Even If I Die...
And come back.
Willow screamed, pounding her hands on the clear surface in front of her. "Get away from him! He isn't Xander!"
"Oh really?"
Willow spun around, trying to place the voice the resonated from the air around her.
"If he isn't Xander, then how do I know that you are Willow, and the Suzaku no Miko." The voice seemed to move around her, and she couldn't place where it was coming from. "Prove yourself Willow. Save your friends."
She turned, looking out of the portal again. Her counterpart had pulled away from Hotohori, and was instantly faced with his sword. "No, Hotohori! It won't work unless you behead her!"
"Now Xander...is that any way to treat me?" Vamp Willow purred, and looked at Nuriko, who was fuming. "Oh come on Nuriko, he wouldn't want you." She walked towards him, "But since you're a man, I might."
Nuriko blinked, and stared at the Willow in front of him.
"Nuriko? Is that...true?" Hotohori looked at him. Without answering, Nuriko turned and ran into the forest, heartbroken.
"Wow. There's another man as beautiful as I am." Hotohori turned back to Willow. "As for you, I don't believe I appreciate you posing as the Suzaku no Miko." He held his sword to her throat. "Who are you, and what have you done with Willow?"
Willow pounded on the glass again, but still no one could hear her. In frustration she turned to the library and picked up the first object she saw and threw it at the barrier. The globe bounced off without leaving a scratch, and crashed into her shoulder. As she clutched the wound, she felt blood begin to seep out.
And then she noticed the other Willow, who was circling her friends. She flinched and looked down at her shoulder, as blood slowly began to seep out. "How mean, that hurt." She looked up, shifting into her game face. "That wasn't nice, I don't want to play with you anymore."
As she lunged for Hotohori and Tamahome, Willow ran to a chair and smashed it into the floor. She sighed, and looked out at her friends again.
"If it's the only way..." She took one of the shattered legs and clutched it as she walked out to the barrier to watch the battle. Hotohori and Tamahome were hopelessly outmatched. Willow cried, looking at the stake in her hand. The other Willow knocked Tamahome aside, and walked towards Hotohori. She grabbed his sword with her bare hand and flung it aside. When she watched "herself" sink her teeth into her friends neck, she made up her mind. She plunged the stake into her chest with all her might.
***
Buffy dropped the book as a searing pain shot through her chest. She watched as blood spread across her shirt. Again, she could find no wound. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she picked the book back up, "Oh god Willow, please..Please.."
***
The figure who had watched from the shadows sat up suddenly, "Willow!" They buried their face in their hands, "That wasn't what she was supposed to do!"
***
Hotohori gasped as the false Willow jerked back from him. Blood began to pour from her chest and she stared at a mirror which had fallen to the ground next to her. She slowly backed away from them, and suddenly, without warning, a large rock fell out of the sky, landing squarely on her head.
Tamahome stood and looked up to a nearby cliff, where Nuriko was dusting his hands. "Looked like you boys needed some help." He jumped down effortlessly, and looked at the rock, which completely covered what might be left of the vampire. "Hopefully that did the trick."
They were distracted by Hotohori's yell, and turned to see Willow sprawled on the ground next to the mirror. She was bleeding profusely, and had already passed into unconciousness.
Nuriko hurried into action, rushing to her side. "Turn around you two, I have to bandage her up."
"But Nuriko, you're a man, right?" Tamahome looked at his fellow seishi, still confused.
"But my mind is female. Now turn around! I have to stop the bleeding or she'll die soon!"
***
Willow looked around her at the emptiness she was thrust into. She thought she heard voices, but assumed that she was imagining things. She floated through the space, trying to find her way to somewhere. Suddenly, she remembered.
"I'm dead."
The fact was so simple, but filled her with dread.
***
"She missed her heart, barely. There wouldn't be much to worry about if she would just stop bleeding!" Nuriko tied the bandages tightly, and sat, helplessly by his miko's side.
"Willow." Hotohori turned, and placed his hand on hers. Somehow, he felt he had been in this position before, watching her as she lay near death.
Tamahome picked up the sharp piece of wood she had stabbed herself with. "The other one, that monster, she bled from the same place. Do you think she..."
"You mean she did this for us?" Hotohori blinked back tears. "And now she's going to die?"
"Not if I can help it." They all looked around, trying to find the source of the voice they just heard.
***
Buffy stared at the text, unable to believe they had heard her. But if that was the case, then she had to do something. If it was only talking Willow out of this. "Wills! Come on, why haven't you woken up yet?" She remembered Xander telling her that he had been talking to her when she woke up from her coma last year. "Come on, you have to fight remember?"
***
Willow looked around her, suddenly hearing Buffy's voice. She watched as part of her vision cleared, and she saw the Slayer sitting in the library, yelling into the book that had brought her to Konan.
"But, I'm dead." She started to cry, "if I come back, what would happen to me?"
***
Buffy practically cheered, she heard the quiet voice whisper back to her from the book. "You'd find your way out of there and back home, that's what.
"But, what if I come back...a vampire, Buffy?" The voice got quieter, "What would happen. I'd be like that...thing that just tried to kill Xander."
"No, Wills, you know that's not true. You didn't drink her blood did you?" Buffy sighed, "That's the only way to change."
"But we were connected somehow, differently from last time. It was like we were the same."
"Then maybe...you'll have to risk it. But Wills, you have to try, you have to come back to me. To Oz and Xander. They need you. Look at them, they're a mess without you."
***
Willow watched as the scene changed. She saw her body, pale and bleeding. She saw Hotohori and Tamahome standing over her, and suddenly she knew that she had to go back. She had staked herself to save them, so now she had to try to come back. "Buffy?"
"Yeah."
"If I...change, will you try to warn them?"
"It's my job Wills."
***
"She's waking up!" Nuriko shouted, full of happiness. Tamahome smiled, and Hotohori blinked back tears as Willow smiled back up at them.
"I didn't change."
"Of course not, why would you?" Tamahome was mystified.
"It's a long story." Willow tried to sit up.
"Please, don't sit up, you'll aggarevate your wound." Nuriko smiled.
Then, Willow noticed her surroundings. The forest was gone, and around them were beautiful cliffs surrounded by purple clouds. Strange blue spheres floated in the air, and a large pagoda was perched on the highest cliff. "Where are we?"
Hotohori gasped, "Mount Taikyoku!"
"Welcome Suzaku no Miko, to my home."
Willow's eyes grew wide as she recognized the voice she had heard while she had been trapped. "Taiistu-kun?"
Notes for Chapter Six:
We understand that this chapter is a bit more...violent than those past. But as you well know, as a series, story, or movie progresses it will steadily begin to follow its plotline more closely. It is the same with Fushigi Yuugi. We hope that this won't turn you away from the story.
Coming soon:
Taiitsukun offeres Willow the one thing she wants most: the chance to go home. But not even Taiitsukun can explain what has happened between Sunnydale and The Universe of the Four Gods. Should she stay in order to find out what's going on, or should she travel back to Sunnydale to seek information there?
Chapter Seven: Going Home
Go back:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
The Introduction