The Nyazian Prophecies

The terrifying black-skinned dragon creature flew through the skies. Each of its three heads gave a might roar as he traveled through the red sky.

The creature landed on a high clearing. It let out a final howl before it disappeared, leaving three women in its place.

"You can't keep doing this, Glorificus," Magnimus demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. "How can we rule this dimension if you're going to kill everyone who lives in it?"

"Oh, lighten up," Glorificus replied, waving a hand dismissively at her sister. "We have plenty of subjects here. And me killing one gets the others incentive to remain in line."

Grandae wrung her hands together. "Is this really the best thing to do, Glorificus?"

Magnimus cast a distainful look at Grandae. "It's not like we can go to other worlds anymore."

"Our world is the only place worth being," Glorificus retorted. "Everywhere else had been infected with the stench of humanity."

"So we have no one to fight," Magnimus said plainly, crossing her arms over her chest. "So you take it out on your own subjects, the ones who are loyal to us."

"Trying to work up the ability to care," Glorificus sighed. "I'm not really able to." She pushed a lock of blonde hair over her shoulder. "It's a terrible flaw of mine."

"Here I thought it was your rampant insanity that was the flaw," Magnimus replied darkly. She stepped towards Glorificus. "Grandae and I have been talking..."

Glorificus rubbed her eyes. "Let me guess. This is some sort of attempt to make me feel bad about everything I've done." She put a hand to her chest. "I am a god. I don't need to listen to what you or anyone else has to say."

"You have to listen to me," Magnimus replied, pulling herself to full height. "You've lost touch on reality, Glorificus."

"But I had fun doing it," Glorificus laughed. "Come on... You saying you never wanted to take out the rabble and show them who's boss?"

"We have rules," Magnimus insisted. "We do nothing unless the three of us agree!"

"Well, I'm tired of doing that," Glorificus spat. "You two holding me back... It is my wrath our subjects fear. It is my power that keeps them in line. I am God." She looked over the other two. "Your powers are nothing compared to mine."

Glorificus glared at Magnimus. "Am I right?" She laughed. "You're actually challenging me?"

Magnimus nodded. "If you wish to have this world, you will need to kill us for it."

"Since the beginning of time we have existed," Grandae cried. "How can we be torn apart by this?"

"Oh no." Glorificus shook her head. "You two will be the only ones who are torn apart."

The skies of Quortoth became black as three winged dragons took flight. Lightening crashed around them as they began to war.


Vincent Kartheiser	Anna Paquin	Bret Harrison	Kou Shibasaki	Allison Mack	and Tom Lenk

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Based on the Characters by Joss Whedon	Created by Emcee

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Guest Starring

Nicole DeBoer
James Franco
Freema Agyeman
Keith Szarabajka

and
Clare Kramer

Written by

Emcee

Connor, Salome, Oni, Jamie, Andrew, Mandy and Matty stared at Grace in utter shock. Connor's mouth was slightly agape. "I'm sorry... Do you think you can repeat that?"

"I said I am Grandae," Grace replied. "I am the third sister of the Triumvirate of Torment." She shook her head. "I figured you were looking for me."

"It's just..." Salome frowned slightly. "Well, we've see Glorificus and Magnimus, your sisters. And well, compared to them..." She trailed off, looking at the others uncomfortably.

"What she means," Andrew's voice cracked. "We didn't know what you looked like and-- uhh---"

"Just to drive you even more crazy," Grace replied with a smile. "Glorificus and Magnimus are also a part of me." She laughed softly. "Doesn't that just spin your head?"

"My sisters and I are gods. The rules of genetics don't really apply. None of my sisters look like each other." Grace shrugged. "It's just one of those things."

Salome put her hand behind her back, producing the Nyazian Fang. Grace's gaze immediately went to her. "Do you really think that's going to work against me?" She asked coolly. "You already tried it on Magnimus." She put her hands on her hips. "Besides, I didn't come here to fight."

"Grace," Grace replied. "I much prefer if you call me Grace. I'm rather attached to my human name." She approached Connor slowly. "And since you ask... Out of all of the people on this rock, you're the only one Magnimus is afraid of."

"And you want someone who Magnimus is afraid of." Connor shook his head. "Why?"

"Well." Grace rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you heard about the fact she killed me. Tends to make a person a little bitter."

