Chapter 2: "Hey! This Place Isn't On the Itinerary"

The comparative peace and quiet of Cell 5903 was suddenly broken by a dark magic vortex materializing in the center of the rock-walled chamber. The cell was rocked by a gale force wind and showers of sparks, causing the previous inhabitant to clutch the cell's bars for dear life.

In a few seconds, the vortex wavered, changed shape, and became a young woman with flaming red hair. She was dressed in prison rags, eyes closed as if asleep.

The young woman shuddered and stretched a few times, then slowly opened her eyes.

"Where am I?" she whispered to herself.

* * *

Willow Rosenberg:

"Where am I?" I whisper to myself.

I hear metal-scraping sounds to my left. I look towards the noise, through the bars of the cell, and see a procession of mining cars slowly squeaking by. Each car is filled to the brim with some type of metallic ore that gives off a dull, copperish glow.

I gasp when I see who's pushing the carts - a mixture of humans and demons of various types, but all trudging with their heads down, all wearing dirty prison rags, and all straining against the carts with their heavy loads and un-lubricated wheels.

Soon, the prisoner-train comes to a screeching halt. A floppy-eared green demon - Goddess, he's only a child - looks like he's lost his footing, he fell on his knees. A much taller and larger horned demon, outfitted in shining black armor, starts screaming at the boy. The boy slowly rolls over, but not fast enough for the guard, who's still shouting. He's pulled out a whip, and - Oh Goddess. The boy's screams are terrible - but he's brave, he's managed to pull himself up with pure will, and now he's got the cart moving again.

I can feel the rage building inside of me. I start to picture what the guard would look like without any skin... no, Willow, I can't do that, not now, not yet. I bite my lip and force the picture down. I have to figure out what's going first, I remind myself.

I look down my own body. I'm wearing the same prison rags as those forced to move the carts, just cleaner. Soon, I'm going to be out there, straining at the carts, being whipped, just like all of them.

I'm in hell. I'm not surprised. Yup. When you kill people and try to destroy the whole world, this is where you go. But somehow I'd hoped... well, it doesn't matter, because now I'm in the place defined as being without hope.

I'm not ready to let the reality sink in, yet I force myself to laugh, even if it is bitter. "Have you really done it, Willow? Have you really managed to go to hell?" I ask out loud. I don't normally talk to myself, but hey, I'm all alone, and I'm, like, really in hell, so...

I'm startled to get a "yes" answer.

"Yes. You're in a hell dimension. One of them, anyway," says a small, female voice to my right.

I jerk my head around and turn to face a blonde, teenage girl kneeling next to me. It only takes me a second to remember when I last saw her. I feel like I'm going to throw up - oh Goddess, it can't be, I sacrificed everything, and I mean everything, to defeat it, it can't be the First...

She takes my hand, and her hand is solid. "It's okay. I'm not the First," says Cassie Newton.

I breathe a sigh of relief. I manage to say a few words. "Sorry... it's just..."

"I understand," she says. She even sounds like she does, which isn't possible, but hey, she's at least trying to be nice, and I need someone to talk to right now.

I put my head in my hands. "One moment I'm sacrificing myself to seal Cleveland's hellmouth and defeat the First, and the next I'm in a hell dimension. I'm having a really bad day. "

"Bad days are pretty much all we have here," says Cassie.

"Yeah, I get that. But, how did I get here?" I say. "Actually," I pause, "I know. At least for me, I know why I'm in hell. But why are you here, Cassie? You didn't do anything to deserve this. And as for that little boy..."

Cassie lets out a bitter giggle. "What, you think St. Peter or Osiris judged our souls and found us wanting? Our being here has nothing to do with cosmic justice, Willow. Maybe a cosmic joke, instead. I died on a top of a hellmouth, remember? That's how they were able to claim me."

They? Huh? I'm confused.

Looks like she can tell I'm confused. "Where were you, right before you di.. came here?"

"Uh... I was near Cleveland, in the hellmouth near there. We were fighting the First Evil, and a big army of super-vampires, and losing. Then, I got this big flash of inspiration, on how to defeat the First and its minions, and close off the hellmouth once and for all. Of course, I had to incinerate myself and be crushed by thousands of tons in rocks in the process, but hey, it didn't even hurt that much for too long," I laugh.

"Actually, you look pretty good," she says, and giggles. "But that's how you got here, then. If you die on a hellmouth, or from certain kinds of magic spells, or pledge your soul to certain demons and then die, you can end up here. They can grab your soul out of the aether, and reincarnate you as a slave here."

I look down and realize I'm breathing, and that my heart is being. So I am alive, reincarnated, as a slave in a hell dimension.

"Yup. You're alive," says Cassie. "You just materialized here a few minutes ago. Pretty spectacular arrival, too - my head is still ringing from the wind and the flames."

"Oh, I'm sorry; you weren't hurt, were you?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine. It's nice to know people who can really make an entrance." She laughs. "But you haven't entered into a very good life, I'm afraid. They own you now."

"Who is they?" I ask Cassie.

"The rulers of this place. They run a mine here, in this dimension, in the service of the First. The ore they mine here - it helps give a lot of demonic things their power, including the First."

