My Life is Different Ch. 08

Buffy didn't react to Faith's words immediately. I think it took her a few seconds to translate the phrase "tongue rides" into proper English, but once realization dawned on her, she exploded with rage.

"What the hell, Faith?" Buffy exclaimed.

And then on the heels of that, she added, "How the hell do you even know what Willow and I have been up to? Were you creeping around, spying on us before you left Sunnydale?"

"Seriously, B? You think that's my style?" Faith asked.

"Hypnos told me all about you two," Faith declared, "The whole time I was in a coma, Hypnos told me what was going on in the real world. He told me about Angel leaving town. He told me about you and Red doing the college-girl thing. He told me about Wolf-Boy getting all naked and doing the wild thing with Wolf-Girl. There's not much that's gone in in the past eight months that I don't know about."

At the mention of "Wolf-Boy" I felt a sharp pain in my chest. Wolf-Boy was Faith's childish way of referring to Oz. And Oz doing the wild thing with Wolf-Girl was Faith's way of referring to the time that Oz had sex with Veruca. Oz was my boyfriend at the time, and it had been a huge emotional wound when I realized that he had cheated on me.

I didn't mention any of this out loud. I just took one of Buffy's hands and grabbed it tightly in mine. I needed emotional support, and holding Buffy's hand was the best I was going to be able to do while sitting in the back of Faith's car.

"So, does that make Hypnos a voyeur?" Buffy asked.

"Well, I mean when you say it like that...," and Faith trailed off. She hadn't anticipated Buffy's question and now she seemed to be caught totally flat-footed.

"I mean, he seems to know exactly who's having sex with who," Buffy continued, "Is he watching us every time we have sex?"

Faith made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat but couldn't seem to come up with a smartass reply fast enough.

"He's like a Peeping Tom," I added helpfully, "He's like a nerdy college freshman spying on the college girls in the shower."

"He's really more like Santa," Faith countered somewhat lamely, "Y'know, he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been good or bad."

"I sleep in the nude," Buffy shot back, "Santa should be ashamed, ogling me while I'm sleeping."

There was a sound that came out of Faith's throat. At first it sounded like she was choking, but then she burst out into boisterous, exuberant laughter. She laughed so hard that tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her face.

"Yeah, that Santa is a real perv," Faith replied when she finally stopped laughing. And just like that, Buffy and Faith stopped with the animosity towards each other. Things got a loss less tense. It seemed too easy to me, but if everything was working out between Buffy and Faith I wasn't going to question the credibility of the situation.

* * * * * * * * * *

Eventually, the sun went down and that's when Faith decided that it was time to break into the house on Franklin Boulevard and bust Hypnos out of there. It was snowing when we reached Franklin Boulevard. I couldn't seem to stop staring as the white fluffy flakes drifted down from the Ohio sky. You don't really see a lot of snow in Southern California, and I was kind of hypnotized by the unfamiliar precipitation.

"I'll drive around the block a few times," Faith said, "And if the coast looks clear, I'll park the car someplace, we'll have Red do her mojo and I'll sneak in and do the rescue thing."

"So, when you're looking to see if the coast is clear," I asked, "What exactly are you looking for?"

"I dunno," Faith replied, as she methodically scanned the streets, "Some dude who looks out of place, maybe somebody who's loitering in front of the building, basically anybody who looks lurk-y or suspicious."

I was still watching the snowflakes fall as Faith drove down the block, and failed to notice the very suspicious-looking and extraneous stranger making his way down the street, until Buffy pointed him out.

"I'm pretty sure that guy looks out of place," Buffy declared and I shifted my gaze to see which way she was pointing.

He had one foot on the sidewalk and the other out in the street, but that wasn't what really made him look out of place.

He was wearing a tunic made from boiled leather and animal fur. His boots seemed to made from crudely sewn-together leather and animal fur as well. And he wore an iron spangenhelm to protect his head. Everything he wore seemed to come from the ninth or tenth century, however, that's not really what made him look out of place either.

What really made him seem out of place was the fact that he stood about twelve or thirteen feet tall and he had massively broad shoulders that were about six feet across.

"You got that right, B," Faith declared as she put the car in reverse, "He looks suspicious as fuck."

