09
Time and Again - Part 1: In The Beginning
Sunnydale High School – Tuesday, 9th September 1997
The tide of students crowding into the school corridors parted magically, according Cordelia her due deference, as she strode purposefully along head held high. Beneath the studied expression of bored superiority, she was a roiling mass of conflicting emotions. Being back in this world, back in high school, still felt very strange - wrong even. And whenever her thoughts drifted towards the ordeal that awaited her when she reached the library, she became distinctly queasy and hurried to find something else to think about. Luckily, she encountered none of her followers and the few people who tried to speak to her, or gave her odd glances, she just ignored, determined not to allow herself to be side-tracked. She was almost certain that Buffy, Willow and Xander had all arranged to take free study as first period on Tuesdays, so they should be there when she arrived.
Pausing outside the swing doors that led into the library to gather her courage, Cordelia could hear Buffy's familiar voice recounting the events of the night before. Curious, she motioned Nevyn to hang back briefly so she could listen, with some amusement, to the surprised reaction Buffy's tale was receiving.
"Wh-what? CORDELIA saved YOU? Cordelia with a SWORD?"
"Yup, I'm right there with you Will. You could have slayed me with a feather." Noticing her other friend seemed a bit spaced out, Buffy waved her hand in front of his glazed eyes. "You still with us Xander?"
"Hanging on your every word Buff," Xander said, blinking rapidly and shaking his head as that would dislodge the image of Cordelia in the tight black leather pants with laced sides which Buffy's long lingering description had painted so vividly in his imagination. "So do you think she'll wear the same outfit today?" Seeing the looks on his friends' faces, he quickly tried to cover. "I mean, can you imagine how Snyder would react if she actually wore a sword to school?"
"Never happen Xander," Buffy said confidently. "Have you ever seen Cordelia wear the same thing twice? She'd die of shame." Buffy's face fell slightly as her thoughts turned towards Principal Snyder. "Although it would be nice if someone would distract the rodent's attention. He's been majorly down on me recently."
//Huh! You're one to speak Buffy,// Cordelia thought scowling in annoyance. //How your mother can afford to keep up with your wardrobe is beyond me.//
Realising that she was dithering outside the library mostly as an attempt to delay the coming conversation, Cordelia took a deep breath and tried again to gather her scattered nerves. Pasting an imperious expression on her face, she pushed the door wide and marched in. She barely glanced at the startled trio before throwing herself down into the empty chair nearest Buffy. Nevyn quietly took a seat at the other end of the table.
"Hi everyone," she greeted them with a fake smile. "You're all staring at me with your mouths open. Now I know I'm home."
"Well, that proves she wasn't away attending charm school," Xander quipped after a moment's stunned silence.
Cordelia gave him a withering glance before refocusing her attention on Buffy. Seeing the slightly hurt look on the Slayer's face, she continued in a friendlier tone. "Sorry Buffy, it's just I'm really not looking forward to this conversation. Ya know?"
"Yeah, sure Cordelia. We forgive you don't we guys?" Buffy looked at Xander and Willow for support.
"Hmm, oh, yes," Willow said as she stared distractedly at what Cordelia was wearing. Slightly faded jeans, sneakers and a T-shirt were a long way from her usual look. //It's not fair. How does she do it?// Willow moaned internally. //She should look at least a little bit frumpy, but somehow…//
"Yes, well," Giles paused uncomfortably before settling into the last vacant chair, next to Nevyn. "Perhaps we should start by learning a bit more about our guest here?"
"Who are you?" Xander blurted. "Where have you been hiding Cordelia? And why couldn't you keep her there?"
"Hey!" Cordelia complained, jerking upright and starting to rise to her feet, but she stopped when Buffy laid a gentle hand on her arm and shook her head slightly.
Nevyn sighed and sat back in his chair, letting his head slump forward for a moment before answering. "I wish I knew who I am, but I don't. I have no idea what my real name is, or when and where I was born."
"You have amnesia?" Willow asked surprised.
"Yes. The first thing I can remember is waking up in a cave, a full grown man, looking much as I do now. I had not one single memory of anything I might have done before then. And although many years have passed since then I still don't."
"That must be terrible," Willow sympathised. "I wish there was something we could do for you."
"That's kind of you Willow, but I've gotten used to it. And it's not as if my mind was completely empty of memories. I could remember books and movies, but not when I read the books or where I watched the movies. Facts, figures and tons of useful information, but nothing about who my family might be or what they looked like."
Nevyn's face was briefly clouded before he shook off the mood and continued. Ticking off the points on his fingers as he made them. "That was a really strange time, cooped up inside the cave for years, decades maybe, while I studied the vast and varied range of books I found stored there. Part of me hoped to find some small fact or turn of phrase that might unlock my lost memories, but nothing came to me. The books were many and varied, ranging from maths and science to weaving and metalwork and even magic.
"Those I found dificult to believe at first, but gradually I found that magic was indeed real and that I had some ability to work it." He paused again in contemplation, his mind turned back once more to consider those early days.
"Finally one day after I had learned everything the books could teach me I awoke with the desire to see the world outside. Looking back it seems strange that I never noticed I was confined to the cave, but at the time, it didn't even cross my mind."
"Leaving the cave I found I was in a mountain valley in the lands of the Silures people of what is now southern Wales around the year 500 CE."
"CE?" asked Xander.
"That's common era, many scientists and text books prefer it to AD, but it means essentially the same thing," Nevyn answered automatically.
"You're fifteen hundred years old?" Xander asked, not really believing it. "What are you?"
"Human – I think, and no I'm not that old, but I am a lot older than I look. I don't look any older now than the first time I can remember seeing my face in a mirror. I guess like Buffy, you could say I'm just a slightly different kind of human."
"Different?" Giles asked looking at him sharply.
"Well, as I've just said, I don't age. I'm also a bit faster and stronger than is normal," Nevyn stated matter-of-factly, "I can't remember ever being ill and I heal almost immediately from any wound."
"You sound like one of those immortals from the film Highlander," Xander piped up, ignoring the quizzical looks everyone gave him.
"Funny you should say that, I've thought so myself, but I've never run into anyone who seems determined to cut my head off, and if I've ever met another immortal like myself I haven't felt any cramps or other supernatural signal."
It looked like Nevyn and Xander were about to launch into a long discussion, but Buffy was getting bored. "Okay fine, but what does any of this have to do with Cordelia?"
"I was getting to that, although I think it would be better if Cordelia tells you her own part of the story." Knowing how much his protégé was dreading this, he gave her an encouraging smile. Cordelia shuddered slightly, smiling weekly at Buffy when the blonde laid a gentle hand on her arm. "Anyway, the locals had a legend about a wizard trapped inside that cave, so my emergence caused quite a stir. Then I spent the next fifty years helping the Britons fight the Saxon invaders, under two successive High Kings. When the second died in battle, I attended his burial at Glastonbury Tor and then decided to get as far away from any painful reminders as possible. Several weeks later, I was approaching the fort of Caer Luel, which is now called Carlisle, when a portal opened right in front of me. Well, as you might imagine I was a bit startled, but I felt a strange peace settle over me, and I stepped through without really thinking about it." (12)
"Since then, I have been through thirty-two portals including the one that brought me here."
"But I still don't see what this has to do with Cordelia," Xander said a bit confused.
Nevyn looked at the nervous brunette, "Are you able to talk about it?"
Cordelia gulped visibly and leaned a little further towards Buffy's oddly comforting presence. She looked uneasily around the group before nodding hesitantly. Drawing a deep breath she began to speak in halting phrases…
Back to Fanfiction main page.