Part 1

The Voyage

Sunnydale, California 2001

Construction Site Tower

The blood felt cold as it trickled from the slick cuts sliced through Dawn's dress and down her ankles dripping through the crate holes of the shifting scaffold plank.

Her magical blood did not touch the ground. In the air just below, the blood formed together creating a bright white portal door leading to the dimensions that were unknown. Crawling out through the portal door were demons thirsty for blood and chaos.

Up above on top of the shifting scaffold plank, Dawn heard her name being called from behind. She turned to see Buffy running towards her. The Vampire Slayer grabbed her young sister by the arms and pulled her away from the edge.

Dawn looked at her sister tearfully and cried, "Buffy, it's started."

High above in the dark morning sky, a dragon flew over their heads breathing fire across the silver stars.

"I'm sorry," Dawn said shaking with fear as lightning beams shot out from the portal burning buildings that surrounded the construction site.

Calmly, Buffy shook her head and whispered, "It doesn't matter."

Trying desperately to control her breathing, Dawn to her left to the edge for to the scaffold and took a deep breath that hadn't changed her panic. She started to rip herself away when Buffy tightened her arms around Dawn's arms.

"What are you doing?" Buffy asked looking at her sister with surprise and deep concern.

"I have to jump," Dawn said as her tears freely fell from the corners of her eyes finally concluding to her final decision aloud. "The energy—"

"It'll kill you."

Sadly, Dawn nodded her head in understanding. "I know. Buffy, I know the ritual. I have to stop it."

Refusing to hear any of it, Buffy shook her head racking her brain for an alternative.

The earth under their feet shook violently. The concrete ground ripped apart opening the fiery gates of Hell. Demons emerged from the bloody depths, tearing up to the surface with a roar.

"Look at what's happening!" Dawn cried.

A lightning bolt pierced through the skies catching Buffy's attention. For the first time, she looked down below and saw Hell taking over the world she was Chosen to protect. The roars and screams exploded through the chilling air.

"Buffy," Buffy slowly turned her eyes to her sister and stared. "you have to let me go. The blood starts it until the blood stops flowing. It'll never stop."

Inside, Buffy felt the powerful blood she had been cursed with. She keenly felt her cursed blood pump through her every vessel. The longer, Buffy's eyes lingered on Dawn's face the more she began to understand. The cursed blood she had been cursed with was shared. It was in Dawn's veins too as it was with her mother and father. Her blood was not cursed. It was special. It had powers that were unbelievable. It was Summers blood.

Death is your gift. The Primitive Slayer's voice whispered in Buffy's ears like the wind.

She felt a comforting warmth wash over her. It was a warmth that she had never felt before. It hugged her tightly. It felt safe.

In the corner of Buffy's eye, she noticed a soft yellow-orange glow appear on the bottom surface. It contrasted the dark night sky.

The sun always goes down. The sun always comes up. The soft voice of her mother floated in her mind.

A sense of tranquil peace washed over Buffy no longer feeling afraid or in pain of guilt. She had never had this sense of quiet before. Her entire body floated in a single solitude of hum.

Terrified, Dawn witnessed the change in Buffy and began to work up her argument against whatever was in Buffy's mind. "Buffy, no…"

Buffy slowly turned her eyes to Dawn's weeping face. "Dawnie… I have to."

"No!" Dawn cried closing her eyes to the sting of her salty tears.

"Dawnie," Buffy squeezed Dawn's shoulder getting her attention. "Listen to me. Please, there's not a lot of time. Listen." She brushed the pads of her thumbs over Dawn's cheekbones wiping away the fallen tears. She spoke softly with a warmth their mother's voice used to possess.

Taking her final minutes to memorise the beauty of her sister. Buffy had not felt the need to join Dawn's tears. She felt nothing but her swelling heart filled with love. Slowly, Buffy leaned forward pressing her lips against Dawn's cheek.

In a blink of an eye, a minuscule of a second, Buffy swan dived off the crate scaffold edge into the platform with her eyes open staring out to the rising sun. The sun always comes up. Buffy reminded herself over and over again until she disappeared into the white light of the portal leaving only her earthly body.

Galway, Ireland 1745

The sunshine beamed in the blue cloudless sky over the green stony hills off the coast.

