Chapter Six - "Sins of the Past"
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"Willow ... Willow, please, help me!"
"Buffy?" Willow called out as she stumbled through the darkness. It blanketed everything so thoroughly, the young witch had no idea where she was let alone where Buffy could be out there. She reached her hands out in front of her, feeling for anything. "Buffy! Where are you? Keep talking! I'll find you!"
"Willow ... help me!" Buffy's voice called back from the darkness. She sounded so close to Willow but so far away. "I can't take it anymore! The pain! Willow!"
Willow sighed in frustration. Finally she came to a stop when she felt something. "Buffy?" she asked, hesitantly. It felt like a human figure - it was definitely warm. "Buffy, is that you?" [Dammit. Where is all the light? I can't see!] "Just a second ... lemme do something ..."
"Willow ..." the groan of the Slayer made Willow's heart sink. Buffy sounded awful. [This is your fault. You knew for weeks that Sauron planned to do something, Willow, and you never once mentioned it. You should've said something. Buffy could've been prepared. This is your fault.] "It hurts. I can't ... I can't see anything."
"I can't either, Buffy. Just ... wait ... " Willow held up a hand, palm upward, then she concentrated on the spell. "Quel edonna almedia luminosa!" A small, controlled flame appeared in the palm of Willow's hand. [Oh, good, it worked.] She raised up the flame to check on Buffy. "Buffy, it's all right. I'm -" A gasp cut off her words and she backpedaled. "What ... what do you want?"
It wasn't Buffy she'd found. It was Sauron. But he wasn't in his Lidless Eye form, either. He was back in the harmless, innocent form of Frodo Baggins. The small 'Hobbit' matched her steps backwards as he reached out a hand towards Willow.
"Stop running, Willow. You will not be able to resist for long," 'Frodo' informed her. There was a dull glow about him - the power of Sauron resonating within, she figured. "Come. Come to where you belong before it is too late."
Willow shook her head. "No. I'll never do that. Never. I don't belong with you!" She continued to back away but 'Frodo' only followed, showing no distress at all with Willow's refusal. Deep inside, a small part of her wanted to accept his outstretched hand. She'd known great power through the lesser ring, and Sauron offered her that power again.
"Should I offer you something in return?" 'Frodo' asked, bright blue eyes seeming to hypnotize her as he spoke. His hand lowered a little. "Trade yourself for your Slayer friend. Come to Mordor, Willow. Come ... and I will release her and send all of your friends back to the future." He closed the remaining distance between them and, slowly, the hand offered itself to her.
[You can't do it, Willow. No.] She swallowed hard, sweating as she considered what Sauron offered her. It was so simple. Save Buffy with no danger to Giles or Xander or anyone else. But would Sauron keep his promise? She couldn't help but believe him, especially when he wore the guise of pure little Frodo.
"I promise you, Willow, I shall do all that I say I will." His fingers almost touched her hand with the dancing flame, the only light illuminating everything in this strange place. "Save your friends from misery, think of someone other than yourself."
Her other hand reached out to take 'Frodo's'. [Do it, Willow. What have you got to lose? Nothing. You caused all this. It's time to make things right.] She was about to accept the hand but was startled by Xander's voice.
"Willow? Hey, Wills. Get up!"
'Frodo' vanished as did the darkness around her as Willow opened her eyes. "Huh ... what?" she murmured as she looked through bleary eyes at Xander who hovered over her. She shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight streaming into her room. "What is it?" she asked. "Xander?"
Xander just stared down at her, a suspicious gaze in his eyes. He noticed the sweat beaded on her skin, the expression on her face once she realized how HE looked at her - it was almost as if she were guilty of something. "You have a bad dream? You were making a lot of noise a few minutes ago. I came in to check on you."
Willow sat up in the bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The last two weeks had been long ones. The planning for the trip to Mordor took longer than anyone, especially Xander and Willow, had expected it to. Every time one of them inquired about when they would leave, they received the standard answer: "When the time is right." Also, they heard a lot of whispering about something extremely important. She never did catch the exact thing - but she had a feeling she knew what it was.
