Title: Coven of Hope
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, I am just borrowing them.
Summary: After being addicted to magic and surviving withdrawals. Giles takes Willow to a coven in England to learn about true and pure magic. While she is there she happens across a quiet and timid coven member who captivates her and gives her hope for the future. (AU)
Feedback: PLEASE...it helps me improve and to know what direction to take the story.
Author's Note: Thank you to my Beta reader...without her I may not have come back to writing fanfiction.
Coven of Hope
Chapter 1 - Traveling to the Coven
It was a foggy misty night as the car drove along the rickety road in the middle of nowhere. The man driving the old Saab looked at the map and what he could see of the fog covered road, but his concern was for the small, frail woman in the seat next to him. The woman was like a daughter to him. He loved her as one. He looked out for her as one. He felt as though he had failed her as a father. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and was staring blankly out the window into the vast fog of nothingness. One look at her and you would never guess that she had enough dark magic inside her to end the world. Looking at her you would see a meek and timid woman in her 20's. She had red hair and green eyes. If you asked her just mere months ago, she would have told you she was a computer geek and an amateur witch.
"We'll be there soon," said the older man, breaking the silence. His voice seemed loud after several hours of riding in silence.
"It doesn't matter," said the woman in a hushed voice, her eyes never leaving the nothingness outside.
"It does matter. You matter," he said.
"No Giles, I used to matter. Now, now I am something to be feared. I am evil. You should have let Buffy kill me when she had the chance."
"No Willow. I am not giving up on you. I know you. You are good. The coven has agreed to teach you, to help you."
"Do they know what I did? What I am?"
"Yes, they know it all."
The car became silent again as they both drifted back into their thoughts.
The older woman looked out the window into the night. She sensed the power as it neared the Coven. She thought back to the conversation two days earlier.
"Mr. Giles, what can I do for you?" asked the older woman, answering the phone.
"High Priestess. I am in need of your guidance," said the man.
"How may I guide you?"
"I know you have felt the shift in good and evil. I need to know what to do."
"What to do with?" asked the older woman.
"How can I help her? How can I prove to her that she is not evil? That just because the dark magic called to her it doesn't make her bad."
"Ask what you really want to know, Giles."
"Will your coven assist in teaching her? Helping her heal? Proving to her that her life is not over?"
"You think she has what it takes?"
"I do. She is a remarkable woman. She got lost, so very lost."
"Bring her. We will work with her and assist in her recovery and redemption," said the High Priestess.
"Thank you, High Priestess."
She had known about the redhead and her propensity for power. She had watched the young witch grow over the years. It sorrowed her that it had taken such a horrific event for them to finally cross paths.
Giles pulled up to the gates outside the coven grounds and was greeted by two Amazon guards. He told them who they were and that the High Priestess was expecting them. The guards looked at him in disbelief. They sent word to the High Priestess who told them to let the two in and to show them the service route. She then told the guards that if they mentioned any of this to anyone she would have them made mute and relieved of their place within the Coven and the Amazon tribe.
The guards showed Giles the service road and told him to follow it until he saw the heart trees. He was then to turn left and follow it until he reached the house at the edge of the Coven grounds. Giles nodded and started on his way. The entire time Willow sat staring blankly out the window. She hadn't even looked once at where they were, who was speaking, or where they were headed. She just sat there, blank and unreadable.
When they pulled up outside the house the High Priestess came out to greet them.
"High Priestess, it is so good to see you," said Giles as he got out of the car.
"Mr. Giles. It has been a long time."
Willow got out of the car and walked around near the two older people.
"Willow, this is the High Priestess of the coven…"
"Please, call me Sister Morrigan," interrupted the older woman.
"Thank you for allowing me to come here," said Willow, softly. Her eyes never met the woman's eyes.
"My child, I know you feel that things are beyond repair, beyond redemption, but I assure you that I would not have allowed you to come here if I did not believe we could help you. Giles and I go back a long way, but I would never endanger my Coven."
"Yes, Sister Morrigan."
"I'm sure you are both very tired after your long journey. I have made up the guest house for you to stay in. It is out of the way enough that until you are comfortable Sister Willow you do not have to associate with any of the other Sisters, yet you are close enough that I may keep an eye on you without arousing suspicion. It also allows for you Giles to stay with you for now."
"Thank you, again," said Giles as he moved to grab their bags out of the back of the car.
"Please, get some rest and tomorrow morning I will come by to collect you, Sister Willow, and we can get to know one another."
"Yes ma'am," replied Willow, meekly.
As the High Priestess departed Willow and Giles entered the simple single story cottage. The decor was rustic but charming.
Giles put Willow's bag in the larger room since she was going to be staying at the Coven and he was just there to help her get settled. The two said their goodnights and went to their separate rooms.