Chapter 9: Family Talks And A Soulscape

 

Buffy and Joyce are just staring at Domino in disbelief.  They had no idea what to expect after Domino's birth, but even if they did, it wouldn't have been any less of a shock to them.  While Domino scratches her chin, seemingly in deep thought.

 

Joyce decides to break her little one out of her concentration, "Domino, honey, I understand these...black weapons are concerning to you and believe me when I say that I am very concerned about them as well. What kind of father gifts a blade to a newborn, anyway?! We... will definitely be talking about that as well, but can we step back for a second."

 

Joyce with a long blink and a sigh attempts to gather her thoughts as she continues. "Let's go back to you being the daughter of a God from another universe, please."Joyce is trying to phrase her question in a way to get the clearest answer.

 

"Now don't take this the wrong way, sweetheart, I am overjoyed to be your mother, but I have to ask, why did your father send you here?  I mean, why did he choose me specifically?" Domino opens her mouth to answer when Buffy chimes in.

 

"No, wait, can we go back to you being Kryptonian, and what did you mean when you said I was the strangest out of all of us?!" Joyce puts her hands up to Buffy to pump the breaks for a second.

 

"Buffy, those questions are all related, one thing at a time, okay?" Buffy clicks her tongue but relents to her mother's wishes.  Domino paints a small smile on her face, feeling the love but also the stress.  She wants to lift some of the weight off of their shoulders with as many answers as they need.

 

"Well, to answer your question, momma, he didn't exactly choose you or this world.  It was all random, I'm not even completely sure if even Daddy knows who sent me here and why.  Daddy was just responsible for preparing me for my arrival.  The last thing I remember, before becoming a fetus in your belly, I was in daddy's star system, feeding off of the sun's that surrounded my form.  I didn't even have a body yet.  But don't worry so much mommy! Daddy fed me well, like a good father is supposed to!"

 

Domino says standing in a superhero pose and a proud smile on her face, thinking she did a great job answering her mother's question. Contrary to Domino's belief, it did nothing to ease her stress, if anything, more questions came to her mind.  Joyce with a few quick and continuous blinks, one question specifically plagued her mind.  

 

She didn't know what made her think to ask, but she just had to know. "I... see, how long exactly, did your father feed you the stars for?" Joyce was not prepared for the answer she was about to receive.  Domino cutely looks up and to the right with a finger on her chin as she thinks about it. 

 

"Hmm, about three million years or so, give or take a few, I don't know the exact amount of time, but it's around that." Domino is adamant on never keeping any secrets from them, she has faith in her family to understand, no matter how difficult it may be. 

 

Joyce looks too stunned to speak, while Buffy's jaw is on the floor.

 

"Y-you're three million years old?!" Buffy says at a volume louder than the shock allowed her to control. 

 

"Buffy, lower your voice, honey, we're both right next to you!" Joyce says at roughly the same volume, which elicited a small giggle from Domino. Which seemed to calm them down a bit. 

 

"No, no, no, Buffy, I am not three million years' old."  Buffy relaxes a bit before Domino continues.

 

"I'm actually much older than that, technically. Well, my soul is anyway, however, I don't remember most, if not all of my life before I got to daddy's star system. And I don't intend to even try to retrieve those memories.  This is my life now."  Domino proclaims with a beautiful soft smile on her face.  

 

 

 

"Oh, right! I have a Soulscape point! I'll be right back, mommy! I won't be long I promise!" Domino vanishes in a burst of white and orange light, leaving Buffy and Joyce flabbergasted, once again. 

 

"Wait, I still have ques...tions... and she's gone." Joyce can do nothing but sigh as her arm is left hanging in the air as if to try and grab the light in the air that was left behind. 

 

Buffy pats Joyce on the shoulder with a smirk on her face, "Mom, relax, this is our new normal now."  Joyce drops her arm with an accepting sigh as they both just stand there and decide to talk amongst themselves as they wait for Domino's return.  