She blinked a few times then focused on Xander. "I'm ... I'm okay now. It's morning already?" She turned away from him, her attention on the windows that gave her a fabulous view of the Elven city.
"More like afternoon. You've been sleeping a lot lately, Willow," he said. He sat down on the bed, eyes never leaving the back of her head as he spoke. "Are you sure you're all right? You kept moaning something in your sleep. And ... "
"And ...?" she prompted, an eyebrow raising but he couldn't see it. [How much did he hear?] she wondered.
"And ... nothing," he replied, thinking twice about mentioning the other thing. She kept rubbing her ring finger, too, while speaking in that ... that weird language. It terrified him. What if Sauron was getting his hold back on Willow even if she didn't have a ring? She was dangerous enough the first time, nearly causing the death of everyone more than once. He decided to keep an eye on her. "Are you ... hungry or anything?"
She shook her head. "No, thanks. I'm too wound up to eat, anyway," she answered. Her head bowed and she stared at her bare ring finger. Flashes of the day she confronted Sauron in his Lidless Eye visage filled her mind. She'd never dealt with the guilt of her stupidity, how naïve she'd been, and it almost destroyed her and everyone around her.
Xander watched her for another long moment. "Come on, you've been cooped up in this room being anti-social long enough," he told her. He patted her shoulder then gestured when she looked back at him. "Let's move it, Rosenberg."
The last time Willow became so withdrawn Sauron had been sinking his claws into her. He wouldn't let it happen again. Whatever she dreamed about, he would make sure it didn't hurt her or anyone else. He'd had enough of Sauron causing pain to him and his friends. When he finally marched into Mordor, he'd face that big Eyeball and give him a damn good fight.
Willow didn't attempt to argue with Xander. She wouldn't win anyway. Besides, she didn't want to be alone, not after that dream. The more real things became in her dreamscape, the more concerned the witch was. She and Sauron were so connected after a few months he began to appear to her outside of her dreams. Of course it was in the form of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, but that was beside the point.
The two of them silently left Willow's room and headed down one of the corridors of Elrond's Rivendell home. Willow folded her arms across her chest, sniffing a few times as she lowered her gaze to the floor. She let herself become hypnotized by it, so much that she didn't see the person standing just around the corner as she and Xander made a left.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Willow said, even though she'd just barely managed to avoid bumping into him. Mostly due to his smooth sidestep - it was, she realized, nearly impossible for an Elf to get caught off guard.
The Elf merely shrugged. "No need to," he replied coolly and began to move around Xander and Willow. Then he stopped and looked more closely at the young redhead for a second before saying "Good day to you," and vanishing down the hallway.
"Huh. That's Elves for ya, I guess," Xander muttered.
"Yeah," Willow replied. She'd seen that Elf wandering around Rivendell, often in the company of Aragorn and Elrond's two sons, ever since they'd arrived. He seemed a bit different than the local Elves, somehow, but she had no idea why that was. Maybe he was from another tribe or country or whatever Elves had. [More questions I should ask Giles,] she thought. He hadn't known the last time they were all in Middle-earth, of course, and they hadn't thought to ask Elenya. And nobody had a clue back in the 20th century.
[Yeah, ask Giles. But why was he looking at me like that? Does everyone around here know about... what happened?] Elrond's words 'the taint' came back to her mind and she cringed. Even the Elves would never forget what she had done.
Not the Elves and not Sauron.
[So why are you running right back towards him?]
" - ever figure them out?" Xander was asking, Willow suddenly realized, and waiting for an answer.
"Huh? Uh, no. Maybe," she stammered. "Let's get some food, okay?"
"Right..." Xander eyed Willow for a second then nodded. "Okay. Food," he said, desperately hoping his sudden worry wasn't reflected in his voice.
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End Chapter Six.
