Hell: The New Age
Chapter 8
Room : Fire : Darkness
by Cynthia Taz

Disclaimer and such please refer to prologue.


-- H O M E --

...

Willow took off the bridle on the Bud'rona, and smiled as the monster purred, its head reached for Willow's hand as she stoked the bridge of its nose. "Thank you." She said, and watched as the demon slowly moved back deep into the forest.

"Lord Willow."

Willow turned, and found Giles standing there, holding out a white handkerchief. "Lord Giles." She pushed Gile's hand back a bit, refusing the handkerchief as she wipped her face with the back her sleeve. It did not help much though, as the blood was long dried. "You don't have to come pick me up."

Lord Giles smiled. "I do. It has been a long time since we talked."

"Not long enough, Giles." Willow said, almost sadly, as they slowly made their way back to the Tower of Rule. "How are you doing? Really? They treat you well?"

"They do."

"Good." The redhead angel nodded. "I heard that there were some attacks on the deliver of sinned souls after we left."

"Yes." Lord Giles sighed. "So far those attacks did not do any damage, but I fear they were merely a start."

"You think whoever plan these attacks may be planning on something bigger? Taking over the distribution of the sinned souls?"

"It is a logical conclusion. Mortal soul is the currency here. Whoever control the distribution will have the power over other demon lords."

"Unless Father decides to halt the delivery and allow every sinned soul to linger on Earth or go to Heaven. It is the reason why Father sends angels to take over the throne of Hell, isn't it? To keep us in a lash, so to speak."

"You know this better than I do, Willow." Paused. "You asked Lord Angelus to call a meeting for the House of Lords, then slaughtered a group of demons not far away from his land... you want them to know you're back, to make sure that they will all come for the meeting, don't you?" Willow said nothing. "But how are you going to persuade them not to fight and accept Lord Tara and Buffy? They don't even have the key of Hellegat..." He paused again when he saw the darkness sparked deep within the green orbs. "Willow..."

"Just make sure you show up in the meeting." She said as they reached the tower. "Is my room-"

"No one has been there since you left. I have made sure of it." Giles said, and watched as Willow heading towards the side corridor that led to the basement. "I'll bring you some water to freshen up."

Willow waved her hand, and disappeared around the corner.

...

Tara, holding a bucket of water, slowly descended towards the basement. Ever though she had moved into the Tower of Rule for quite sometime, she had never known of the basement, and she doubted Buffy and Xander had either. She was having a walk in the garden when she saw Lord Giles, and found out that Lord Willow had come back and retreated to the basement. "Her room." He had said.

The blond light-brighter couldn't help but frowned when the light down the stairs became dimmer and dimmer. Since there was no window, the only source of light was coming from the sunlight at the top of the stairs. Finally, she reached the end of the stairs. Facing the door, the bucket of water almost dropped from her hands when she saw the letters carved on the wooden surface.

H O M E

Blinking several times, Tara finally put down the bucket and knocked. When no one answered, Tara knocked again. "Lord Willow?"

The lock on the door opened with a soft click, but did not open. Tara took a deep breath, and pushed. "Lord Willow?" She called again, and peeked inside. There was no window or any source of light in the room, and the only thing Tara could make out was the ground in front of her.

"Lord Tara." Willow's voice came from the far corner. "You wish to talk?"

"If it's okay, Lo- Willow."

"Come in, then." Tara turned and reached for the bucket, but Willow's voice stopped her. "I can get it later. But please, do close the door."

"It is no bother." Tara smiled at the general direction towards Willow's before grabbing the bucket and moved into the room, using the other hand to close the door. Only then she had noticed that she could see nothing except darkness. "Um..."

Suddenly, a warm glow appeared not far ahead. Lord Willow was standing there, a pile of burning woods next to her. "Thank you." Tara smiled again, and looked around. She was a bit surprised that when she found the room was quite similar to the one she had seen Willow the first time: nothing but a quilt on the dirty ground, only this time there was also a pile of burning woods on the corner.

Willow studied at Tara for a moment. "You are the first except myself to set foot in this room. Lord Giles always leaves everything he thinks I need outside the door."

"Sorry. I didn't know..."

"It's okay." Willow moved towards the quilt, which was at the opposite corner of the pile of fire woods, and sat down. "What do you wish to talk about?"

"I just... we are going to work together, and Lord Giles said you have already asked another Lord to call a meeting, I though..."

"Maybe we should know each other better?" Willow asked. "Like why do you not see my wings and halo?"

"If you wish to tell me, yes. Or if you want to know anything about me or Buffy..."

"Lord Tara, there's one thing I need you to understand." Willow stood, and matched towards Tara. Without a word, she picked up the bucket of water, and poured the water onto the firewood. Within a second, the fire died, and the room was consumed by darkness once again. "Can you see?" The redhead asked.

Tara narrowed her eyes, willing them to get used to the darkness. But no matter how she tried, she could not even make out her own hand if she put it in front of her face. She shook her head. "No."

"I can. What you deem as darkness, Lord Tara, it is just as bright as the sun to me. I know most light-bringers believed that Lord Lucifer is twisted, evil, worst of worst; but not even he could see in such environment. Only those who are as one with the darkness can." Tara blinked as a small night that suddenly appeared in front of her.

Willow was now holding a candle, and carefully, she handed it to Tara. "I'm the darkness, Lord Tara, and you and your co-workers are one of the lights." She said. Even her face was blank, Tara couldn't help but wonder if it was sadness that she could taste underneath the cold words. "We will never know each other."

...