, having let go of Ethan’s hand as Buffy had picked him up, stepped forward. “I’m coming with.”

The bearded Giles moved around Buffy until he stood like a wall between the other Giles and Ethan. “No, you’re not. You’re not coming anywhere near Ethan again. You almost got him killed.”

“That wasn’t me. That was Ethan, my Ethan I mean. Rayne.”

“Your world almost killed him and I’m going to save him. You have your duty and your responsibility to hold you here.”

The Buffy from this world grabbed the clean-shaven Giles. “You can’t go. This world needs you. I need you.”

Apparently the bearded Giles saw the other give in. “Let’s go.” Muttering under his breath he added, “Before that berk changes his mind.”

Tom threw down the map and they fell through. Only Buffy, carrying Ethan, and Savoy landed on their feet. “Ow,” Willow complained. “Why do we have to fall onto tiled floors all the time? Couldn’t we aim for a bouncy bed or at least a carpet?”

“Willow,” Xander said.

“What? Oh.”

Tables, sturdy wooden structures, filled the great hall and at each table sat dozens of knights. Every man’s gaze was turned toward a procession, two rows, five youths each, dressed in pale silk. Behind them, entering through the doorway, came a maiden. Fire licked at her feet but did no harm. She wore a white dress, simple and unornamented but elegant and beautiful. Its sleeves hung down to her hips from her raised arms. The large golden goblet, held reverently, cupped by both of her hands, glowed so brilliantly as to outshine the candles that had lit the hall. Tom found he couldn’t move, not even to name the goblet as the Grail.

Tom heard a small noise, an inconsequential buzzing. “This won’t help Ethan.” It slipped from his mind, forgotten as soon as he heard it. The Grail filled his vision and his thoughts. When it passed out of his sight, the loss wrenched his heart. His grief was so great he barely saw the bleeding lance or silver platter that followed after. He stood there, as unmovable as a statue, staring at the doorway the Grail had vanished into. He could not mourn its passing, for he’d never thought to see such beauty in this life, but he couldn’t rejoice either, for it was gone.

Two hands landed on his cheeks. Lizzie’s face filled his vision. “We need to move on.” The words made sense and yet they didn’t. She turned his head to the side. He saw Buffy carrying Ethan. He saw such great strength in her stance that he wondered how he’d missed it before. He also saw gentleness and grace. Her hold on Ethan was as careful as the maiden’s had been on the Grail.

Willow had one hand on Ethan’s forehead. “He’s better I think. That’s good, right? We could just follow and find the Grail and cure him?”

Giles shook his head. “This Grail doesn’t have healing powers. That he’s better …” Giles brushed a lock of hair from Ethan’s face. “I don’t know. Perhaps energy is leaking from other manifestations of the Grail.”

“Um, guys,” Xander said. “Problem.”

The knights at the closest table had risen to their feet. A good third of them had already drawn swords. Savoy stepped forward, joining Willow and Xander who had already moved between the knights and the rest of their group. “We should move, now.”

“Just get us out of here,” Tom thought as the portal opened beneath their feet.

They fell into a circular room. Its stonework had a rougher appearance than had the polished surfaces of the previous court. The few men here, all seated or standing in positions of relaxed enjoyment, noted them but didn’t seem to mind there coming. A head, only a head, one with no body anywhere in sight, a head sitting on a silver platter, called out to them in a merry voice. “Welcome friends.”

Lizzie, half-risen from her fall, dropped back down to the floor. “No.” The word was whispered but sounded, for all that, like a keening wail in Tom’s heart. He thought back to Wilson’s corpse, not two hours cold by now, and how the head had been strewn far from the body as if it had been tossed casually aside. He knew that’s what Lizzie was seeing.

“We’re too far back,” Giles called out. “Bran the Blessed, the Celtic tales, are precursors to the Grail romances. We need a later text, one of the Christianized versions.”

Tom acted quickly, tossing the map to the ground and muttering the incantation. He had to get Lizzie out of here, away from that head. “Christian, right,”

They fell into a stable. “Hey, hay this time,” Xander exclaimed. “What?” he added when faces turned to glare at him. “I was the only one sick of falling onto hard floors?”

“Nobody move.” Lizzie’s whispered words, full of urgency, froze Tom as he’d been rising, leaving him in a half-squatting position. He glanced over slowly and almost winced at the sight. Lizzie had landed before a bull, before a huge black bull. Its horns were curved but sharp. If the bull attacked she’d be dead. Tom wouldn’t have time to open a portal. Tom wouldn’t be able to save her.

“Be careful, Miss Hexam,” Giles said. “It’s a full bull. They can be quite deadly.”

“I think she’s already got that,” Buffy said.

Lizzie crawled away from the beast, carefully and slowly. The bull didn’t move. It didn’t seem to even notice her. When she’d made it to the relative safety of the group, Tom wrapped an arm around her. They were still in danger. Any of them could die if the beast attacked.