"Seriously?" I exclaimed in outraged protest when I saw the massive threatening creature standing on Franklin Boulevard, "A friggin' giant?"

Faith attempted to drive back down the block, however the giant in tenth century clothing had other ideas. He grabbed a motorcycle from a nearby parking space and hurled it down the street. There was an ear-splitting crash as it smashed into a vehicle that was about two car-lengths behind us, and both the motorcycle and the BMW it had hit were horribly damaged.

There was broken glass everywhere and the body of the BMW had become horribly warped. The hood of the BMW was dented all to hell and driver of the car got out to complain about the damage to his car.

"Fuck," he exclaimed loudly, "I just had two more payments 'til this thing was paid off! What the fuck? Who's gonna pay to fix this?"

The thirteen-foot tall malefactor that had thrown the motorcycle chose that moment to march briskly and menacingly forward. The driver of the BMW noticed the large culprit about a half-second later and suddenly decided that finding a guilty-party to pay for the damages to his vehicle wasn't a top priority.

"Aaaaaiiighhhh," he screamed and fled down the street with an impressive display of speed. There was now about an inch of snow on the ground, and I had assumed that Mr. BMW would slip and fall on the white powdery substance, but he ran like he had wings on his feet, and he never fell even once.

"Weapons?" Buffy asked as the Big Bad got closer and closer.

"In the trunk," Faith replied, and both slayers exited the car simultaneously. Faith unlocked the trunk and I tried not to breath or make any loud noises. I figured if I didn't attract any attention to myself, the giant might not hurl any vehicles at me. The two slayers pulled out identical battle-axes from the trunk and Faith went left while Buffy went right.

Buffy and Faith both rushed forward, trying to flank the giant, but he was so big, one step for him was like three of four steps for Buffy. He could outmaneuver Buffy just by moving at the same speed.

When Buffy got close enough, the giant kicked her, and sent her flying through the air, like she was a soccer ball. She hit the ground about thirty of forty feet later, and slid down to the end of the street, leaving a path in the snow until the momentum ran out.

And then; out of nowhere; the giant came up with a sword. The sword was bigger than I was and looked really solid, and heavy. It looked like it could cut a Buick in half. He ran up to where Buffy's prone body was lying in the snow and brought the sword down, two-handed.

Buffy rose to her feet rapidly and did several evasive maneuvers, spinning and reorienting herself to keep the giant in her sights and keeping out of the range of that massive sword of his. Buffy had a battle axe in one hand, but it looked small when compared it to the size of her opponent.

The giant swung his broadsword in a wide arc, and Buffy would have been sliced in half, but she did a couple of backwards rolls to evade being sliced. Buffy was moving super-fast to avoid being killed by the giant, I could barely track her movements she was moving so fast. Her reflexes were super-human.

As fast as Buffy was, she was trying to evade an opponent that was basically three times her size. And his broadsword was longer than Buffy was tall. Eventually Buffy's superhuman reflexes weren't enough and one of the giant's blows connected. Fortunately, Buffy was hit by the flat of the giant's blade, and not the sharp edges of it.

So, Buffy wasn't sliced in half, however the giant's attack hit her with enough force to send he hurtling through the air again.

She flew through the air for about seventy feet, and then slid across the snow another thirty feet after she hit the ground. I think she got the wind knocked out of her, as if took her a few seconds to get back into a standing position.

The giant menacingly advanced on Buffy's location and raised his broadsword in a threatening; yet clumsy; attack posture. He wielded his sword more like a club. He didn't seem to know proper sword-fighting techniques...not that I was complaining. His superior size made him quite a massive threat, even without proper combat training.

But before the giant could bring the sword down and cleave buffy into a bloody corpse, Faith rushed him from behind and slashed at the back of his right leg with her battle axe. There was a spray of blood and the giant bellowed and dropped to his knees.

"I cut your fucking hamstring, asshole," Faith screamed as the giant took his eyes off Buffy and swung his sword in Faith's direction, "How's that feel?"

Faith's reflexes were just as fast as Buffy's and she arched her spine into an extreme arch like a demented limbo contestant, rapidly ducking underneath the giant's clumsy attack.

"SLITNA YKKARR BEIN," the giant bellowed at Faith, and he swung his sword at her again. This time Faith did an extremely graceful vault and leaped over the giant's sword as he attempted to cut Faith in half.