To Be Continued ...
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"Willow ... Willow, please, help me!"
"Buffy?" Willow called out as she stumbled through the darkness. It blanketed everything so thoroughly, the young witch had no idea where she was let alone where Buffy could be out there. She reached her hands out in front of her, feeling for anything. "Buffy! Where are you? Keep talking! I'll find you!"
"Willow ... help me!" Buffy's voice called back from the darkness. She sounded so close to Willow but so far away. "I can't take it anymore! The pain! Willow!"
Willow sighed in frustration. Finally she came to a stop when she felt something. "Buffy?" she asked, hesitantly. It felt like a human figure - it was definitely warm. "Buffy, is that you?" [Dammit. Where is all the light? I can't see!] "Just a second ... lemme do something ..."
"Willow ..." the groan of the Slayer made Willow's heart sink. Buffy sounded awful. [This is your fault. You knew for weeks that Sauron planned to do something, Willow, and you never once mentioned it. You should've said something. Buffy could've been prepared. This is your fault.] "It hurts. I can't ... I can't see anything."
"I can't either, Buffy. Just ... wait ... " Willow held up a hand, palm upward, then she concentrated on the spell. "Quel edonna almedia luminosa!" A small, controlled flame appeared in the palm of Willow's hand. [Oh, good, it worked.] She raised up the flame to check on Buffy. "Buffy, it's all right. I'm -" A gasp cut off her words and she backpedaled. "What ... what do you want?"
It wasn't Buffy she'd found. It was Sauron. But he wasn't in his Lidless Eye form, either. He was back in the harmless, innocent form of Frodo Baggins. The small 'Hobbit' matched her steps backwards as he reached out a hand towards Willow.
"Stop running, Willow. You will not be able to resist for long," 'Frodo' informed her. There was a dull glow about him - the power of Sauron resonating within, she figured. "Come. Come to where you belong before it is too late."
Willow shook her head. "No. I'll never do that. Never. I don't belong with you!" She continued to back away but 'Frodo' only followed, showing no distress at all with Willow's refusal. Deep inside, a small part of her wanted to accept his outstretched hand. She'd known great power through the lesser ring, and Sauron offered her that power again.
"Should I offer you something in return?" 'Frodo' asked, bright blue eyes seeming to hypnotize her as he spoke. His hand lowered a little. "Trade yourself for your Slayer friend. Come to Mordor, Willow. Come ... and I will release her and send all of your friends back to the future." He closed the remaining distance between them and, slowly, the hand offered itself to her.
[You can't do it, Willow. No.] She swallowed hard, sweating as she considered what Sauron offered her. It was so simple. Save Buffy with no danger to Giles or Xander or anyone else. But would Sauron keep his promise? She couldn't help but believe him, especially when he wore the guise of pure little Frodo.
"I promise you, Willow, I shall do all that I say I will." His fingers almost touched her hand with the dancing flame, the only light illuminating everything in this strange place. "Save your friends from misery, think of someone other than yourself."
Her other hand reached out to take 'Frodo's'. [Do it, Willow. What have you got to lose? Nothing. You caused all this. It's time to make things right.] She was about to accept the hand but was startled by Xander's voice.
"Willow? Hey, Wills. Get up!"
'Frodo' vanished as did the darkness around her as Willow opened her eyes. "Huh ... what?" she murmured as she looked through bleary eyes at Xander who hovered over her. She shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight streaming into her room. "What is it?" she asked. "Xander?"
Xander just stared down at her, a suspicious gaze in his eyes. He noticed the sweat beaded on her skin, the expression on her face once she realized how HE looked at her - it was almost as if she were guilty of something. "You have a bad dream? You were making a lot of noise a few minutes ago. I came in to check on you."
Willow sat up in the bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The last two weeks had been long ones. The planning for the trip to Mordor took longer than anyone, especially Xander and Willow, had expected it to. Every time one of them inquired about when they would leave, they received the standard answer: "When the time is right." Also, they heard a lot of whispering about something extremely important. She never did catch the exact thing - but she had a feeling she knew what it was.
