"So", the Watcher asked as they all had sat down to eat dinner, prepared by Anya and Xander – without breaking anything this time -, his gaze focusing on Willow, "did you find anything?"
"A few things", the witch gave back, shovelling a forkful of noodles with cheese sauce into her mouth and taking the time to chew and swallow before she went on. "It could be either some sort of talisman, helping her to channel the power, or some kind of chasm, hidden by the altar, which would mean not the altar is her power centre, but the chasm or talisman. And of course it could also be the knife that crazy priest used to cut me, in which case it wouldn't be that important."
"Let's hope it is the knife then", Pat commented next to her, throwing her a brief glance before she spoke on. "I'd like to use that on Amy and show her how she made my poor girlfriend feel."
"Sometimes, I forget you're a demon, but then you say something like this and I'm horribly harshly reminded of it", Giles dryly stated, making the demon shrug before she focused on her food again, only to glance up a moment later when Buffy spoke up. "So, how can we use this to stop her?"
"If it's a talisman, breaking it might destroy her ability to charge up her energies", Willow replied, now sounding slightly proud about figuring all of it out with the help of her books. "If it's a chasm, well, then we'd have to push her into it… It'd cause an overload of power on her brain, and that would lead to the famous brain leakage. If it's the knife, it's of no use."
"Let's hope it's not the knife then", Pat corrected herself, making the rest smirk before Giles took off his glasses and started cleaning them, clearing his throat, sounding serious when he spoke up. "We should come up with a plan then how to find out what exactly caused that reddish shine and then act accordingly."
"Well, I suggest we go there during the day", Xander gave back, "so the vamps will be asleep and we'll just have to deal with the demons. Which might end up being hard enough, if there are too many of them."
"Good idea", Buffy agreed, to the young man's obvious pride, "but we need a new strategy, just burning the hovel they built won't help this time, plus it'd be too dangerous if we need to get in there, as well. Any ideas?"
"Just storm in?" Pat suggested in reply, shrugging at the disbelieving look, a gesture she repeated at what the Slayer demanded to know next. "You've been an assassin for two centuries and all you can think of is just storming in?"
"Well, during my assassin days, I usually used a more… subtle approach", the demon pointed out, throwing an apologetic glance at Willow as she thought about how she had used exactly that approach on her, before her act had turned into something real. "But I doubt that would work on Amy."
"Plus, I wouldn't let you do that", the redhead stated, not letting it show if the memories her girlfriend's words had brought up were hurting her. "I could make that hovel fall apart with magic", she added after a moment, "that would cause some confusion and would make it easier for us to get to the altar. Then we destroy it, and then we'll know what it is."
"Okay, that's a start", Buffy nodded her agreement; once more, she recalled the exact layout of the hovel and of the area around it, a small smile forming on her face as she came up with an idea, explaining it to the others once it had shaped up enough, glad when quickly, they reached an agreement about how it would be done.
In the next day, they strengthened themselves with a hearty breakfast, then went through their plan once more before they left the house and made their way to the sad remains of the church; Buffy, Xander, Pat and Giles had armed themselves with swords and axes while Anya and Willow were unarmed, the witch relying on her magic and the ex-demon not all too interested in getting too close to the fight.
"I'll cheer to you from the sidelines", she stated when Pat asked her about her lack of weaponry, making the demon roll her good eye in response; shuddering, Anya pointed out that this looked rather creepy, earning a glare from the black haired woman, Willow stepping in though before the situation could get any worse, fuelled by some remark the demon might make in reply.
"I'm sure Anya's cheering will help a lot", the witch stated good-naturedly, making her girlfriend look at her; if a snarky remark came to her mind, she held it back, something Willow had been counting on – no matter how dry and snarky the taller woman sometimes was with their friends, she never spoke that way to her, and thus it had been the perfect way to end an argument before it could even start.