And while the giant was distracted by Faith's acrobatics, Buffy made a spectacular leap and her powerful legs propelled her up to eye-level with the giant. The giant gave Buffy a look of stunned surprise and annoyance. For a dramatic moment, my girlfriend hung there; looking graceful and athletic; and then she swung her battle axe, slicing the giant's carotid artery open and sending a liquid explosion of dark, red blood everywhere.

Then gravity took over, and Buffy went sprawling back to the ground again. The snow was rapidly soaked with the blood of the giant, and it fell over, dead.

I finally got out of the car and walked through the snow, over to Faith and Buffy.

Both of them were smiling.

"Two slayers, working together, B," Faith said with companionable enthusiasm, "We're an awesome double-threat."

"That was pretty awesome," Buffy agreed.

I looked at Faith and my girlfriend and felt somehow left out. Faith and Buffy were both slayers. They had superhuman strength, resiliency, endurance and reflexes. They stood up to vampires, hellhounds and giants. They killed the things that haunted our darkest nightmares.

And me? I was a science nerd that ran away when scary things made their appearance. I knew some spells, but nothing that would have killed a giant. Hell! None of my spells would have even slowed him down!

"So, Red," Faith said, suddenly smiling at me, "Ready to work your witch mojo? We're just a few houses down from the one with the crazy-mystic no-trespassing sign."

Suddenly I felt better about myself. I wasn't strong or athletic, but I was the one that Faith had asked to come to Cleveland. I was the one Faith needed to complete her mission. I suddenly felt taller and more confident.

"I'm your witch," I said avidly, and I allowed Faith to lead me to the house with the enchantment on it.

The house where Hypnos was being held captive was a tall, imposing, vintage building. It was four stories tall and looked to be over 100 years old. Adding to the building's creepiness, there were antagonistic-looking gargoyles perched up near the top, and there were turrets looming above us at each of the building's corners.

The rest of the block was just condos, done up in a modern style of architecture.

"This building looks really out of place," I said, "It looks nothing like the buildings that surround it."

"Yeah, that's weird," Faith replied.

"Those gargoyles look fiendish and angry," Buffy observed as she pointed to where one of stone gargoyles was perched, "They're not going to come to life, swoop down and attack us, are they?"

Neither Faith nor I had an answer to that one. So, we spent several minutes just standing there, staring at the gargoyles and waiting to see if they were going to make a move.

They never did.

I let out a sigh of relief. For once, I caught a lucky break. Then Faith marched me up the steps to the front door of the house.

I placed my hand up against the door and encountered the mystic barrier that Faith had been talking about.

The barrier wasn't Wiccan and it wasn't Druidic. Wiccan magic feels warm, like basking in the heat of the sun a beautiful summer day. Druidic magic feels like the slow, somber drum beat of some primitive, ancient music.

The mystic energy I felt from this barrier was cold. It sent cold shivers down my spine and caused goosebumps to break out all over my body. I'd never encountered magic like this before. Luckily, I'd brought the apertor ex foribus with me.

The apertor ex foribus was sort of like a mystical lock-pick kit. A witch could use it to take down most mystical barriers. I pulled the apertor ex foribus out of my pocket and held it against the mystic barrier. The energies of the barrier met the energies of my mystic lock-pick, and I could feel the two of them beginning to fight against each other.

It seemed as if the apertor ex foribus was about to defeat the mystic barrier, but then everything stopped.

I blinked twice and pulled back. It just didn't seem fair to travel over two-thousand miles, get attacked by a giant, only to be defeated at the very end of my quest.

"What's wrong, Will?" Buffy asked, "Doesn't the key-thing work?"

"Oh, it works," I explained to Buffy, "It's just this barrier. It's got more energy powering it, than I've got powering my mystic lock pick. And I'm not strong enough of a witch to boost the apertor ex foribus's magic."

Then Buffy put her hand over mine and asked, "Would it help if you added the strength of a slayer to your witchy strength?"

I had to think about that for a second. Slayers were mystically enchanted creatures. If I maintained physical contact with Buffy, I probably could drain enough mystical energy off her to enhance the power of the apertor ex foribus and boost it enough to overpower the mystic barrier.

