Everyone is trying to guess Death's identity, I feel really satisfied that no one's got it right yet. I'm dropping tiny hints here and there, I want to see who will be the first to guess it right. Oh yeah, keep in mind that this is an Alternate Universe, I'm making some changes on both the Buffyverse and the Incarnates'. Thank you everyone who took the time to leave me feedback, it's greatly appreciated.
I'll give individual replies later when I have more time.
Onto the update now, enjoy!
Chapter Two – Faith
Mortis landed on the rooftop of the prison complex. Death looked at the sky. The moon would soon come. She dismounted.
“Stay near, will you?”
The horse bobbed his head up and down. She smiled and patted his neck.
“Good boy.”
She looked down at the building, extending her senses. Death looked for the soul of a Slayer in the area. Having been on the presence of many Slayers, it was a relatively easy task. Like all mystical beings, Slayers had a different feel to their presence. It was a subtle difference that not many would notice, but she had experience to spare.
There you are. Death adjusted her hood and, with a parting wave to Mortis, phased through the roof and into the building. Letting her senses guide her, she walked through corridors, passing patrolling guards and inmates until she reached the cell she was searching for.
A dark-haired woman in an unflattering prison uniform was lying in the uncomfortable-looking single bunk, hands behind her head as she stared at the gray ceiling. Belying her relaxed pose, Death could feel the nervous energy exuded by the young woman.
Faith was obviously restless, that much was obvious.
Such a free spirit… She doesn’t belong here. Death mused.
She isn’t meant to be caged like this. What she didn’t understand, was why she simply didn’t escape. She had the means to, no human could ever match a Slayer’s fighting prowess. So what was holding her back?
Death phased into the cell and leaned against the bars, waiting for her presence to be noticed. It didn’t take long. Faith looked up and saw the figure garbed in non-reflective black with a hood shrouding her head. A bald, bony skull looked eyelessly at her. In pure reflex, she jumped from the bunk and dropped into a fighting stance.
The Incarnate watched, amused and impressed. Faith’s whole soul seemed to sing, the Slayer in her begging for action.
I wonder if she’ll attack me?
“Who the hell are you?” Faith asked harshly.
“I’m not a threat, Slayer. You know that.” Death stated simply.
Faith concentrated and nodded. She didn’t feel like a vampire or even a demon. “What are you?”
Death chuckled. “I’m Death.”
“What? Is this some kind of Halloween joke?” Faith looked at her incredulously. “You’re Death?”
“Death, Thanatos, The Grim Reaper, The Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, whatever you prefer. Well, in my case it would be Horsewoman, but you get my meaning.” Death explained breezily.
Death saw as comprehension dawned on the Slayer and her eyes widened. Surprisingly, she tensed even more and gritted her teeth, as if readying herself for a fight. Not the usual reaction. Most of the clients that actually saw her reacted with fear, despair or even resignation.
Interesting.
“So you’ve come to get me? Well, I won’t go down without a fight.” Faith said defiantly, raising her fists.
“Oh, I don’t doubt it. But I’ve not come for you, at least not like that.”
Faith frowned. “You’re not here to kill me then?”
“Death does not kill.” she stated with a hard edge on her voice. “I merely take the souls of the dying, the problematic ones, so they won’t be lost and wandering forever inchoate. And in case you didn’t notice, you’re not dying.”
Faith nodded slightly, slowly dropping her fists to her sides. “So… Why are you here?”
“To put it simply, I want your help.”
“Huh?” Faith said, confused. “Help? How am I going to help you?”
“Well, you see, any time now a guard will come here with orders to free you. You’ll be free to do as you please with a clean slate.”
“What?! You released me? Why?!” Faith glared.
“You mean you actually enjoy it here?” Death made an encompassing gesture to the cell.
“No! Yes, no, I… This is where I belong.” Faith muttered.
“No, it most certainly isn’t.” Death countered. “You don’t belong in a cage.”
“What do you know?!” Faith said angrily. “I’m
evil! This is my place.”
“No, it isn’t.” Death said softly. “I know evil, Faith, and trust me, you’re not it.”
Faith clenched her fists, staring at some point behind Death.
“Why are you here, Faith?” asked Death, her voice gentle. “You hate it here, you want to be free. You
can escape, no one here could stop you. Why do you insist in remaining incarcerated?”
“B told me… She told me it was the only way I could make it up to her.” Faith whispered, looking down.
“B?” Death cocked her head curiously.
“Buffy.” Faith clarified.
“
Buffy? What kind of name is that? Sounds like something one would call a dog.” Death muttered to herself. “Who is this Buffy?”
Faith stifled a smile, having heard the dog comment. “She’s the Slayer, the other one.”