"Gods are even pettier than mortals," Grace replied. She looked around. "So let me see the group..." She frowned slightly. "So this is the group that has managed to keep my sister on the ropes for months." She shook her head. "She must be slipping."

"Yeah, yeah." Grace nodded. "I've heard it all before. Girl power and the underdog conquering all. Do you think we can go inside? I've been traveling for days now and Hellgods get as tired as humans do."

Grace was sitting primly on the couch in the living room. Connor walked to her and handed her a cup of tea. She smiled gratefully and nodded. "Thank you so much, Connor."

"Uhhh..." Andrew peeked in from the kitchen. Mandy, Jamie, Oni, Matty and Salome were behind him. "Connor, do you think you could come back in here for a minute?"

Connor turned and strode back into the kitchen. He shut the door behind himself. "All right... What is it?"

"This is a little different than Illyria, Connor," Salome said, frowning deeply. "That's one of the Hellgods that murdered Illyria."

"Actually." Grace opened the door. "I had nothing to do with Illyria's death. It was all Magnimus."

"Sorry!" Grace held her hands up. "Super Godlike hearing, all right? I can't help when I overhear things."

"I granted Magnimus access to Earth," Grace said. "But I wasn't the warrior she and Glorificus were." She held her head high. "Even if I did have anything to do with Illyria's death, it wouldn't mean anything. It was a time of Warlords and everyone was killing each other. Illyria's killed more Old Ones than any of us. That was just how the world worked." She shook her head slowly. "But that's not the kind of world it is any more."

"You're one of them!" Connor replied heatedly. "The Three-in-One, right? One God in the form of three sisters. As different as you act, the truth is... You're the same being."

Grace smiled softly. "I knew you would understand, Destroyer. You're the only person in the world who would. You may try to hide behind your anger, but the truth is... You understand our nature better than my sisters." She took a step closer. "And you know I'm here to help you. That's why you offered me a cuppa rather than try to kill me." Her smile grew. "Now are we going to talk about this properly or what? We're running short on time."

"Does the Slayer's Council know who you are?" Andrew asked as he sat down on the couch across from Grace. Connor and Salome flanked her, both of them holding weapons.

Grace shook her head. "No. They think I'm Grace Kendrick. I joined the association when it was still known as the Watcher's Council in Nineteen-Ninty Seven. They believed me to be a student at Oxford studying mythology and the occult."

"Believed?" Matty shook his head. "Andrew says the Council does thorough checks..."

"They do," Grace replied. "But I've been hiding in the human world for thirty years now. I'm pretty good at covering my tracks both mystically and legally. Everything I presented to them suggested I was a normal human student. One they would find highly useful in recruitment."

"Wait..." Jamie held up a hand. "Can we back up a bit?" He shook his head, a confused look on his face. "Connor said you were murdered by Magnimus. And, uh, you kinda said the same thing about two minutes ago."

"So do Illyria, Wesley, Buffy and... Oh yeah, Connor." Grace patted Connor on the knee, making him flinch. "Death doesn't mean a whole lot around here, you should know that by now. Magnimus believed she was killing me and seizing control of Quortoth." She sighed. "But, as they usually did, my sisters underestimated me. I knew once Magnimus dispatched Glorificus, she would want our dimension to herself. I exiled myself to Earth as I did Glorificus. Magnimus believed she was killing me, but in fact she was performing that last part of the ritual to bring me here."

"Why come here?" Salome asked. "If you were so powerful, why didn't you go to another hell dimension? Somewhere you could take over?"

All eyes turned to Connor, full of shock. He looked up and locked his gaze on Grace. "That's it, isn't it?"

Grace nodded slowly. "You really do understand my nature." She sighed. "Connor's right. I wanted to be human. To live in the human world."

"You don't get it, do you?" Grace got up and began to pace. "How absolutely incredible your species is."

"You are more human than you'll admit," Grace said with a smile. She looked around the room, beaming. "Humans... Glorificus and Magnimus have always said how lowly you are. But... You're not. Not at all. The human spirit is the most incredible force in this world or any other. Your kind brought an end to the Old Ones, to the Demon Gods. Quortoth and the few dimensions like it are the only remaining outposts... Few and far between. The rest are you. Why do you think you're always fighting? Why are demons always trying to take over Earth? Because they know the humans are the masters of the multiverse."