 

*****

 

 

 

The Environment she was in, she definitely was not prepared for. She was standing on a platform, which was floating through space.  A gorgeous endless sea of stars can be seen along with viewable galaxies of many different shapes and sizes. Stars shooting off into the distance at a constant rate. 

 

It felt like home to her. Closer to her vicinity was something compared to an Imax theater, and a very comfortable looking brown leather office chair that seemed extremely familiar to her, but that wasn't important.  Domino walks up to the comically large screen in front of her as she has to strain her neck a bit to see and brings the keyboard in front of her as she reads the notification. 

 

"A reward from a reward? Reward inception... I love being spoiled!" Domino giggles as she chooses the [Powers] tab without an extra thought.  She probably has the best weapon soul bound to her already, though she makes a mental note to check for weapons at a later date.

 

"Hmm, this list isn't even remotely close to as long as the Deifying Soul Space [Powers] tab.  Daddy did say it was a lower tier system, so I shouldn't be surprised." Domino confirms to herself with a small nod. 

 

"Okay, I have 2 points now... and most of these are between 1 to 5 points anyway, I was actually kind of worried I wouldn't be able to afford anything yet. So, this is good."  

 

"Now, what's my immediate need?" Domino as if second nature, starts to rub her domino pendants as she moves her chain back and forth around her neck, as if that's her new nervous tick.  She looks down after a few minutes of noticing what she was doing and gasps as a thought comes to mind.

 

"That sounds perfect!" She scrolls through, and it doesn't take long for her to find what she was looking for. 

 

 

"Hmm, I was hoping for more of a blessing enchantment effect, but I guess I won't find any of that with this list being all powers at [Inhuman Level].  Well, whatever, this is good enough for now.  I will know if Buffy is in danger and in need of my help immediately." Domino nods her head in approval as she spends her first point.

 

"Now what? Do I really need anything else right now?"  Domino thinks about her new enchantment ability, and a thought comes to mind as she finds what she was looking for, once again. 

 

 

"Used as a weapon? I don't see any situation where I will need to use my blood for that purpose, I can literally shoot lasers out of my eyes.  Well, Whatever, I'll try it out sometime, maybe it's better than I think it is. It's only 1 point though... how good of a weapon could my blood even be?"

 

Domino shrugs and spends her last point. As soon as she confirms her choices, her eyes glow a bright white and she looks towards the stars of her Soulscape in shock and awe as the new abilities are bound to her very soul and become hers. 

 

 

"Thats it? It can't thank me for my purchases or at least say goodbye? How thoughtless." Domino scoffs as she is enveloped in orange and white light and returns home in a flash. 

 

*****

 

"Mom, I know I was kind of joking when I said you were a superhero, but you might actually be a superhero.  I mean, you heard Domino, she is from a comic book universe.  How is that even possible? What does that even mean? Comics are still fiction, right? How does that even exist? Does that mean anything, and everything we could possibly think of exists somewhere? Your favorite book? Your favorite movie? Tv show? Is it all real? How does that even work? Is there some creator out there that is just a huge fan of human made fiction and recreates it into reality? I'm so confused!" 

 

Buffy is freaking out but also loving the idea of all of this. Her fantastical sense of wonder is in hyperdrive.  She has so many more questions than answers and she almost prefers it that way.  

 

"Buffy, I'm more confused about how your mind works." Joyce says with a shake of her head.  Her mind wants to dismiss it all as nonsense but can't exactly ignore what's right in front of her, or inside of her.

 

"Mom, I'm being serious, on paper it all sounds ridiculous, but I'm pretty sure all my questions are valid, and we should be asking these things."  Buffy says in a matter-of-fact tone.  Joyce takes a moment to listen to her reasoning and nods. 

 

"You may be right Buffy, but Domino was literally just born.  You are asking me all of those questions and even I feel overwhelmed.  Let's just love her for who she is and be grateful she's in our life. I'm sure she would be happy to answer your questions, but for now, let's be a little mindful of her feelings.  She probably has a lot of questions herself."