“Oh.” Death nodded, understanding. “Elizabeth Summers.” She did a double take. “You mean she actually likes to be called
Buffy? I’ll never understand you mortals!”
Faith chuckled amusedly. She too thought Buffy a very silly nickname.
“I didn’t know you knew each other.” Death commented lightly.
Something flashed in Faith’s eyes, but she closed them before Death could see what it was. “We were… friends, more or less. I did bad things, hurt her… She told me to turn myself in, to atone. So I did.”
“Atone? Do you think you’re atoning for anything here?” Death shook her head incredulously. “I know everything about redemption, Faith. And this is not the way to find it.”
Faith opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out.
“The way to redeem yourself is to do good, Faith. What good are you doing copped up here?”
“I’m evil.” Faith muttered, looking away.
Death let out a mirthless chuckle. “Faith, look at me. I’m Death. I’ve been dealing with evil for longer than you can imagine! Hellfire, I know Evil
personally. Trust me on this, you’re not evil. I can prove it to you, if you want.”
Faith looked up. “Prove? How?”
“With this.” Death took something from her pocked and showed it to Faith.
Two stones were flashing gently in her gloved hand. They were cabochons, half-rounded and well polished. One was a dull brown color, the other a dull yellow.
“What-“
“These are my soul stones.” Death interrupted. “They are instruments of my office. I use them to analyze the souls of my clients. The brown stone measures the evil in a soul, the yellow one measures the good. They help me determine which sphere the souls should be relegated.”
“Spheres?”
“Heaven and Hell. The terminology varies, of course, but these are easier to understand.”
“Oh.” Faith nodded, showing her understanding.
Death could feel Faith was still confused about the whole thing, but more thorough explanations would have to wait.
“Come here then.” Death called.
Faith approached cautiously, stopping before the Incarnate. Death took the brown stone and passed it over Faith’s body, following a pattern she couldn’t define. Faith swallowed, she was quite literally looking Death in the eye. She looked away from Death’s intense stare and directed her gaze to the stone. It was gradually darkening and by the time Death was finished it was almost black.
“See? This is the evil in your soul.” Death handed her the stone. It was heavy. “Quite a bit of guilt and sin in there, but not the worst I’ve come across. Evil weights down your soul.”
Faith bit her lip, catching her meaning.
Death brought up the yellow stone and repeated the process. As it picked her good aspects, it brightened, until at the end it was shining strongly, like a tiny moon.
“Now here is your good. See how bright it is? Much brighter than one as young as you would usually be.” Death held up the shining gem and Faith stared at it in amazement. Death deposited the stone on Faith’s hand.
“It’s so light.” Faith murmured.
“Yup.” Death agreed cheerfully and took the stones back. “Now for the verdict.”
Death put the two gems together. They clung to each other, as if magnetically attached and the line of their cleavage writhed into the configuration of the Yin-Yang. She let go of the merged stone. It hovered in mid air, as if balanced on something.
Faith watched, unconsciously holding her breath. The stone flashed. Then, slowly, it rose.
“What does that mean?” she asked quietly.
“That means, Faith, that the balance is marginally in favor of Heaven. This is the proof that even now the evil in your soul does not weight it down completely.”
Faith let her breath out; she had been more nervous than she had realized.
“How… How is it possible? What I did…”
“Faith, tell me something. How many vampires and demons have you killed so far?” Death asked seriously.
“Uh, I don’t know.”
“Dozens? Hundreds?”
Faith shrugged. “I guess.”
“And how many people do you think you saved by doing that, Faith?” Death asked gently.
“Oh.” Faith fell silent.
“So you see, Faith, you’re not evil. Your soul is tainted, but not enough to damn you. Every good deed lightens the burden, and every bad deed weights it down. Only you can change your fate. In the words of the poet William Henley: ‘It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll; I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.’” Death intoned. “Do you understand it now?”
Faith nodded. It was as if a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders. She felt hopeful now. “Why are you here, Death? Why are you telling me this?”
“That’s a good question, you know. It all started when the Fates gave me a mission.”
“The Fates? As in…”
“Atropos, Lachesis and Clotho, yes. Meddling hags, the three of them.” Death said with a fond smile that Faith couldn’t see behind the glamour of the hood. “They asked me to protect someone who is in great danger. You have to understand, we Incarnates have to follow certain rules, one of which prohibits us of interfering with the mortals. We can coax, give hints, but not directly interfere. So the fact that they actually asked me to interfere means it’s serious, very serious.”
“So isn’t you telling me all this against the rules?”
“Well, yes.” Death smiled sheepishly. “I’m not exactly supposed to tell anyone about my Incarnate office. I made an exception for you because I needed your trust. Only one person knowing won’t make much difference, I think.”