She stopped in front of Connor, looking down at him. "I am still a god, nothing can ever change that. But to spend the last thirty years among your kind has been the best time in my very long life."

"Why aren't you insane?" Andrew asked. He looked up at Grace. "Glory was crazy and Magnimus is well on her way. And it's humanity that does that to them."

Grace turned her attention towards Andrew. "I haven't lost my mind for all of the reasons I just gave you. I accept humanity... Aspire to it. They fight it at every turn, but the truth is... They can't avoid it. And it eats away at them. I told you, you're the most powerful force there is. Humanity can kill a god that isn't willing to accept them." She sat back down. "It might have been different, had I not become what I am. While I'm still a god, I've shunned my abilities. I haven't used them since I came to this world. I adapted. It's what's kept me whole."

"So if you just wanted to be human." Oni bit her lower lip. "Why did you join the Watcher's Council? Wouldn't that make you tempted to use your abilities?"

"It has," Grace admitted, looking down. "But I had to join. I had to keep an eye on Glorificus, make sure the Council would know what to do if she were to escape the prison I created for her."

"The Council had information on Glory when she tried to find the Key," Andrew muttered. He looked up. "You were the one who gave it to them."

Grace nodded. "I did. I felt responsible for the situation. I was the one who brought Glorificus here."

"I thought she would change," Grace sighed. "I thought perhaps she would see the beauty of humanity if I placed her within a human vessel. She would understand some sort of peace finally. It was not meant as a punishment... I was hoping to change her." She looked down. "For all of the things she did, she was still my sister-- a part of myself. I wanted to give her a chance at another kind of life."

"So you've hid with the Council for years specifically to stop Glory if it was needed." Salome licked her lips slowly. "You gave Buffy the info to fight against her. But why did you never tell the Council what you were?"

"Because they would have wanted to use me," Grace replied. "They would have wanted me to fight Glory, to be a weapon to them. But I have no desire to be a weapon. I just want to be human."

"I told him," Grace folded her hands. "When I heard about Connor, I knew he would be the only one who would be able to help me stop Magnimus. Wesley was the one person within the Council who I thought would understand my position. He could bring me to you and not ask me to fight for them."

"I don't think you will." Grace shook her head slowly. "You know me, Destroyer. You know what I want... To be human. You're not going to ask me to give that up when you want it so badly yourself."

"I want to stop Quortoth and Earth from merging," Connor replied. He stood, now level with Grace. "That's all I can really think about at the moment."

"Why do you want the dimensions to stay separate?" Mandy asked. "I mean, sure you're a fan of humanity... But humanity's still going to be around if the dimensions merge."

Connor nodded. "You're afraid of Earth returning to the old ways." He noted the shocked looked of his friends. "Illyria showed me a vision. What Earth was like in the time of the Old Ones. What will happen if the merger happens."

"The Deeper Well will open," Grace sighed. "And the Old Ones will re-immerge as powerful as they ever were. This world will return to a realm of Gods and Warlords."

Glorificus fell to the ground, blood spattered across her pale skin and light hair. "This is impossible..." She rasped. "You can not... I am Glorificus..."

"You are defeated," Magnimus insisted. She was as bloody as her sister. She held a shining sword to Glorificus's throat. "This battle has raged for a thousand years. The landscape is scarred, drowning in the blood of millions because of your lust for power."

Glorificus eyed the sword and laughed harshly. "You think you can kill me, Sister? You know as well as me that my sheer force cannot be quelled. I will return, more powerful than you can imagine and I will bring you to your knees."

"You cannot be destroyed," Magnimus pressed the sword closer. "But you can be exiled."

"I can." Grandae knelt beside Glorificus. She placed a bruised hand to Glorificus' face. "This is for the best, dear sister. I hope you find some rest."

"Conquered," Magnimus finished. "This is no longer your world, Glorificus. From now until the end of time, you are banished."

"You will be sorry," Glorificus hissed. "The end of time will be me, returning to this world and burning it to ash. Your bodies will be the first to fall when I tear this land asunder."

Grandae chanted as Glorificus kept cursing the name of her sisters. Glorificus' body began to glow. She convulsed and shrieked.

Glorificus disappeared, leaving her two sisters alone. "It is done," Grandae announced. "Glorificus is bound to mortality on the Earth Plain."