"Once I made the hovel fall apart, I'll keep an eye on her", she went on, "and help you guys with a few spells, should it be necessary."
"We'll do fine", Buffy threw in, "but it's good to know that a powerful witch has our backs covered."
"I agree", the demon smirked, bending down to kiss her loved one briefly, then gestured at the arm she still had in a sling, sounding slightly concerned again when she spoke on. "Promise though you won't overdo it… You'll stop the moment this starts to hurt, alright?"
"Alright", the redhead immediately agreed, touched by the demon's concern for her – after all, they were about to enter a fight which was a matter of life and death, and still all she did was worry about her, instead of being concerned about her own health. "You be careful, too", she thus stated, using her healthy hand to grasp her girlfriend's and squeeze it tenderly, "and be mindful of your left…"
"Sure", the demon reassured her, the couple sharing another kiss afterwards; this inspired Anya to claim kisses from Xander as well, a wish the young man gladly fulfilled, briefly making Buffy melancholic about the fact that she had no one she could share kisses with – before she shrugged it off, telling herself she'd have all the time in the world to find someone for that purpose as soon as the fight was over and they had won once more.
"Alright", Willow whispered as soon as they were close enough to the hovel so she could tear it down, hiding in the bushes once more, "I'll do it now…"
She took in a deep breath, smiling slightly when she felt Pat's hand on her shoulder moments later, the tender touch making concentrating much easier for her, instead of distracting her from the task at hand. Slowly, she rose her healthy hand, her brow furrowing as she focused; she mumbled a few words beneath her breath, then clenched her hand into a fist briefly, the hovel trembling suspiciously – before she flung her fingers at it, a gasp coming from the redhead as she felt the power surge through her arm, the hovel falling apart seconds later, charred, wooden beams and stones hitting the ground and startling the demons which had been guarding Amy.
Amy herself laid on the altar, as always, abruptly sitting up when her shelter was blown apart; her eyes went wide as she saw Buffy, Giles, Xander and Pat came storming toward her, Willow and Anya staying behind, the attacking quartet armed with dangerously sharp and pointy looking weapons.
"Get them!" she shrieked, close to hysteria, cursing them while her demons quickly regained their composure, howling and growling as they charged as well. Seconds later, a ferocious fight had erupted, the Slayer and her three pesky helpers annoying Amy by even going into battle formation, standing back to back so no one could sneak up on them, fending off the demons coming at them with surprising ease, something which probably was powered by the fact that none of them dared to get too close to the demon of the group, her flaming fists keeping the attackers from storming at her too rashly.
Growling, Amy watched how her demons fell, one after the other; each death fuelled her strength, the red glow visible through the crack in her altar pulsating much brighter each time one of her demons died and gave her a fresh surge of energy. Part of her knew that despite that wonderful, satiable energy, she should wait until she was stronger, and not use her power too quickly; still her anger was burning too bright to let her listen to that rational part, her eyes narrowing as she focused on Willow, the redhead standing next to the tactless ex-demon, watching the fight, even having the insolence of smiling to herself as she was focused on her girlfriend taking down her demons.
"You", Amy growled, low enough so nobody could hear her, "always you…!" With her anger so big now that it almost made her explode, she rose one hand, the smell of brimstone filling the air as she clenched her fist; moments later, she heard Willow yelp as the witch was lifted off her feet, then swept towards her, struggling helplessly against the magical grip she had on her.
"Willow!" Amy heard the traitorous demon shout, but her own minions kept the Slayer's pet demon from doing anything; she couldn't even focus properly on what was happening to her girlfriend as she had to concentrate on the opponents in front of her, the two who had gone up against her sensing that they had to keep her from interfering and attacking with much more courage, eager to win the favour of their mistress.
