***
When the girls arrived at the magic shop an acrid stench fouled the air and wrinkled Dawn's nose. Willow could ID most herbs and spices and knew two things right away that whoever they were making for was knocking on deaths door and that the maker of the brew had the mix slightly off. The girls looked at the table where lay Anya under a sheet. Beside her in a brazier was the foul smelling brew..
Buffy was to the point. "What happened?"
Dillon came up from the basement carrying bottles that obviously contained more the extract he was using on Anya. "You are back." He looked at their cast fallen expressions. "And I'm guessing the first engagement didn't go well."
"They got Xander and they aren't going anywhere till they have Dawn."
Willow got closer to the brew and took another whiff. "Less extract, why are you burning this what's wrong with her."
We had guests while you were gone. Some mousy haired girl, She said she was a friend of Dawn. Next thing we know, she takes off with the Box. We tried to get it back but first there was a vampire gang working the street. Then some guy came out of nowhere. He grabbed the girl and escaped with the box. Anya got hurt. He had some kind of enchantment on a blade. The formula I'm brewing will keep her alive. Willow will need perform a transference and cleansing ritual to save her." He picked up a paper and pushed it into her hands. "That's the one if you want the white magic solution."
Willow looked at the meticulously copied formulae. It required great power and the magic it countered was quite powerful. She looked at Dillon suspiciously. "You brewed up the counter-agent pretty quickly. You must of cut some corners that could be dangerous."
"I assure you that Anya is fine except for the fact she is dying. Now if you want to stand here and Martha Stewart me to tears that's your concern."
"Willis what's the deal"
"I think he knows more then he is saying…in fact, I'm betting anything on it."
Buffy wasted no time she merely grabbed Dillon and threw him against the counter. "What did you do to Anya and fix it "
"I told you what happened to Anya and As for fixing it I gave Glenda here the mojo she needs to do the job."
"Willow"
"Anyone who can cook up this kind of potion would know how to fix her."
"No I can't fix her because I can't fix her. I can't use White magic anymore and the black magic spell that would cure her takes…" He hesitated then he looked deep into Willow's eyes and told her the truth she alone could understand. "It takes more out of me then I'm comfortable giving."
"What did you mean." Buffy asked
Willow grabbed her shoulder. "I believe him Buffy. I'm gong to start work on this now."
Buffy backed away letting Dillon off the counter she noticed for the first time that he had shed his coat. his shirt was sleeveless allowing her to see the arcane tattoos working their way across his flesh. As she watched, the dark text seemed to move constantly.
"That is creepy. Do they always move like that?"
"Not always, just sometimes."
"What did you mean by it takes more out of you." Dawn asked, she was still suspicious.
Dillon answered tiredly as thought he had done this many times before. "Your spirit or soul allows you to access magic. You remember Yoda's speech in Empire Strikes Back about the difference between the light side and the dark side of the force. Well magic works roughly the same way. By tapping into my dark side I can make use of the magical knowledge the tattoos give me but the trade off is that every time I do it that dark side gets a little bit easier to use. Soon you're igniting candles from fifty feet cause its too much trouble to cross a room. You start abusing the energies and then it goes down hill from there."
Everyone pretended not to notice the stiffening in Willow's back. Her memories replayed the days, nights when her need for magic had lead her to do some outrageous and irresponsible things, and that was before she decided to destroy the world.
It was another hour before Willow was ready to make her attempt at the spell. The rest watched as she held her hands over Anya's prone form. Red-black energy crackled around Anya's body before being siphoned off. Once the ritual of transfer was complete, Willow allowed the evil to dissipate into the air. Police agencies across southern California would note increases in crime that night.
"She's going to pull through." Willow asked warily "What was on that blade."
"Not sure exactly," Dillon admitted. I heard the guy say something before he struck. Agonistes guide my hand, the name Agonistes is familiar but I can't remember from where."
"Well then, we know he isn't a demon or hell god "
"My encyclopedia of evil is comprehensive but you don't have to be evil to be threat to us."
"Point taken, anything else." Buffy asked Dillon recounted the whole story in as much detail as he could manage.
Willow sat at the computer and started entering search terms into the computer stating with Agonistes and then when he recalled it the name Keene had called out during their escape. Clotho…master Clotho he called him."
Buffy startled. "Danm, I think I've heard that name before…. Can't remember where though."
The group stood around either watching the raising and falling of Anya's chest or the clicking of the computer as Willow went through screen after screen. "At last," she cried out. "I think I got it. Plus, I know why the name seems familiar to you Buffy. Clotho was an artist a long time ago…a very long time ago."
'Where did you find it Willis." Buffy asked
"A grad thesis written by an art history student…. Joyce Summers."