She hissed as Magnimus' blade was pointed at her. "Defeating Glorificus is not enough for you."

"You are nowhere near the warrior she was," Magnimus replied. "Your powers are dwarfed by mine."

"I refuse to fight you." Grandae lowered herself to her knees. "I supplicate myself before you, Magnimus. Will you strike me down in cold blood?"

"You are an idiot," Magnimus hissed. "At least attempt to fight me, Grandae. I will destroy you."

Grace pulled herself through the trapdoor onto the roof. She stepped carefully across the roof and stood beside Connor. He was crouched on the edge, looking out onto the city. "This is a nice place," Grace commented. "How do you like it?"

"There's nowhere else I want to be," Connor replied. "Hellmouth and all. It's the only place that's ever been home."

"You should be asleep." Grace sat down beside him. "I don't know how much rest you're going to be getting in the near future. And even you need to sleep."

"Not that much." Connor glanced over at Grace. "We can't defeat Magnimus, can we?"

"Quortoth can't exist without us," Grace replied. "At least one of us needs to remain there at all times to maintain itself."

Connor's brow furrowed. "But you and Magnimus are here. Glory's been dead for five years..."

"Quortoth is deteriorating," Grace explained. "The only reason it hasn't collapsed completely is the fissures. I suspect one of the reasons Magnimus is so eager for the merger is that Quortoth has been weakening for years with only her to maintain it."

"As much as I love humanity..." Grace frowned slightly. "I miss it sometimes, you know? It was my home for eons. It came from me and my sisters. A part of me will always long for it."

"I don't understand how you can be like this when your sisters are..." Connor shook his head. "Like they are."

"My sisters and I each represent a piece of a whole. Glorificus the hand, Magnimus the mind and I the spirit." Grace put a hand to her heart. "Glorificus was raw and visceral. Magnimus was methodical and severe." She looked to Connor. "But I was made to feel. To understand all around me. Whatever created us made me to sense the universe and..." She laughed. "It's almost a comic joke, isn't it? My godlike power is to know what humanity is... And to envy it."

"An agnostic god... Ironic isn't it?" Grace smiled wryly. "We talk big, but we weren't the first beings to exist. I don't know exactly what made us the way we did. What made anything really. Quortoth is a dimension from the hearts and minds of myself and my sisters. But it is not the oldest thing in existence." She cocked her head. "I'm often left wondering how all of this came to be."

"Exile her back to Quortoth," Grace replied. "Seal the fissures and make sure she never re-emerges."

"She won't be able to get back?" Connor asked. "She seems pretty determined to..."

"Do you know why Glorificus, Magnimus and I fought each other?" Grace asked, cocking her head. "Why three beings that were part of the same whole would turn against each other?"

"There were no more enemies to fight," Grace explained. "No other Hellgods to war with. We were one of the few to remain in power after the fall of the Old Ones. We were bored." She laughed hollowly. "The truth is... For all of your hatred of Quortoth, were it not for us, it wouldn't be much different than here. We poisoned the world of our own creation."

"Magnimus wanted to make me a god," Connor looked to Grace, his eyes filled with question. "I mean, she's pretty much decided I have to die now, but when she first came... She wanted me to join her."

"She can't maintain the world by herself any longer," Grace sighed. "It is another thing I understood that my sisters could never grasp. We need each other in able to survive. She hoped bringing you into the fold would allow her to keep control."

"Right." Grace bobbed her head in the affirmative. "Only Glorificus and I can provide what Magnimus requires to maintain the world."

"You want it to survive, don't you?" Connor asked. "You don't want to see Quortoth destroyed."

"No, I don't." Grace shifted, hugging her legs. "It is a part of me. It is something I know you cannot understand. My world brought you nothing but pain for seventeen years. But it came from me and it has suffered with my exile."

Grace got back to her feet. She looked out onto the town. "You are the defender of your world. And at one time, you were the defender of mine."

"You are the closest Quortoth has ever had to a Champion." Grace turned to face Connor. "I will help you stop the fissures from destroying this world. I will even use my powers if they're needed. But you need to do something for me." Grace placed a hand on Connor's shoulder. "I need you to help me subdue Magnimus so I can bring her to our dimension as a prisoner..." Her expression hardened. "Connor, I need you to save Quortoth."