*******
survival
*******

Just as Jharahalien had closed the distance between Anya and himself, the door flew open behind him, its squealing disapproval echoing throughout the room.

"Anyanka, you're up next!" Lisenka grinned from the doorway, enjoying the furious gaze from the demon who had been interrupted. "Sorry, Jharahalien, but the court doesn't like to be kept waiting. I can't tell you just how sorry I am to keep interrupting you the way I seem to have been doing lately."

Anya skirted around him and hurried to Lisenka. "Where have you been?" she demanded in a strained whisper once they were out of the room.

"Sorry, I've been busy keeping tabs on both Jharahalien and D'Hoffryn, and that, my dear, has not been exactly easy. You're not the first one Jharahalien's visited before their testimony. I don't think he likes to be the one who's being harassed. I would have come sooner but I've been having troubles of my own with some of the demons who aren't all that happy with the idea of the trial."

They walked slowly through the dark hallway, their heavy footsteps ringing in the corridor. Sheer will power was all that stood between either one of them and the stone floor that would break their fall if they were to collapse. Neither hesitated when the passage split into a fork and they followed the left branch, growing ever closer to the distant courtroom.

"Why are you able to wander around when I was locked in that room?" Anya asked. "Have you had anything passable to eat? I think my stomach has begun to digest itself."

"I don't know and no. Guess that's the benefit to knowing the realm as a mortal, they're used to me roaming about and didn't feel the need to lock me up. I used to drop in occasionally and check up on the others. I've been back maybe... a dozen or more times since I became mortal."

"Once I made it into high school as a mortal I started researching inter-dimensional portals and transmogrification spells, not that I wanted to transmogrify myself mind you, I just thought it might be handy if I ever saw Jharahalien again. It wasn't, as I found out, but I sure do know a lot about 'em now. And in answer to the second question, D'Hoffryn wasn't really planning on feeding us at all, I guess we should be grateful for what we did get in the way of food."

Anya scowled at the uneven floor, being careful not to trip and pushing aside all thoughts of the other treacherous paving stones that had once led her right into Jharahalien's trap. "You can be grateful for pulverized beetles, I'm not."

They turned another corner and came to a dead stop in front of a heavy pair of scarred wooden doors. Taking a deep breath of heavily smoke and sulfur scented air, Anya took an unsteady step forward.

"Don't worry," Lisenka reassured her. "I can't be in there because of their archaic rules but I'll wait for you right here outside the doors. And remember, everyone else walked out of there of their own volition. There's no reason to expect anything other than that for yourself. It'll be okay and we'll both be able to go home soon."

Lisenka smiled at Anya's curious expression. "Everyone else has been allowed to return as soon as they finished testifying, I chose to stay until you were done with your own testimony so that I could keep an eye on Jharahalien; it looks like it was a good thing I did too."

She reached out and hugged Anya briefly before physically turning her back toward the doors and giving her a gentle shove in their direction. "Now go in there and get this over with. I have a feeling if you're not home soon, your friends are going to figure out a way to make an appearance here and we really don't want to piss off D'Hoffryn any more than we already have."

Anya paused, her hand hovering over the door pull. "Lisenka?"

"Yeah?"

"When you think about home, what is it you remember?"

"Home?" Anya's friend smiled sadly. "I used to see our village with the fields and all those stupid noisy sheep. I guess after a while though I began to see the home I had made for myself. Now I think of my apartment and the sweet family that lives next door and always invites me over for Sunday dinner. Every so often though, I wonder what it would have been like to have grown old in that village. But then I remember who it was I was my father betrothed me to and I know that never would have happened, I would have died before the year was out."

"I just see Xander."