 

Joyce tries to calm Buffy's sense of adventure down a bit as she continues.  "Think of it from her point of view.  She was tossed in ...what...a field of stars for millions of years and then thrown into a random universe and had to live inside of me, while fully conscious. I'm pretty sure most people would have lost their minds by now.  She isn't just strong physically; her mind must be incredibly strong-willed to go through all of that and still be the cute little spitfire that she is.  Showing her love is the best thing for her right now, okay?"

 

Joyce says while grabbing Buffy softly by her cheeks and kissing her forehead. 

 

"O-okay, maybe you're right, I couldn't even imagine what she went through.  But that doesn't mean I don't want to know! I want to know everything!" Buffy says with a smile that won't leave her face and showing visible excitement. 

 

Joyce laughs at her silly daughter and agrees to some extent.

 

"I know, Buffy, just remember what I said okay?  Love first, questions later." Buffy with a curt nod looks in her mother's ocean blue eyes and says, "Okay, mom, I get it... oh, do you think she liked my gift by the way?" Joyce was about to respond when a familiar flash of light enters the room.

 

"I'm back!"  Domino proclaims as she stands at just short of three feet tall in a superhero pose. "Hey Buffy, come here for a second.  Mommy, do you have a small needle or something similar?"

 

Domino looks at momma Joyce expectedly.  Joyce not knowing what it's for but decides to indulge and trust her daughter for the moment. "Sure, honey, let me check my box of sewing supplies." 

 

Joyce comes back with her pin cushion, pulls one out and hands it to Domino. "Thanks mommy, Buffy, let me see your thumb for a second."

 

Buffy pulls her hand to her chest and says, "why, what are you going to do?"

 

With slight fear evident on Buffy's face, Domino laughs and says, "oh, don't be such a baby, it will only hurt for maybe a second. Just trust me, okay?" Buffy, relents and reluctantly shows Domino her hand and quickly pricks her thumb before she changes her mind.

 

"Ouch!" Buffy says as she slightly jerks.  Domino rolls her eyes and guides her thumb to her pendant.  She conjures up her own blood, a shimmering golden liquid seep through the skin of her own thumb and applies it to the other pendant.  

 

Domino closes her eyes and invokes an enchantment in a low but melodious tone in an unknown language.  White and orange light surrounds both Buffy and Domino as the light from them both slowly starts to move towards the pendants and settle in before it dims and completely disappears like it never happened. 

 

"There, now if anything happens to you Buffy, I will know immediately."  Domino kisses Buffy's thumb, healing the small wound in the process and continues. "I won't let anything happen to this family, I promise!" 

 

Buffy smiles and kisses Domino's forehead and says, "Thanks lil sis, I guess that really was the perfect gift!" Buffy boasts with pride. "Wait... why is your blood gold?"

 

Domino just shrugs as they both look at her confused. "Well, how am I supposed to know?  I've never bled before." She just looks at them both like that was a completely normal thing to say.

 

"What? Why is everyone forgetting that I was just born??" 

 

*****

 

**POV The Master**

 

An extremely pale white man, not a single strand of hair to be seen on the top of his head and a permanent vampiric scowl on his face.  With dull yellow eyes and an age to him that looks to be thousands of years old, yet still very mobile. Is seen standing at the entrance to the hellmouth in Sunnydale. 

 

He lifts up his hand, his fingernails pointed like claws and reaches out to touch the barrier in front of him. The barrier ripples showing no signs of relinquishing its hold on the hellmouth. 

 

"It is almost time; this won't hold me for much longer.  The next generational slayer will be paying me a visit soon." The Master stares towards the ceiling of the hellmouth with visions of glory.

 

"In five, maybe six years' time, her blood will release me, and I will bring chaos upon this world!  I can taste the desperation and the pleas for mercy that will never come!"

 

A young-looking blonde female vampire in a schoolgirl uniform listens intently with her arms crossed as she says...

 

".... You're so dramatic."

 

The Master scoffs.

 

"Oh, shut up, Darla."

 

*****