A young girl at the tender age of thirteen ran down the large hill, chopping her arm through the tall grass.

"Fiona!" An older woman standing at the top of the hill with a basket of flowers bundled together called down with worry. "Slow down girl or ye're break somethin'!"

Fiona halted mid-step with a frown. She could have sworn she had seen something fall from the Heavens of the sky. It had happened so fast, she should have missed it but the sound of a chirping bird drew her attention to the falling figure in the long distance.

"Mama!" Fiona called out staring down at her feet frozen in place.

Mama ran down the hill in fear of her daughter. The bulb heads of the bundled flowers in the basket flew back in the air. "What is it? What is it?" Mama feared the worst.

"There's a woman!" Fiona pointed down at her feet. "Mama, there's a woman!"

Finally reaching her daughter, Mama panted catching her breath. She searched Fiona's face checking for any damage. The look in her daughter's blue eyes took her by surprise. They held deep concern that was much too mature for her young daughter to understand. Mama followed Fiona's eyes down to the ground and was surprised. "Lord Almighty," Mama muttered and kneeled down in the dirt. She moved her ear close to the strange woman's mouth to feel her breath. "She's breathin'. Thank God." Mama sat back on her knees crossing herself in Holy Spirit. She leaned forward pushing the long blonde hair off of the woman's face.

"Will she be okay?" Fiona asked. "Should I send for the healer?"

"I think that would be wi—" Mama's voice dropped when she felt the strange woman shift under her hand.

"Ouch." Buffy's hand went to her forehead feeling it pound on all sides in her skull. Her teeth gritted and nose scrunched once the feeling of ache pierced through her body when it slammed into the ground with a deadweight thud.

Slowly, Buffy opened her eyes immediately blinded by the sun's glow. She covered her eyes and sat up on the grass pushing her blonde hair off of her face. That was when she noticed the mother and daughter staring at her with shocked eyes.

"Are ye alright, lass?" Mama asked with concern. "Ye shouldn't move too quickly." She warned.

Buffy turned her head to the middle-aged woman and frowned. "Wh—who are you? What happened?"

Immediately telling from the strange blondes accent, Mama realised that this woman was not from around here.

"I haven't the faintest. Ye were unconscious when me daughter found ye layin' here in the middle of the hills — Well, that's unsafe." Mama ran her eyes over Buffy and raised a brow. "What is the last memory ye have, dearie?"

"Um…" Buffy thought long and hard squeezing her eyes closed trying to form a picture in her mind. Her brain felt like a scattered mush that had been shaken around like a Magic Eight Ball. "Bright light… Pain… Then nothing." Buffy looked at the woman. For the first time, she noticed the wide open surroundings of green hills that had gone for miles and miles. There was not a building in sight. "Where am I?"

"Oh, dearie…" Mama held her hand to Buffy's forehead. "Well, ye're not ill. Ye're in Galway. Ireland."

Buffy's eyes widened and looked at the woman trying to see if it was the truth. But neither the mother or daughter were laughing. It was the honest truth.

"W—what?" Buffy stared. By the look of the woman's dated hairstyle, dress and a tartan shawl over her shoulders. She'd seen these costumes in a million movies. But something was terribly off. Buffy had the sense she might not be in the year 2001 anymore. "What year is it?" She asked carefully and slowly.

"Oh lass, ye must've banged ye're head hard when you fell from the… Dove?" Mama looked beside her at Fiona. "Where did ye say she fell from?"

Fiona pointed her finger up to the side giving her mother a shrug.

"How could she have fallen from up above? The bonnie lass isn't a bird!" Mama scolded Fiona.

"It's what I saw, Mama. Ye asked. I replied. The woman fell from the sky like an angel with broken wings." Fiona argued back.

"Fiona, ye're bein' a troublesome girl, I tell ye—"

"Guys!" Buffy shouted interrupting the argument. The women turned their heads to Buffy and stared almost forgetting about her. "Just tell me what the date is."

Mama tilted her head to the side giving Buffy a suspicious eye. "It's the tenth of September."

"And the year?"

"1745," Mama answered.

Buffy released a breath as if it was knocked out of her. She stared at the women blankly with wide disbelieving eyes. "You've got to be kidding me." She grumbled.