Anywhere but here

Plot

“Buffy Summers?” “Depends…”

Willow and Buffy tell each other fantasy stories. Buffy’s story: she is lying on a beach and Daniel Craig turns up with sun cream. Willow has nothing against Daniel Craig, he has something – but a beach? Sun cream? Isn’t that a bit of a cliché? Well, Buffy is having a little trouble concentrating, she says, looking down while she clings to Willow. They are only flying. Buffy corrects her: Willow is flying, she is dangling. Buffy should not make such a fuss – she is the Slayer and jumps out of helicopters. Only those do not fly this high, Buffy points out, and asks Willow why they do not simply teleport or hitchhike. Because Willow is not quite sure where it is. She closes her eyes, because she feels they are close. Willow wants to take them down a little. Good idea, Buffy thinks – until Willow goes into a nosedive, dragging her along.

Meanwhile in Scotland Xander gives Dawn a huge treat – her suitcase, now Dawn-sized. Xander stands on the suitcase and explains that some of the junior witches are very talented. Since Willow cannot shrink Dawn… Dawn opens the suitcase. Xander loses his balance and falls in. Dawn hopes her boots are in there and only then notices that Xander has vanished. After this he does not love Dawn any more, comes a mumble from inside the suitcase…

It is Willow’s turn to tell a story: snowed in at a mountain cabin with hot cocoa and a woman. They have to stay the night and keep warm somehow… Nice, Buffy thinks, and guesses it is Kennedy. No – in this game there are no partners. Is Kennedy still that, Buffy asks. Yes. Because she has not seen her… well, Willow neither… but Kennedy is spirited…, Buffy babbles, and then prefers to ask whether they are finally there. They are. Willow lands elegantly on her feet, while Buffy lands rather roughly on her backside. She looks at the little house and cannot believe it is supposed to be the home of Sephrilian. Willow explains that Sephrilian walks between the worlds, which distorts reality. In front of the house a woman is sitting on a bench. Willow thinks she is the keeper. Keeper? Buffy wonders whether she slept through a lot of Giles’ information. Willow explains: places with unstable reality are dangerous, even catastrophic. The woman greets Willow, who greets her back – Robin – although Buffy thought the two had never met. They will talk about it later, Willow asks. She looks at the house and can feel him. So can Robin; she says he is in a bad mood. Buffy hopes they can change that – one way or another. Robin reminds Willow of the rules: no magic in there, even if things get dicey. Well, Buffy is there, but they have only come to talk. Robin did not mean to sound pessimistic; the important thing is just that Buffy rescues the prince. Buffy and Willow do not understand. They will, Robin says, and wishes them luck. The two walk to the house. Buffy tries to understand: a keeper absorbs the unstable reality, so time and space are shaped only by that one mind. Willow is pleased that Giles was right: Buffy did not always sleep after all. Buffy thinks the keeper’s job must be terrible, and wonders who would volunteer for it. You do not apply, you are chosen, Willow explains. They open the door…

Inside they see an endless staircase. Great, Buffy loves that kind of thing! She wonders whether there could not be escalators to hell for once. Buffy is babbling again, and Willow realises that Buffy is really afraid of the dark. Demons are after them, so are humans, and this whole “Twilight” thing sounds scary too; besides, Faith tried to kill her – no wonder Buffy’s sense of reality is a little shaken. Willow explains that she was never a fan of Faith. Buffy should not worry about this little trip; Willow will bring her back – and then she suggests a game…

Dawn is happy with her things, now her size, while Xander has made himself comfortable among her clothes. Dawn asks whether he hurt himself, but he feels perfectly fine among the silk and lace and… underwear, Xander shrieks. He should relax, it is only a bodice. Xander runs screaming through the suitcase and slides between Dawn’s things. He finds a photo of Dawn and her boyfriend, the thricewise Kenny.

Buffy’s next fantasy story is about Christian Bale – in two film versions at once. Willow likes that better. Now it is her turn, and she does not know where to start. How about Kennedy, Buffy suggests. She is surprised that Willow never brings Kennedy along – and she should not think she has to be… ashamed, Willow adds. That is not what Buffy meant. Willow never says where she went; she drops by, but always alone, and she is always so reserved when it comes to… Right in front of them a huge claw smashes the staircase. The Sephrilian – a huge, ugly demon with a four-part picture on the end of its tail showing four faces – roars how dare they. Buffy clings to Willow, but Willow reminds her that flying does not work here. Buffy was just startled. The creature roars that they reek of lies. But they have not said anything yet, Buffy points out. Yet Sephrilian has “heard” it. Buffy repeats it for the slow ones: the truth is, they need his help. He walks between realities, which makes him part of the demon elite. The creature snaps that it knows who it is. Then it knows what is coming, Buffy replies: the imbalance between the worlds will destroy them all. Twilight – their fear is downright sweet, says Sephrilian. Willow asks whether he knows what it is about. The end: of the struggle, of the Hellmouths… the final triumph of humans over demons… the Slayer’s goal… the end of magic…