“Maybe we should get out …” Xander stopped speaking. Tom glanced about, wondering what had shut the boy up, wondering what new danger they were facing. He saw a stable – wooden beams, hay, animals – but each and every animal, including the bull, was facing the same way, some standing, some sitting, but all quiet and still. Tom followed their gazes.

He saw a woman dressed in flowing garments of white and blue. A man, dressed plainly and carrying a shepherd’s staff, stood behind her. In her arms she held a babe, an infant. A gentle light emanated from the child.

“Um,” Willow said. “Jewish here. This can’t be real. Right?”

“It’s a story,” Giles said. “We’re in a story, nothing more.”

“Are you sure? Because it feels kind of real.”

“Wills,” Xander said. “We’re looking for the Grail. Of course this isn’t real.” He glanced apologetically at the mother and child, as if he didn’t quite believe his own words.

“Okay, sure,” Willow agreed. “But on the other hand, vampires, real.”

“Guys,” Buffy interrupted. “Focus. We’re saving Ethan, remember?” The man still wasn’t moving but he looked, somehow, more worn.

Giles laid a hand on Ethan’s chest, holding it there for a few moments. He winced at whatever he’d learned. “He’s weaker.”

“Do you think the babe could, you know, save him?” Savoy asked.

Giles’ face lit with hope but only for a moment. “He doesn’t come into his power until later. We need to go. Please, we should find the Grail as quickly as possible.”

“Right,” Tom said. “Keep the Christianity but add the Grail.”

“Shouldn’t that have been an ox?” Willow asked.

Tom wondered at the girl’s insensitivity. Her friend was dying after all, but when Lizzie answered he realized they were each distracting themselves to get through this without breaking down. “It’s a German variant,” Lizzie said. “A heresy that the Church took pains to eradicate. The ox, in Christian iconography, represents patience and strength.” They stepped into the map. “But the early Christian converts preferred the untamed strength of the bull. The aurochs had a special religious significance to the half-converted Germans and thus made its way into their version of the Nativity story.” Lizzie ended her narrative with an “uf” as she landed.

Tom looked up from the wooden planks they’d landed on. “Oh shit.” They’d fallen onto a sailing ship, one smaller than the Pequod where Tom had spent far more time than he’d like to recall. The ship’s sails were white, brilliantly white, too white. No seaman could keep sails that clean. A red cross, the color of fresh blood, while worked into the warp and weft of the sail, seemed to hang before it. Although there was no wind, the sails were full and the ship sailed forward. Tom threw down the map.

“Wait,” Willow said. “We might find the Grail here.”

“Oh no,” Tom replied. “If we stay here we’re stuck with ships, oceans, and whales. We’re looking elsewhere.”

“Ethan’s dying,” Buffy said, her voice full of threat. “We’re staying.”

“He’s right,” Giles said. “We’re too far into the story. We won’t find the Grail, not here.”

“Come on then,” Tom said as he jumped down through the portal.

“A prison,” Xander said, glancing up from the dark and cold stone floor they’d fallen onto. “We’ve landed in a prison.”

“A prison cell to be exact,” Savoy added.

A shout came from the far side, if any side could be called far in such a small space, of the cell. In the darkness Tom could barely make out a cot and an old, bearded man. When the man started speaking, he sounded afraid and angry but Tom couldn’t make out the words. Giles replied, in the same language, and the man calmed down quickly, more quickly than Tom would have expected. Either Giles was unexpectedly good at dealing with upset people or the man was used to unusual events. “Joseph of Arimathea,” Giles said. “Unfortunately before Christ appears with the Grail.”

“So, do we wait?” Wilow asked.

“Ethan,” Buffy said. She’d been carrying Ethan all that time with no complaint or signs of weariness. “He feels … lighter somehow. I don’t think we have time to wait.”

“Forward ho,” Xander said. He cast a guilty glance toward Ethan and hung his head.

They did not land on stone this time. The floor and walls were modern, so modern that they looked almost futuristic even in an empty hallway. There was a noise like that of a great number of people chattering in a very large room. They glanced around at each other and Buffy shrugged. They followed the sound to a large area, enclosed but open to two levels. The people there … weren’t all people. “Aliens,” Xander said, sounding as if he were seeing something holy. “One of the Star Trek’s maybe?”

“Vir.” A loud voice, English but accented, broke through the din. “You nincompoop. I see you. Don’t try to hide from me.”

The voice led to a man. His clothes were formal and looked almost like a dress uniform being full of gold braid and elaborate buttons. Tom couldn’t stop staring at the hair. It stood out from his head, not as if the man were terrified but as if the hair had been dressed that way on purpose.

“Londo?” Xander asked. Happily that man didn’t hear him. “We’re on Bablyon 5.” The words weren’t meant to inform the rest of them. The words sounded awestruck as if this chaos were a dream come true.

“Move on,” Willow said. Xander turned and glared but didn’t disagree. “There’s a guy,” she added, “a couple of guys actually, but the second only takes up the search after the first dies so I guess guy would be the right word …”

“Willow,” Giles barked.

