right back where we started from

[stilljustandrew]

Ten years, and nothing's been done about the crater that used to be Sunnydale. By the looks of things, aside from marking the turn-off with DEAD END signs, nothing's even been tried. Maybe some last residual effect of whatever kept people from noticing anything strange was going on there, Andrew thinks. Or maybe somebody who knew exactly what was going on there made the call to leave it alone.



They park the car about a dozen yards back from the edge of the crater and leave it there, the contents of the trunk parceled out between them.

Descending into the pit that used to be a city is part hiking, part scrambling, part abseiling; they leave climbing ropes anchored at the edge and further down, to use on their way back up. The ground levels off once they're past the initial slope, but the footing is still broken and treacherous.

Comments

[jonathanparagon]

"It doesn't look as bad as I thought," Jonathan says meditatively, picking his way carefully along. "I mean, it's just sort of... dirt. Everything else underneath where you can't see it."

[stilljustandrew]

"Yeah. It's like ... like nothing was ever here."

His foot dislodges a rock that goes bounding down the slope, and fetches up with a clank against something that at first glance might look like more rock, but on closer examination is clearly a rusted girder.

Andrew swallows. "And then you see something like that."

[jonathanparagon]

Jonathan stares down at the piece of metal.


"Yeah. I wonder what building that was."

[stilljustandrew]

He takes a few steps closer, and crouches down to try to get a better look.

"... I think it was the marquee outside the old movie theater."

[jonathanparagon]

"Oh, man." Jonathan joins him, resting a hand on the girder almost affectionately. "I loved this place back in the day."

[stilljustandrew]

Wistfully: "We camped out in line to see Episode One here."

[jonathanparagon]

"We did." He smiles slightly. "Saw a whole lot of movies here."

[stilljustandrew]

Remember when we --

No.

He breathes out, and straightens up. "Guess we better rev up the locator spell if we want to find this thing before it gets dark."

[jonathanparagon]

"...yeah." Jonathan glances around a little nervously. "I don't know if we ought to be out here after dark even now."

[stilljustandrew]

"Well, we did bring flashlights and a camp stove," he says, "but ... better if we don't need 'em, I guess."

He unships his backpack and sets it down by his feet. "Okay. What do we need for the locator?"

[jonathanparagon]

"Not too much, it's a pretty simple spell. You wrote down those words for me?" Beat. "And they won't accidentally summon... anything?"

[stilljustandrew]

"They shouldn't." Slightly subdued, as he digs the folded paper out of his pocket. "The words themselves don't do anything."

(This thing doesn't understand words. It understands blood.)

[jonathanparagon]

"Okay, then we should be good. A few ingredients, but those words will be the most important, built into the spell itself."

[stilljustandrew]

"Right." He hands the paper over. "Tell me what you need me to do."

[stilljustandrew]

It doesn't take very long: a chalk circle on a nearby rock, a quick casting of herbs into water, a recited incantation.

There's a flash of diffuse light, and then a patch of ground further down towards the crater bed starts to glow faintly.

[jonathanparagon]

Jonathan lets out his held breath.

"So I guess that's where we dig."

[stilljustandrew]

"Guess so." He hefts his backpack again, and picks up one of the duffels. "Lead on, McDuck."


It takes longer than they expect just to get to the spot: distances are deceptive in the unfamiliar terrain, and the ground is increasingly broken as they get closer, forcing them to detour a couple of times.

Andrew silently hands over a water bottle before they're halfway there.

[jonathanparagon]

Jonathan accepts it, glancing sideways to make sure Andrew has one of his own, and takes a long swig. It's a warm day even for California, and they've got some hard physical work ahead of them.

[stilljustandrew]

Indeed they do.

It's not until they finally reach the marked patch, as their shovels first bite into the dirt and rubble, that they both start to realize just how much work this is going to be.

[jonathanparagon]

Some time later, with the sky darkening...


"I think maybe we should come back and finish this in the morning."

[stilljustandrew]

Andrew swings his pick once more at a wedged-in slab of cement, cracking it down the middle, and then lowers the pick with a sigh and swipes his sleeve across his forehead. "Yeah. Want to set up camp down here, or up where we left the bags?"

(By "down here" he doesn't mean the crater; they've dug a fairly impressive pit, down through several layers of compacted junk that used to be people's homes.)

[jonathanparagon]

"Down here's more defensible if anything shows up," Jonathan says thoughtfully. "And we'd probably be harder to see from the top, too."

[stilljustandrew]

"Good call," he agrees. "I'll get the rest of our stuff?"

They've left a stamped-down slope as a ramp back up to ground level; Andrew heads for it, wiping the sweat off his face and neck.

[jonathanparagon]

"Okay. I'll clear us a smoothish space down here for the tents," Jonathan calls after him, already starting to move rocks away.

[stilljustandrew]

At the top of the dig Andrew glances around, spots the duffelbags, starts toward them --

Stops where he is, heart knocking at his ribs, eyes squeezed shut.

No. You didn't see that. There's nobody here.

Looks back over his shoulder, at the slumped hill of rubble and the irregular indentation that momentarily, in the crepuscular dimness, might have looked like a dark figure standing in a doorway.

"No," he mutters aloud, and moves to pick up the bags.