The Quest (1/5)

Greetings, everyone. It’s my posting day, and I’m getting in under the wire as usual.

I have something a little different to share with you. It has action! adventure! romance! maybe more! My only request is that you start at the beginning and follow the instructions as you read.

After all, this is your adventure too.

Title: The Quest
Author: Salieri
Rated: PG
Summary: Buffy, Spike and Angel find themselves involved in a deadly quest. Takes place post-series, and in my world the comics don’t exist.

Thank you to enigmaticblues! I hope you all enjoy it!

The Quest

“Is this going to take much longer? I have a date tonight.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Does he think we’ll forget if he doesn’t mention it every two seconds?” she muttered to Spike.

Angel winced. “Sorry. I’m being That Guy, aren’t I? It’s just…I didn’t think I’d get another shot with Nina, not after the thing that…you know. The thing. Is this weird? Me, talking about the woman I’m seeing?”

“No,” Buffy said.

“Yes,” Spike answered at the same time. Buffy shot him a look.

“No,” she said firmly. “We’re all adults here, right? The past is the past, everybody’s moved on, and we’re both really happy for you.”

“I’m not.”

“I’m happy for you,” Buffy clarified, whacking Spike on the arm. “Besides, you’ve been really good about putting up with the two of us.” She smacked Spike’s hand away from where it had wandered down to pinch her ass. “Cut it out,” she muttered through clenched teeth. Spike tried to look innocent and failed miserably.

The long tunnel stretched away in front of them, rock walls curving overhead to form a high arch. Behind, the entrance was lost in the darkness. Buffy kept her flashlight trained on the ground ahead, but she needn’t have bothered – it was smooth and flawless, without crack or stray stone to trip the feet. It had been the same way for the past mile and a half, or however long they’d been walking. It was hard to keep track of distances when the scenery around them didn’t change. Maybe we’re on a magical treadmill, she thought. We’ll just keep walking forever.

“How much further?” Spike asked, as if he could hear her thoughts.

Angel frowned. “It can’t be too much more. We’ve got to be getting close to the center of that energy vortex the mystics discovered. They said it shouldn’t be more than a mile or two from the cavern entrance.”

“Good,” Buffy said. “We find it, we kick some ass, and we go home. And hopefully that will clear up those strange disturbances you’ve been seeing. Although compared to the rest of the weirdness that is L.A., I think you’re talking about drops in buckets here.”

“Bingo,” Spike said, pointing ahead. “There’s a light.”

Buffy squinted but couldn’t see anything. Stupid vampires and their show-offy heightened senses. “Are you sure?”

“I see it too,” Angel said. “Hard to say how far, but there’s definitely a light ahead.” He snickered. “Did you really just say ‘bingo’?”

“Watch it,” Spike said, without heat. “I know what you keep in that drawer next to your bed. Have you showed the contents to Nina yet?”

“Spike,” Angel growled.

Spike held up his hands. “Hey, easy there, big guy. Nothing wrong with a little light bondage between friends.” He glanced at Buffy and lowered his voice, but deliberately left it loud enough for her to overhear. “But pink velvet lining on the handcuffs?” He shook his head sympathetically. “I’m just not sure that’s your best color. I’m thinking something more in a teal for you.”

“Why, you little….”

Buffy rolled her eyes, slung her sword over her shoulder and took off at a jog. “Feel free to catch up when you’re acting like adults,” she shot back over her shoulder. The sounds of scuffling died away quickly, and in a moment Spike caught up and kept pace next to her easily. He caught her look and winced.

“I know, I know,” he said before she could start in on him. “It’s just too easy with him. I’m trying, honestly.”

“Oh, you’re so not. Don’t even give me that.” She tried to glare at him, but he was giving her his best kicked puppy look. She relented. “If you’re a good boy for the rest of this mission, there’s a present in it for you.” She was not above bribery at times – especially not if they both benefited from it.

It was amazing to her how quickly he was able to shift modes, all smirking adolescent one second and slinky sex god the next. How did he do that?

“That right?” he asked in a tone that made her toes curl. “Does this present involve seeing you in that little bit of lacy nothing you’ve got tucked away in the back of the drawer?”

“Maybe,” she said primly, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. “But only if you’re a good boy, remember.”

He leaned over to whisper in her ear, making her shiver. “I’ll be a boy scout, love. Promise.” And then he shot ahead, leaving her panting behind him. Stupid vampire.

The glow ahead was obvious to all of them at this point, and Buffy slowed down as she approached it. It looked like the tunnel opened up into a large cavern, one lit with torchlight if the flickering on the walls was anything to go by. She turned her flashlight off and stowed it in her pocket, watching as Spike and Angel did the same. Giving them each a look that said watch me, she slipped to the front of the pack and held her sword out in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out into the cavern and felt the two men behind her fall in at her back.

The room was empty aside from the torches on the wall, and Buffy blinked in the sudden light. When she was able to focus on the figure standing in the middle of the empty space with its hands behind its back, she blinked in shock and lowered her sword.

“…Andrew?”

Andrew spread his arms wide and gave the three of them a beatific smile. “Greetings to you, O Wise Slayer and your Faithful Companions. You have done well in following the path laid out for you. You are sure to prosper in your quest.”

“Oh, Christ,” Spike muttered.

“Quest?” Buffy said. She narrowed her eyes and took a threatening step forward. “What’s going on here? Are you messing with magic again, Andrew? So help me, I’m going to sic Willow on you. After I get tired of smacking you around for wasting my time, that is.”

“Can I help?” Spike asked.

“Count me in too,” muttered Angel. “Can we get out of here now? I have…”

“…a date tonight,” Buffy and Spike finished simultaneously, then turned to grin at each other. When she turned back around, Buffy froze.

“Hey, where did he go?”

Andrew had disappeared. So had the entrance to the tunnel they had just walked through. Instead, two identical openings had appeared in the opposite wall. Torches hung at each, showing the split path veering off left and right. Carven words appeared in the rock above the doorways as they watched.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

The three of them stared silently for a long moment, but Andrew didn’t reappear. Neither did the exit.

“I am going to kill him so hard,” Buffy muttered. Angel was prowling the circumference of the cavern, running his hand over the walls. He shook his head.

“I don’t see any other way out,” he said finally. “If this is a spell, it’s a pretty good one. What do you think he wants?”

“His own personal game of Dungeons and Dragons?” Spike said. “Whatever it is, I’m not playing. You hear me, you little sod?” he yelled to the ceiling. “If you don’t get us out of here right now, I’ll… burn every last comic book in your collection! I know where you keep them!”

“Yeah, that’ll show him,” Angel grunted. Spike shot him a look, and Buffy held her hand up to forestall the inevitable argument.

“It looks like we have two choices,” she said tiredly. “Well, three. Left, right… or stay right here and wait for him to get tired of this whole thing. What do you think?”

If you want our trio to take the left entrance, go here.
If you want our trio to take the right entrance, go here.
If you want our trio to stay where they are, go here.

 

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/393813.html