"But... I thought the First was dead... I killed it..." I realized I must have failed. Oh, Goddess...

"I don't think you failed," says Cassie quickly. How does that girl seem to know what I'm thinking, I wonder. "First of all, the First is like a cosmic force, so you can't kill it, just defeat it and imprison it, somehow. Second of all, the guards here have been very upset about something for the last day or so, and they're even nastier than usual. They've been saying something about how "both landings of the 'First Wave' failed, that the hellmouths are gone, and that they're going to have to 'do it right, this time.'"

"What do you mean, do it right?" I ask.

"That's where the ore we mine here comes in. It's very powerful, kind of like a dark magic version of high-grade coal; you can use it to cast massive spells. Soon, they will have enough ore for the First to smash the barrier between the worlds and send a Black Army to conquer Earth, hellmouths or no hellmouths. Properly, this time - the warriors in the Black Army will be orders of magnitude stronger than the uebervamps you've been fighting, Willow. No one on Earth will be able to stem the tide this time."

I choke back a sob. "No... not after everything we've been through," I whisper.

Cassie, surprisingly, doesn't respond to me. "Of course, to mine the ore, they need workers, and slaves are the cheapest. So most of the souls they drag here are reincarnated as their slaves - a few, with the requisite 'qualities' get to be soldiers. In my case, they wanted to use my psychic gifts. That's why they treat me better than most of the others."

She smiles, weakly. "I don't want to help them, but I don't have a choice - they can invade my mind. They even used me to help torture you - remember?" A tear runs down her cheek.

I move to hold the teenager. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault."

She brightens. "I know. And, some stuff I manage to hide. The psychic connections run both ways, so that's how I know about the mine and the First's plans."

I stroke Cassie's dirt-stained hair. "Oh, wow. Sounds awful." Another good one, Willow! Can't even comfort someone properly, but it's kind of hard to, in a place like this.

Cassie actually let's out a soft laugh. "I think it's about to get better. Maybe, it won't be such a crappy day in this hell dimension after all." She bends close to me, and whispers in my ear. "You still have your powers, don't you?"

Powers? How does she know about that? Goddess!

"I'm psychic, remember? Besides, I hear stuff and know stuff from my torture sessions. The guards are pissed at the Slayer, but they're royally pissed at a 'red-headed magical bitch,' whom they can't wait to... well, I don't need to give you the details of what they want to do to you."

Oh, oh... well, if that's how they want to play, we'll play. I quickly query my psyche. Hello, dark, out of control power, are you there? The power answers yes, in a huge way. It takes every bit of my will power to tamp it down. I see my stupidity in giving into my rage even for a second. "Yes," I manage to sputter, "Oh, Goddess... even stronger than before..."

Cassie presses herself to me, whispering quietly. "Willow, you have to listen to me. It's hard to explain, but - you're like the fly in their ointment. They haven't connected you with the witch who just ruined their plans. They think you're weak, that you're just going to be another slave, maybe with some minor magical abilities they can exploit. They don't know what you can do. But I do. You can fight them, Willow. You can destroy them."

My power? She wants me to use my power? Become - it - again? "But - Goddess, Cassie, you have know idea what I can do, what could happen. What I did... I..."

She smiles at me, with a satisfied grin. I hear her voice inside my mind, and realize she's been reading my thoughts the whole time.

[Oh, I know what you did, Willow. I know this is hard for you, but you have to be strong. Like an Amazon.]

I haven't heard those words since the First, and before that - from my love. I don't have time to be hurt or angry before Cassie thinks again.

[I felt your rage when that thing whipped that little boy, felt the power surge through you. You can save us, Willow. You just have to bring Dark Willow back.]

Now I feel like I really am going to throw up. Does she have any idea what she's asking? Any idea at all? Goddess, it's been pure torture for me over the past year, from the guilt and the pain, and the endless urges to go Dark Phoenix on my own. And she's actually encouraging me?

I try to make her understand. "But, but... if I let myself become her again, really do it, I really won't come back... I don't know what could happen... I could easily destroy all of you..."

She grins at me again. [Hey, it's not like any of us slaves are going to get in your way. No one's going to try to kick your ass to save you this time.]

I feel like I've just been kicked in the stomach. How much does she know?

[And when you're done - there are others of us who can bring you back.]

"You've got to be kidding. What, are you going to tell me a story about a blue crayon this time? Not gonna work."

[You think the yellow crayon story worked the last time, along with Daddy and his super-special magic spell? You know, the one that caused you to want to end the world? Really? Come now, Willow, you're supposed to be the smart one.] She smiles, with an "I've got a secret" look.

I feel another kick to the stomach. How much don't I know?

[I bet you think it was a totally random bullet that killed Tara, too? Oh, yeah, and Warren Mears just happened to turn his body over ninety degrees to "accidentally" blow away Tara right in front of you? With a million-to- one shot for a professional sniper? Right after you'd just had your unbelievably heart-warming reunion, when you were most vulnerable? And her heart's blood exploding on your shirt - I mean, wow, you'd think it was scripted or something. Hmm...]