Lisenka grinned. "Then let's get this over with so you can go home to him."

~~~~

The band was loud and had drawn a large crowd by the time Willow and Tara drug Xander into the Bronze. He had tried repeatedly to get out of the outing, claiming everything from illness to homicidal tendencies but they hadn't been dissuaded. He didn't want to be anywhere where there were so many people, especially anywhere that had the slightest likelihood of reminding him of Anya.

But when he had shown up at the Magic Box to continue researching for a spell to get them to Anya, or to get Anya to them, Giles had backed up the rest of the group's decision that he, Xander, needed to get out and be among people at least for one night. It had taken Willow, Tara, and Giles' combined strength to force him outside and to Giles' waiting car, which had been willing lent for the occasion.

"Try to relax a bit, Xander, I will continue our search and relay to you in the morning what I'm able to find tonight," Giles had urged. "Besides, you know Anya wouldn't want you to go on in such a state. Just think what she'll say when she comes back."

That had gotten him into the car, albeit not happily, but more or less resigned to his fate.

"Live band," Willow shouted over the music. "Do you think that means they're actually alive? Because, ya' know, they kinda remind me a lot of Spike."

Tara smiled at the comment and glanced at Xander who was staring listlessly at the performers. She shrugged her shoulders and nudged him. "You want me to get you something to drink?"

"Already covered," announced the peroxide vamp himself, dropping a handful of bottles onto the table, "care of Sunnyhell's favorite citizen. And I resent the comparison, Red. Those blokes don't look like me at all. I could always go up and wallop one of them though, just to be sure."

"Down, Spike," Buffy demanded with a glare and a grimace, sinking into the seat next to Willow. "Hey, Xand. I'm glad you could make it."

"I didn't think I had much of a choice."

Buffy looked to Willow who just sighed. This was going to be a very long night. "Well, we have beer... and sodas," she added for Willow and Tara's benefit. "Free drinks are always cause for celebration and tonight's excursion into pleasure-ville has been made possible by none other than the Magic Box, your one stop shop for all your occult needs."

Spike read the label on his bottle before taking a long swallow. "There went Pet's raise."

Willow's glare silenced him before he made any more obvious references to Anya. Thankfully, Spike's casual mention had gone unnoticed by Xander who turned his own bottle around in his hands.

"You realize this is quite possibly the worst way to handle the problem, don't you?" Spike leaned back against his seat and studied the group who hunched over their drinks.

"Spike," Buffy warned.

"No, I'll not shut up. You invited me here, for what reason I've yet to decide, and now you want to lollygag about and pretend that everything's peachy. Well, everything isn't peachy. Have you been into the magic shop as of late, Slayer? It looks like a bloody nest of vamps has taken up residence in the place. You three can't even say the girl's name out loud. The boy is in a brood so deep he doesn't even notice when he's in danger, and all you can think of is to get him out after dark an' liquor 'im up? Like it or not the former demon of vengeance has made quite an impression on all of your lives and now that she's gone you don't know your heads from your..."

"I thought we were doin' okay," Willow countered before he could complete his thought, drawing her eyebrows together to peer at Buffy, "didn't you?"

"Hate to say it but walking dead guy here does have a point, Will. Have you seen Giles' receipts lately? I'm beginning to believe what Anya said about that tax thing, and the storeroom's a complete wreck. And we did have to stake those two vamps that thought they'd have Xand for a midnight snack the other night. He never even saw them coming. But... ha! See, I just said her name out loud so I guess that part wasn't right."

Spike shook his head in exasperation while Willow mulled over what Buffy had said.

After a long pause that was filled with the ever-increasing volume of the featured musical talent, Willow nodded, muttering, "I just didn't want to upset Xander."

"Bleedin' brilliant, Red. Why don't we all just ignore the notion that little Anya's off havin' what probably isn't a gay old time, and play as if everything were the norm."

Tara leaned forward. "We did give her all of those amulets. Maybe one of them worked... I hope..." She dropped her head. "But it has been a really long time."

"Spike's right!" Buffy declared, looking just as amazed at her words as Spike and Willow did. She reached over the table to tap Xander's shoulder.

His attention appeared to be riveted on the band but his eyes weren't quite focused. No, Xander hadn't really been handling Anya's departure well at all and Buffy only just realized how much she'd been neglecting her duty as friend. Sure, she had fended off the vamps who were going to attack him and she worried about him constantly, but she hadn't really tried to get him to open up. Maybe getting things out in the open would make it a little more bearable.

"Come on, Xander, I've got an idea."

Spike had been impressed, Tara curious, Willow unsure, and Xander down-right distressed by Buffy's decision to go back to his apartment. She had initially thought to drag everyone to Anya's place but without the ex-demon there to invite Spike in... Xander's was the next best thing. Besides, weren't most of Anya's things in his apartment anyway? And she didn't want to deal with the possibility of Spike's entering Anya's apartment with the explination that she was dead.

Walking into the living room, Buffy turned toward the phone. "Mind if I make a call?"

At the negative shake of Xander's head she lifted the receiver from its cradle. "Hey, Giles. We're at Xanders'. Thought we'd do a little traipsing down memory lane. You know, sit around and commiserate over the missing Scooby from our midst. You wanna wallow too? I betcha there are plenty of Magic Box Anya stories we haven't heard yet... Yeah, well Spike said something that made it seem like the right thing to do... Yeah, Spike. Things just keep getting' weirder 'n weirder... Cool then, see ya' in a few."

Replacing the phone she spun to face the group that stood behind her. "He'll be here as soon as he closes up shop."

"Hey," Willow perked up, "you have our senior year book, don't you? I can't wait to see what Anya wrote in it..."

~~~~

Lisenka sat on the floor just outside the courtroom, leaning against the rough stone wall and waiting for Anya to reappear. It was hard to judge but it seemed as if the others' testimonies hadn't taken so long. Worry gnawed at her while she chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip.

She had already tried listening at the door, it was too thick to hear anything through though and she had to abandon her attempt. She wished she had been allowed inside. Not knowing what was going on was driving her slowly insane, and after spending nearly a month in the realm she was already dangerously close to the brink as it was.

The loud groan of the door opening drew her attention and she raised her head in anticipation of seeing Anya cross the threshold. What she did see stopped her heart.

Jharahalien stood before her, towering over her as she remained seated on the floor.

"What are you doing? You're not allowed to be in the courtroom during testimony," Lisenka insisted, trying to quell her rising panic.

He cocked his head, the gray spines that covered his arms and scalp quivering slightly with his amusement. "Lisenka, the court wishes to have a word with you."

She froze. How she could have been so naieve as to file the petition at all eluded her. She had very likely signed her own death warrant as well as that of her oldest acquaintance. "Where's Anyanka?"

He smiled, red teeth glistening in the dim light. "Anyanka's waiting for you, Lisenka."

Pushing herself up from the floor, she tried to slip past Jharahalien without coming in contact with the demon. She knew she had been unsuccessful when she felt his cold clawed hand grip her forearm, causing her to stop moving forward.

"I told you I would win, Lisenka. A group of mortals could never stand a chance against the great and mighty Jharahalien, even in court. And now, for all you've put me through, I'll have my revenge."

Summoning up what courage she could, Lisenka stared straight ahead and squared her soulders. "You were a god once, Jharahalien, the hell-gods stole that from you. If it kills me, I'll see that you'll no longer be a demon."

His laughter filled the antechamber. "Oh, you'll die, Lisenka, but you'll die by my hand and according to my terms."

tbc... soon

(so, is this better?)