"Mom. " Buffy whispered to herself as she recalled her mother's passion for her work at her Gallery. The Group gathered around the screen. " I remember this" Buffy said as she looked over the online text. "I had nightmares about the story for a month. Clotho was an artist in the eighteenth century they say he was quite the mad genius and always obsessed with perfection. He would miss deadlines cause he was trying to perfect some flaw visible only to himself. Finally, the story goes; he went crazy and mutilated his family. They say he was trying to make them perfect. He died in the same insane asylum where they jailed him. "
Willow pointed at the screen. "That's one story, other less official sources claim that he offered his family as a sacrifice to a god of some kind. They also say that rather then dying in the asylum he turned up missing when they were doing bed check one night. They searched for him all over the hospital and eventually the surrounding country. They never found him; he had vanished like a puff of smoke.
"Why, what for?" Dawn asked
"Power, why else to these maniacs do it." Dillon snickered
Willow shook her head "Clotho was into his art apparently he heard of a art form that would yield a level of perfection beyond anything ever known."
"So a two hundred year old artist is buddy, buddy with the guy who stole the box that will allow us to send the cenobites back to hell and close the door that brought them here." Dillon summarized
"That's not the best part," Willow continued reading from the screen. ."According to another source, Clotho's only visitor during his imprisonment in the asylum was Philip LeMarchand."
"The toy-maker, the guy who built the LeMarchand boxes, if it is the same guy and LeMarchand told him what the boxes were or how they worked. Clotho's disappearance makes sense."
"Yeah, his disappearance. He was taken to Hell, and the Cenobites must have done that thing they do. But why is he back in Sunnydale, and why would Celeste steal the Box for him?" Buffy asked. "Is there any other info about him."
Willow shrugged "Not much though there are a few cross-references to someone called The Sculptor. Maybe they are the same person."
"Lets hope the hell not." Dillon snickered ruefully "The Sculptor runs in some pretty disturbing circles."
"What's the deal I thought your mystic score card didn't have the names of our players."
" The Sculptor is a major leaguer in every sense. He is supposed to be one of the best Flesh Crafters in the world "
"What do you do with this Flesh Crafting thing." Buffy asked as she gathered weapons.
"At it's simplest it is like shape changing. You can alter your own appearance or that of another. The vampire clan Tzemisce practices it extensively. There are whispers about where they learned it. "
Buffy looked at Willow isn't that like a glamour or an illusion?"
"Illusions create the impression that you look different. If you have the willpower some can still see you for what you are. Flesh crafting literally changes you right to the bone, some say even deeper."
Dillon nodded at her "picture the thing you fear the most, now imagine your best friend being turned into that thing. It a favorite trick.".
"Are you up for a little action." She asked resolutely
Dillon nodded vigorously. "Yeah,"
"Fine Willow stay here, keep digging if this Clotho or Sculptor is really our bad guy we are going to need to know how to take him down." Willow nodded and she and Dawn settled down for more research with Dawn working the net for more information and Willow starting to search through the stacks for all that they held on Flesh crafting magic.
"Are you really going to just march into his lair and ask him for the box back?" Dillon asked as he yanked on his coat.
"No I was going to storm his lair, dust his sorry ass, and take the box from the cold dead hand of anyone who tries to keep me from it." Buffy said resolutely
***
Keene stood outside the studio where his master worked his magic. For sometime, he had been in there with the girl warping her flesh and bones. Her cries and screams had died down eventually after an hour or so now, there was but silence from the studio. The doors opened and Clotho exited.
"The girl, finished with her you are."
"Almost, there are a few touch ups, then I think we will see what she thinks of herself."
"When do we depart this place, the Gash, they are here, the Cenobites, why they have no come for us till now I do not know, but surely they won't wait forever."
"Keene, were you not listening to the girls report The Gash are here for the Other girl, the Key they will try and protect her from The Gash it is them we must be wary of."
"What then do we do."
"We plan and we use the resources at hand. After all to send The Gash back to their place the protectors of the key will need the Box and we have The Box. They will come to us. It only remains for us to be ready for them when they arrive."
"I will prepare for them they will sorrow for the day they disturbed us."
"Excellent Keene but I think we will give you a little help.": with that Cloth returned to the studio closing the door firmly
He approached his workspace and looked at the thing that had once been a young girl named Celeste. "My dear Dawn's friends may come to retrieve what you took from them. As well, I find myself interested in the rest of your tale. Keene will welcome our guests when they arrive but I think you should go and meet with your friend Dawn awaken her to the beauty I can provide if she but places herself in my hands. Do you think she would enjoy that."
"I will make her enjoy It." an unearthly new voice hissed.
Clotho smiled, as much as he was capable of the act, and fell to his work. What traces of humanity left in the thing in front of him were quickly stripped away, as Clotho had explained Celeste's humanity distracted from her savage inner beauty.
***