Tara, baby... oh, Goddess, you're right, they murdered you, I can remember like it just happened... I can feel the rage inside of me flare up, the shock, the despair, the guilt for not protecting you...

"Who killed her?" I demand.

I barely hear a loud clanking outside the cell.

[Willow... I don't know exactly, but I do know she was murdered. I can tell you what little more I know later, but right now we're running out of time. They'll be here soon to take you to your "orientation" - make that first torture session,] she thinks. [That would be the best time to do it - go full Amazon on them. Because they're close to having enough ore, Willow. They'll be able to break through to Earth soon - and then everyone you knew, everyone you loved will die. They will all become slaves. And in a few decades of slavery and torture...]

"Their minds are destroyed, and they truly die," I realize.

Cassie nods. [You understand. You have to save us - and Earth,] she thought. [You're the only who can.]

Well, okay, but, but... maybe there's some time to think about this, maybe there's another way we can think of...

Cassie's voice practically screams in my head. [No! Willow, you don't understand. "Close" doesn't mean think it over - close means just hours away. The guards said that this is the last mining shift before the invasion. The soldiers of the Black Army are already on their way to the staging area. If you don't do this, Willow, Earth will fall in the next twelve hours.]

For a second, I feel the worst pain I've ever felt. Then I feel nothing. Well, maybe I still feel a little. But it's all slipping away.

Oh, Goddess. I'm going to do it. Tara, baby, I'm so sorry, but there's no hope for me now. I was so selfish, sweetie, I wanted you so much, and I thought maybe I might see you again, even for someone like me. But I always knew I couldn't, that I couldn't possibly deserve you, and being sent to hell has just proven it. So this is for the best. The people here will be free of both their current masters, and just once I'll manage to save the Earth rather than threaten it. And then everyone will be free of an even worse threat, maybe the worst of all. Me.

I know you won't be able to forgive me, but I hope that somehow you'll understand just a little. I couldn't protect you - I defamed you instead - but with my last actions I might be able to protect someone else. I don't know why you loved me, Tara, but I want you know how much I love you, and how grateful I am. Goodbye, my love.

Goodbye...

* * *

Willow's eyes began to darken, as did her hair. "Tell me what I need to know," she commanded Cassie.

A few minutes later, the daily line-up in the central chamber of Cell Block 5 began routinely. Today had been a very busy day for arrivals, with three new slaves to "indoctrinate." That meant that Skelzic, Subwarden of Block 5, was about to have a good day. He loved welcoming the new slaves. He hoped he'd get to pulverize at least one of them.

He quickly adjusted his oh-so-imposing black spiked armor, brandished his spiked club, and turned to face the small line of worm-like prisoners. He marched up and down the line a few times, then started laying down the law. "Whatever you were, whoever you think you are, that is gone now. You are a slave for us. Do you understand?"

Skelzic's favorite part now came up. He turned to the first prisoner in the line, a quivering middle-aged man with a large paunch. Oh yes, today would be a good day.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"My name is Smitty. Please, there must be some mistake, I don't know how I possibly could have gotten here..."

Smitty was cut off by Skelzic's spiked club smashing his skull. The man dropped to the floor. [Oh, yeah.] thought Skelzic. [Feeling the power.] He turned to the next prisoner, a teenaged boy.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"A slave, sir," said the boy, as obsequiously as he could manage. [Right answer, fast learner,] thought Skelzic. [Potential solider material here.]

He turned to the third prisoner. This looked to be one of those freaky demon-worshipping chicks who tried to pledge their souls to one of the mine's patrons, and succeeded. She had jet black hair, an alabaster face so pale that some of her veins were showing, and - even freakier - jet black eyes. [Oooh,] thought Skelzic. [Hope she's obedient to her new master. Talk about an on-the-job perk.]

"Who are you?" demanded the Subwarden.

The girl just looked at him and smiled. Skelzic was taken aback. [Impertinent wench,] he thought.

"Are you deaf? Who are you?"

"My name is Willow," said the girl, in a commanding voice that chilled his eardrums. "But you will call me Mistress."

[What the...] Skelzic swung his arm back hard. [Time to teach the bitch some manners,] he thought. Then he thought nothing else other than pure agony, as his armor-plated hide was ripped off his body and his quivering flesh burst into flame.

"You never learn. Pity," said Willow.

Skelzic's guards rushed to attack their chief's killer. They each managed to move about three steps before they each burst into flames.

"You're all being mean to these poor people. I hate mean demons," said Willow.

An ear-splitting alarm went off in the chamber. A squad of on-duty infantry, dressed in the same spiked armor as the subwarden, charged into the chamber. Willow just smiled, and extended her arms. Fireballs appeared in the dark witch's hands for an instant, then shot towards the armored demons, hitting their marks in a shower of white and violet sparks. The demons burst into flame, their corpses falling to the stone floor in a cascade of muffled booms of before being consumed altogether.

Willow stared at the conflagration she had caused. Thin rivulets of black oil ran out of the corners of her obsidian eyes.

"Now you're all going to burn," she said, softly. "And this time, no one is going to stop me. She promised."