"You", Amy repeated once Willow was hovering in front of her, still struggling feebly against the hold the possessed woman was having on her, "you've always been messing up my plans… Used me to meet Rack and then just dropped me when you found out you couldn't handle it after all… And still it all always came so easy to you! But now, I'm the stronger one, I'm having powers within me you can't even imagine…"
She narrowed her eyes, and the redhead began to gasp and choke as her flow of air was cut off all of a sudden; fighting down the impulse to panic, Willow briefly squeezed her eyes shut, giving her best to concentrate once more as she focused on the altar Amy was sitting on, recalling the spell she had used to make the hovel fall apart. Even though her windpipe felt as if it had the diameter of a needle eye, she managed to suck in enough breath to press out the words for the spell; since the altar was much smaller than the hovel had been, the altar didn't just fall apart, but practically exploded, sending Amy to the ground, breaking her concentration and thus the hold she had on Willow, the witch slumping to the stony floor next to her, coughing and gasping for breath.
Again, she heard Pat call out her name, briefly looking over her shoulder, only to see that her loved one was still too busy fighting off the demons around her to come to her aid; then, the now brightly pulsing red glow caught her eye, and she focused on it, her heart performing an excited leap in her chest when she saw that she had found the right information during her research, all of a sudden knowing how she could end this once and for all – before Amy shrieked next to her and grabbed her, jerking her to her feet, then lifting her up in the air, glaring up at her as she held her, the chasm which was the true centre of her power right behind her.
With an angered growl, Pat finished off the last two demons in front of her with powerful swings of her axe, finally finding herself free to come to Willow's aid; next to her and behind her, the others got rid of their opponents as well, giving them some time to catch their breath, Xander wiping sweat of his brow and looking briefly relieved – before he noticed the situation Willow was in, his eyes going wide as he called out her name. The sound made Buffy and Giles look as well, the two of them reacting with startled gasps as they saw the witch duelling with Amy, sparks of magic colouring the air around them while the redhead clearly tried to drive her opponent back, towards the gaping gorge behind her; if Amy was aware of what Willow was trying to do, she didn't let it distract her, standing her ground and countering the spells the redhead was throwing at her.
"We have to stop that", Pat stated, dropping her axe, "before she overdoes herself and breaks down!" She didn't even wait to see what the rest thought of this, but rushed forward a second after she had stopped speaking; since her girlfriend stood with her back to her, she didn't see her coming, but Amy did, briefly letting her concentration on Willow slip so she could fling a spell at the demon, a brightly glowing orb of energy hitting her in the chest and sending her backwards a few feet before she fell to the ground with a low "Ooff", Buffy hurrying to her side moments later.
"Leave her alone!" Willow snapped at her opponent, anger filling her, "haven't you and your priest done enough to her already?"
She threw another spell at the possessed woman, putting all her anger and pain about what her loved one had been forced to go through so far in it; and moments later, Amy stumbled back, losing her balance as one of her feet slipped at the chasm's edge, her arms flailing wildly as she tried to keep herself from falling.
Already, the redhead started to smile, knowing that it would take just the tiniest push now to send her over the edge, into the gorge and to her end; she rose her hand to provide just that, her eyes widening when moments later, one of Amy's hands grabbed her wrist, a malicious little smirk appearing on the woman's face, her voice down to a whisper, but dripping with venom as she spoke up. "Even if I'll go now, I'll take you with me. Say goodbye."
Behind her, Willow heard Pat shout her name, but couldn't allow herself to pay any attention, her mind running wild; she knew that, with her wounded arm, she couldn't try to push Amy away from herself, that if she'd let herself fall back now, she wouldn't only safe herself, but would keep Amy from falling as well, would endanger her friends and, in the end, the whole world, should the possessed woman reach her full strength – and how close she was to that was out of question, seeing how their magical duel apparently hadn't taken any of her energy away.
All at once, she made her choice, realizing that it was the only thing she could do; and now, she did turn her head to look at her loved one, her gaze a silent apology – before she threw her whole weight forward, against the clearly startled Amy, causing her opponent to stumble back that last two steps which were needed to push her over the edge.