She blinked a few times then focused on Xander. "I'm ... I'm okay now. It's morning already?" She turned away from him, her attention on the windows that gave her a fabulous view of the Elven city.
"More like afternoon. You've been sleeping a lot lately, Willow," he said. He sat down on the bed, eyes never leaving the back of her head as he spoke. "Are you sure you're all right? You kept moaning something in your sleep. And ... "
"And ...?" she prompted, an eyebrow raising but he couldn't see it. [How much did he hear?] she wondered.
"And ... nothing," he replied, thinking twice about mentioning the other thing. She kept rubbing her ring finger, too, while speaking in that ... that weird language. It terrified him. What if Sauron was getting his hold back on Willow even if she didn't have a ring? She was dangerous enough the first time, nearly causing the death of everyone more than once. He decided to keep an eye on her. "Are you ... hungry or anything?"
She shook her head. "No, thanks. I'm too wound up to eat, anyway," she answered. Her head bowed and she stared at her bare ring finger. Flashes of the day she confronted Sauron in his Lidless Eye visage filled her mind. She'd never dealt with the guilt of her stupidity, how naïve she'd been, and it almost destroyed her and everyone around her.
Xander watched her for another long moment. "Come on, you've been cooped up in this room being anti-social long enough," he told her. He patted her shoulder then gestured when she looked back at him. "Let's move it, Rosenberg."
The last time Willow became so withdrawn Sauron had been sinking his claws into her. He wouldn't let it happen again. Whatever she dreamed about, he would make sure it didn't hurt her or anyone else. He'd had enough of Sauron causing pain to him and his friends. When he finally marched into Mordor, he'd face that big Eyeball and give him a damn good fight.
Willow didn't attempt to argue with Xander. She wouldn't win anyway. Besides, she didn't want to be alone, not after that dream. The more real things became in her dreamscape, the more concerned the witch was. She and Sauron were so connected after a few months he began to appear to her outside of her dreams. Of course it was in the form of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, but that was beside the point.
The two of them silently left Willow's room and headed down one of the corridors of Elrond's Rivendell home. Willow folded her arms across her chest, sniffing a few times as she lowered her gaze to the floor. She let herself become hypnotized by it, so much that she didn't see the person standing just around the corner as she and Xander made a left.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Willow said, even though she'd just barely managed to avoid bumping into him. Mostly due to his smooth sidestep - it was, she realized, nearly impossible for an Elf to get caught off guard.
The Elf merely shrugged. "No need to," he replied coolly and began to move around Xander and Willow. Then he stopped and looked more closely at the young redhead for a second before saying "Good day to you," and vanishing down the hallway.
"Huh. That's Elves for ya, I guess," Xander muttered.
"Yeah," Willow replied. She'd seen that Elf wandering around Rivendell, often in the company of Aragorn and Elrond's two sons, ever since they'd arrived. He seemed a bit different than the local Elves, somehow, but she had no idea why that was. Maybe he was from another tribe or country or whatever Elves had. [More questions I should ask Giles,] she thought. He hadn't known the last time they were all in Middle-earth, of course, and they hadn't thought to ask Elenya. And nobody had a clue back in the 20th century.
[Yeah, ask Giles. But why was he looking at me like that? Does everyone around here know about... what happened?] Elrond's words 'the taint' came back to her mind and she cringed. Even the Elves would never forget what she had done.
Not the Elves and not Sauron.
[So why are you running right back towards him?]
" - ever figure them out?" Xander was asking, Willow suddenly realized, and waiting for an answer.
"Huh? Uh, no. Maybe," she stammered. "Let's get some food, okay?"
"Right..." Xander eyed Willow for a second then nodded. "Okay. Food," he said, desperately hoping his sudden worry wasn't reflected in his voice.
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End Chapter Six.
To Be Continued ...