Dawn looks at the picture and says it is all her fault. It is not. The only thing even less trustworthy than a thricewise is a guy, Xander explains. She had perfectly normal human desires and he took advantage of them. It is not that simple, says Dawn. She lied to Willow. Dawn covers her face with her hands. She did not sleep with Kenny but with his roommate…

Sephrilian roars that lies, deceit and cover-ups are what humanity is made of – they cannot bear complete knowledge and run away from it, just as they run from each other. The four-part picture opens in a blazing light – they are to look, Sephrilian commands. Buffy tells Willow she does not want to be here any more. Well, they are not, it seems – they find themselves somewhere else… Somewhere, gold is being stolen from a Swiss bank – by Slayers, and Buffy is among them. At first Buffy wants to deny it, then she explains that it was harmless. It was a hidden Nazi gold depot and nobody was hurt; it is only money. And it changed everything, Willow notes, because this is exactly what their enemies saw: Slayers who put themselves above the law and disregard property – the first domino. Meanwhile Buffy sees one of Willow’s “bad things”: a naked Willow in the arms of a snake demoness. Buffy is utterly amazed that Willow’s “slip-ups” are so much better than hers…

Dawn says his name was Nick. She had been with Kenny for two months, and he was sweet and romantic and did not pressure her. Then there was this party, and she saw Nick. Dawn sees herself as a slut, because she broke Kenny’s heart, and now she is a giant slut, just as she deserves. Dawn wanted to tell Willow, but she did not know what to say. Xander asks what kind of guy this Nick was – bad boy, cigarettes, does not care about others and would not even tell you the time, but seems so vulnerable? Exactly, Dawn admits. Does he play in a band too? Bass and vocals, says Dawn – she is so bad. Xander does not want to hear it; she fell for a cliché – but has Dawn ever seen the first guy Buffy slept with at college? Riley, Dawn asks. She wishes, says Xander. Now they have an idea what spell Kenny might have used – and besides, he is proud that Dawn confided in him. He is good at talking people round, says Dawn. But doesn’t she feel better now, Xander asks. Dawn looks out of the window and does not answer…

Robin is with Willow and Buffy in a small room. She asks how it is going. The question should not be how but where, Buffy says, passing the question to Willow. Willow still tries to defend herself against the “vision”, saying she would never… then she asks Robin whether it has already happened. Their surroundings change again; Robin looks away – she did not think he would show them this. The three look over to where a badly injured or dead Buffy lies. Buffy asks what happens to her. Betrayal – very close and unexpected, Robin replies. Who, Buffy wants to know, but Robin has to go back outside. She adds that they are about to cause a collapse. Willow knows they have to get out of here. Buffy asks Willow whether it is her. No, because Willow would never betray Buffy, not more than she already has…

Flashback: Kennedy thought Willow was ashamed of her and was therefore keeping her away from Buffy and her people. Yet Willow knows Kennedy would die for her – she even did, even if it was somehow mystical. And she never said a word about Willow’s mysterious six-month disappearance. It is not because of her, Willow explained, but… before. Tara. Willow kept Kennedy away from Buffy, even stayed away herself. She did not understand it herself until she saw Warren, and then it became clear to her: when Buffy died, she could not accept it. She and Tara were happy, even if they had their problems. Buffy was happy too, and Willow simply had to bring her back – and with her came suffering, violence and Warren, who wanted to kill Buffy and hit Willow’s lover instead. Willow knows they could have gone on: she and Tara could have moved away and raised Dawn – but Willow made a choice: for Buffy, and thereby for Tara’s death. She put Buffy above Tara, and she cannot do that again to a woman she loves. Kennedy understood and hugged the crying Willow…

Now Buffy and Willow do not look at each other. Sephrilian shows them the four-part picture – these are his faces; humans, however, have too many. He welcomes this war, because he knows humanity’s weaknesses and cannot wait for all his brothers to recognise them too. Buffy cannot believe what she is hearing. She leaps at the demon and cuts off its tail. Willow reminds Buffy of the magic in this place. Then everything blows up, and Buffy and Willow are hurled outside. Robin’s eyes glow as the place is destroyed. Then she helps Willow up. Willow cannot believe Robin was able to carry and control all that inside her. Willow also apologises for the misuse of magic. She does not need to – the place is stable now, and Robin has a little time to be free before she is called again. Then Buffy is glad they could help her. She asks Robin whether she remembers being in there with them and what they saw. Robin is sorry, but she cannot remember; everything vanished with the place. It was probably nothing good, Robin guesses. Demons and games, Buffy explains. Willow hears it but does not look at Buffy. Then the two leave, each in a different direction, while Robin watches them go.