“So… Who is this person you have to protect?” Faith asked.
“Dawn Summers.” Death answered simply.
Faith paled. “Dawn? B’s kid sister?”
Death nodded. “So imagine my surprise when I found out there are two Slayers now. I admit I’m a tad outdated in theses aspects. So I figured, since one is already protecting Dawn, I could get the other to help me.”
“You want me to go back to Sunnydale?! B
hates me, she’ll
kill me!” Faith protested.
“Hate, I’ve found, is too strong a word.” Death commented. “But it’s your choice. You will be freed anyway.”
Faith frowned, thinking hard. On one hand she was terrified of meeting Buffy again, but on the other she’d always had a soft spot for the kid and didn’t want her to be hurt.
Maybe I can help… Maybe B won’t hate me. Faith sighed.
“Alright, I’m in.”
Death grinned. “Grand!”
“I just have one question. How do you expect to gain their trust like that?” Faith smirked, looking her up and down.
“You don’t actually think I look like this all the time, do you?” Death put her hands on her hips, which made a comically interesting sight. “What you see is a mask, a mere illusion of my office. I was mortal once, you know? I’m not sure how long ago since time passes differently for an Incarnate. I still look like a normal human outside this uniform.”
“That is an
uniform? Wicked ugly thing.” Faith shuddered.
“Yes, well, I can’t really do anything about it. While I am working I have to bear the visage of Death.” Death shrugged. “Bugger if I know who had the idea for this uniform. I think the Powers have a weird sense of humor.”
“So you’re going to be my Watcher, then? You’ve got the British thing down pat.”
Death tapped her chin thoughtfully. “You know what, that’s not a bad idea at all. But just between us, I’m not really British, I just like the accent. I think I’m from somewhere around Ireland.”
“You’re strange.” Faith shook her head.
“I prefer the term ‘quirky’, thank you very much.”
At that exact moment a guard approached the cell. Faith glanced between the guard and Death, a slightly panicky look on her face.
“Oh, don’t worry. She can’t see or hear me.” Death waved her off.
“Black!” barked the burly guard. “Gather your things, someone up there likes you.”
Faith fought down a grin as she put her few things inside a battered duffel bag. Half an hour and some paperwork later, Faith walked out the prison complex as a free woman. Faith let out a whoop, enjoying the feel of her newly acquired freedom. She’d missed that.
Death watched her amusedly. She looked around and, seeing no one in the near vicinity of the prison building, gave a low whistle. Mortis galloped down from the rooftop and stopped before his mistress.
“Whoa! That’s a frickin’ horse!” Faith exclaimed.
“Really, I hadn’t noticed.” said Death sarcastically. “‘Death rides a pale horse’, have you ever heard of that? This is Mortis.”
“Wicked cool! But wait, will I have to ride him?” Faith looked slightly alarmed.
Death chuckled. “I can teach you how to ride later, but no, that’s not necessary.”
Death pressed a button on Mortis’s saddle and suddenly in the place of the magnificent stallion there was a gleaming white Lexus RX400.
Faith blinked and stared at the car. “What… How…?”
Death smirked. “Mortis too has an office. His job is to provide transportation for the Incarnate of Death. He can turn into virtually any means of transportation. I usually prefer Mortis the horse, but this will do quite nicely.”
“Cooooool…”
Faith examined the sleek car. The license plate said MORTIS. There was also a bumper sticker: ‘DEATH IS NATURE’S WAY OF TELLING YOU TO SLOW DOWN’.
The Slayer looked at Death sideways. “You’re wicked weird, Death.”
“Quirky, Faith, quirky.” Death opened the passenger’s door. “After you.”
Faith entered the vehicle. It was an elegant and comfortable automobile. The upholstery was genuine leather and the metalwork was solid chrome. “Very impressive. So is this Deathcar, then?”
“Yup.” answered Death, climbing onto the plush driver’s seat.
“So, where to now? Deathcave?” Faith joked.
Death laughed. She turned the ignition key and the car roared into life. “Now we go to the Hellmouth.”
TBC…
Whew, this was longer than I had originally planned. 10 pages, I usually do 4-6. Well, I hope you liked it, I'm not sure I'm completely satisfied with this chapter. Feedback?
Raven
i'm looking forward to seeing how you develop this ~mary
who could it be? Well done on the suspense btw!
I'm glad you liked my Death. I think death in general is so serious, so the Incarnate has to have a sense of humor else she'll break down, surely! You can speculate away on Death's identity, I gave some subtle hints, but I won't be telling for at least another chapter. One more hint for you: It's a character I removed completely from the Buffyverse, she's never existed there, has a different past and some of her personality is different as well (being Death will do that). Think, think, can you guess? 