“Um, okay,” Willow replied. “There’s no evidence that the Grail actually exists in this universe and even if it did we wouldn’t know where to find it.”

Xander looked back, his face full of regret, as they stepped into the map. “Well,” Willow said. “We’re back to castles at least.” It was another feasting hall.

“The miraculous meal,” Giles said. Tom took a closer look. There were a variety of different dishes set before the guests.

“Huh?” Buffy asked.

“King Arthur’s court,” Lizzie explained. “After the Grail passed, everyone’s place was set with his or her favorite food.”

“Oh, like in Harry Potter,” Xander said. “Hey,” he asked turning towards Tom. “Do you have the Potter books in your dimension in addition to the Tom Taylor books?”

“The books are Tommy Taylor,” Tom growled. “There’s a difference.”

“How can you tell this is the miraculous meal?” Savoy asked in an obvious attempt at distraction.

Giles and Willow glanced at each other. “That’s obviously King Arthur. What else would this be?” she asked.

“We should move on,” Giles said. He placed a hand on Ethan’s chest. “His breathing’s getting worse.”

They fell into an open area, onto dirt covered by hay, before, well, not a town. The closest Tom could come would be village but it was more along the lines of one larger building surrounded by hay covered hovels. A large crowd had gathered around a set of what could only be scales, wooden scales, large enough to hold people. In fact a woman was being weighed against a duck. “More witches,” one of the peasants shouted. The crowd took up the chant and ran at them.

“Go. Now,” Savoy said.

One of the peasants fell through the portal with them. After he’d risen to his feet, Tom watched the man slowly work out his situation. “You aren’t going to turn me into a newt, are you?”

“Well, actually …” Willow had started to say when the peasant dropped to his knees and started praying. “Please forgive my gross, and, um, really awful, awful transgressions …”

Tom turned to see a chapel of light colored stone, a garden full of lush plants, and three angels. Tom knew they were angels because they had wings, red wings, ranging from blood red at the tips to pale pink at the height of the wings.

“If any one of them says ‘none shall pass,’” Buffy muttered, “I’m so kicking his butt.”

“Technically,” Lizzie said, “that would be its butt.”

“What?” Xander asked.

“Angels are androgynous.”

“The Grail Chapel,” Giles said. “Quickly.”

Giles stepped forward. An angel, without moving, was suddenly in his path. Its eyes sparked lightning. Tom knew, without knowing how he knew, that if the angel spoke he would drop dead at its feet. It was all he could do to stand in its presence, but Giles was either made of sterner stuff of so desperate that he didn’t mind courting death. “No. You must let us into the Chapel. We must save him. We need … I need ...” The angel didn’t move. Giles fell to the ground.

Buffy stepped forward. Ethan’s breaths, heavy and strained, sounded an odd counterpoint to the peasant’s prayers. “… and I promise to never, ever do it again, not even if I do get mad, which, you know, is really tough because, let’s face it, she’s not an easy woman to …”

A second angel placed a hand on the peasant’s head. They vanished in a flash of light. “I hope he’s going to his just reward,” Willow muttered, “and, no, I don’t mean Heaven. Burning a witch, hmph.”

“Please,” Buffy said. “He’s our friend.” Again the angel didn’t move but there was space, a space that hadn’t been there before, just enough space for Buffy to step into the Chapel. The message was clear. Only she and Ethan could enter.

She carried Ethan into the Chapel. The light, glowing from inside, flared up, shining so brightly that Tom had to raise his arm, close his eyes, and turn his head away. Something fell against him and then past him, dropping to the ground. Tom, turning away from the Chapel and shielding his eyes, could barely make out Buffy in that brilliant light.

“Where’s Ethan?” Giles shouted.

“In there,” Buffy called back. “I couldn’t … He’s in there.”

“No.” Giles’ scream seemed to rent through the light. It faded before the sound and passed away. The three angels were there again, standing to the side as they’d been earlier. “You give him back, you bastards.” Buffy grabbed Giles before he could attack the angels. “He’s mine. He’s my … everything.”

“But why would they …” Willow looked lost. Xander took her into his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder.

“The pure of heart,” Lizzie said, “ascend straight to Heaven when their Quest has ended, when they find the Grail.”

“You know,” Xander said. “If I could use one word to characterize Ethan, it would never, not ever, be pure.”

“Rupert?” The voice came from the Chapel.

Hope etched itself across Giles’ face. “Ethan?”

Ethan appeared in the Chapel door. His clothes had been bleached white but Tom figured Giles hadn’t noticed. Ethan and Giles ran for each other so urgently that Tom thought they’d crash into one another but they came together gently. They didn’t kiss, as Tom had expected, but instead stared into each other’s eyes. Tom turned his head away from the tenderness of their reunion.

“Um, guys?” Xander sounded nervous. “I hate to break this up but the other Ethan, well not the evil Ethan, but the other half of you-Ethan, is still in the hospital in a coma.”