Eventually I answered, "I think that would help. I think that might be exactly what I need!"

I held up my mystic lock-pick up to the door, Buffy grabbed my hand to share her energy with me, and then; much to my surprise; Faith grabbed my hand as well. I turned to her in surprise and gave her a questioning look.

"Hey, a triple-threat is better than a double-threat," Faith said, as if that explained everything.

And maybe it did. Faith and Buffy added their energy to my own, and for a few seconds I felt a euphoric high as my body was flooded with powerful energies. I felt like I was floating on air, and in orgasmic ecstasy as Buffy's and Faith's energies merged with my own. I felt powerful. I felt invincible. I felt like I was ten feet tall. I let out a laugh of pure delight, and the mystic barrier was dissolved with ease. It was like dissolving snow by pouring hot coffee on it. It was just that easy. I felt like I was an irresistible force, and no power on Earth could stand up to me!

And then I heard Buffy's voice say, "Will?"

I looked around. We were no longer standing in front of the building. We were now in the main foyer and I was no longer holding hands with Buffy or Faith.

"You okay, Red?" Faith asked, "You were laughing like one of those supervillains with the handlebar mustache and the evil plan to foreclose on the orphanage and throw all the orphans out into the street."

"Um," I said, not certain how to reply to that.

Sharing energy with Buffy and Faith had been a heady experience. I had enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. It totally swept me away and made me lose control there for a few seconds.

"Um, well I guess the barrier came down," I finally said.

Then I looked at my hand and saw that there was a tattoo on the palm of my hand that resembled an antique lever-lock key. The apertor ex foribus was gone, but a tattoo was there.

"What the hell is that?" Buffy asked, gazing at my tattoo.

I looked at it, bewildered. I had never heard of mystically acquired tattoos before. It was almost like the apertor ex foribus got absorbed into my skin.

Then a thought occurred to me and I said, "Buffy, let me see the palm of your hand."

It turned out that Buffy had an identical tattoo on the palm of her hand.

"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me," Faith exclaimed and she held up her right hand, showing she had an identical tattoo on her palm as well.

"Okay, Will," Buffy said, "What does this mean?"

I stared at the tattoo on my right hand and furrowed my brow, "Well, obviously something strange happened when I did the magic to bring down the barrier."

"You think?" Faith asked sarcastically, "This is like a friggin' episode of the Twilight Zone."

The three of us got so engrossed with the mysterious tattoos on the palms of our hands, we totally failed to notice when a robed figure entered the room.

"I don't know how you managed to get past Hjálmarr," the adversarial voice shouted, "But your intrusion into my house goes no further than this!"

The guy looked really sinister in his black robes, complete with a full hood that concealed his face. He also carried a long, wooden staff that might have been a wizard's staff, or it might have just been something that the big-bad thought would look cool.

Buffy and Faith refused to be intimidated, and Faith actually managed to look bored.

"Hjálmarr?" Faith asked, "Was he the big steroid-king outside in the homemade boots?"

Faith paused for a second, and before the sinister mister could answer, Faith teasingly added, "He was running around with sharp objects and poor thing sliced himself up really bad. Yeah, he bled to death right out there in the snow. Was he a friend of yours?"

"I summoned him up from Jötunheimr, and bound him to my will," the robed figure informed us heatedly.

"Do you have any idea how difficult that is?" he asked us, "The Jötnar don't like taking orders from us mere mortals. It was a hell of a lot of work binding him to my will. And now you're telling me that he's dead?"

"I guess it sucks to be you," Faith replied, still looking unimpressed with our cowled host.

I didn't know if this guy knew any real magic or not, but I was kind of hoping we might not have to find out. A battle with a real wizard could get messy, and I didn't know any spells that were any good in combat, so I tried to deescalate things.

"Look, we heard that you were holding somebody here against their will," I said, "We don't want to disrupt your life or kill any more of your Jotnar. If you just let your prisoner go, we'll get out of your hair, and you can get back to your summonings, conjurings or whatever it was you had planned for today."

I thought it was a pretty good offer, and based on the long silence that followed, I inferred that he was actually considering accepting my offer. A tiny smile slowly crept across my lips as it appeared that we could conclude Faith's mission without any additional violence.