Chapter 2: Unfinished Business

The front door flew open on its own allowing Willow to run out into the yard. His heart lurched as Giles realized that Willow unconsciously used magic to make the door fly open. This can't be happening he cursed as he ran after her. She couldn't be allowed to use her magic again. It was hard enough to stop her the last time. He stopped short at the scene in the front yard.

The see-through Tara stood on the lawn next to a portal. It looked like a black rectangle of nothingness, almost like a door. Tara floated into the portal, gestured again for Willow to follow her, and disappeared. Heedless of the possible danger, Willow ran toward the void, fully intent on following her love.

"Willow, stop!" Giles commanded with panic in his voice as he ran to grab her. She paused for a moment at the sound of his voice and glanced back at him. She had tears streaming down her freckled cheeks. For a moment Giles was relieved that she had listened to him for once. But then he saw pain wash over her face again right before she turned away from him. She walked purposefully towards the portal. "No," he whispered to himself. He sprinted towards her, but he knew that he wouldn't catch up with her in time to stop her. Instead, he hurled himself at the portal, hoping to at least go with her if he couldn't stop her.

He tumbled through space unknown to him for an indefinite time. He lost all track of physical sensation, time, Willow, and himself. There was no thought where he was, only the notion of motion, of traveling. Suddenly his senses were jarred to life as he landed hard on the scorched ground. At first, he focused only on drawing breath back into his lungs. It took him a moment to soak in his surroundings. With a jolt he knew where he was…Kingman's Bluff.  The satanic temple loomed over him like a menacing creature. Then he noticed Willow lying on the ground a few feet away.  She was conscious and beginning to stir.

Tara floated over to Willow with a look of worry on her face,

"Willow are you ok?" Willow nodded with a grimace. "Honey, you need to get up. We don't have much time." Willow struggled to her feet.

"Tara, are you…" tears slipped down her cheeks, "I mean…" She mumbled derisively to herself, "God, what a lame question. Of course you're not ok."

"You need to seal the rift you created when you tried to summon Proserpexa," Tara held a transparent hand next to Willows cheek. Willow shivered at the cold sensation. She didn't sense a rift, but Tara always did have a stronger sense of when the world was out of balance.

Willow's mind raced to think of how to close this type of rift. She wasn't sure. Normally she would do research at the magic shop, but she had absorbed the knowledge of most of those books, and she still had no idea. She tried to think through the problem.

 "I don't know how to close the rift Tara, do you?" she ached at seeing Tara so close yet untouchable.

"Yes," she nodded. "I need you to repeat a chant after me. I don't have any more effect on this world because I'm beyond it now. You need to say the words and let the magic flow through your mortal body." At this Giles pushed himself up off the ground and addressed the two women.

"Willow, you cannot do this. You cannot use magic anymore. It's too dangerous," he commanded with a frown. Tara interjected,

"It won't hurt her Giles. I won't let it." She sounded so sincere to him. He battled his uncertainty.  Of course he didn't want to endanger the world, but he knew somehow that Willow needed to avoid magic at all costs.

"I will do the spell," he declared.

"You can't," Tara shook her ghostly head, "Only Willow has the power to finish this." Willow stood next to her shaking. Giles could see the indecision that surrounded her. Willow closed her eyes, hoping that the answer of what to do would come to her. She didn't want to hurt anyone else. Not again. Not ever.

Willow, shaking, turned to Giles with a look of desperation and choked her words out,

"I don't…know what…to do…" He could barely stand the anguish in her voice. He didn't know any more than she did. But she trusted him and he couldn't let her down. His brain raced, trying to sort out the events of the past few minutes. Something wasn't quite right, and he tried to put his finger on it. Tara interrupted his thoughts.

"Willow, there's no time. If you don't close the rift now it will be too late." Giles couldn't give Willow a concrete reason not to close the rift. He hoped she could handle this brief dance with magic and still be able to find her way back to herself. That was the greatest danger, that she will be lost again.

"It seems as if we don't have a choice Willow," he laid a protective hand on her arm. She took a deep breath, nodded bravely, and walked in front of the temple, comforted to have his approval.

Tara stood next to her, eager to begin the closure.

"The chant is in an ancient form of Sumerian. Repeat after me…gortha oo la ba, hay ayn doo ja len da Proserpexa …"

"gortha oo la ba, hay ayn doo ja len da Proserpexa," Willow's voice grew stronger with each syllable. Giles noted with a small measure of pride that he knew this dialect. He started to translate to himself. ~~We beseech you to rise, our wretched queen Proserpexa…~~ He frowned and took only a moment to understand the gravity of what was happening.

"Willow," his low tone stopped her in mid sentence.

"Giles?" her adrenaline pumped from the magic that had begun to course through her, but more so from the look of hatred Giles was giving Tara. His voice growled with menace,

"Step away from her. She's not Tara."

"What?" Willow looked back and forth from Tara to Giles and back again.

Tara took a tentative step forwards.

"G-g-giles, what are you talking about?" She played a convincing game, but there was no disputing the translation of the chant.

"Willow, I know that you don't want to hear this," he understood her pain, "but that thing is not Tara. Those were words of resurrection, not binding." A memory flooded him, "Willow, do you remember when those ghosts haunted the high school. I thought it was Jenny's spirit, trying to make contact. I couldn't see clearly, but you could. You made me see the truth…Well, you have to trust me this time. This time, I know the truth. This is not your Tara. Whatever she is, she's not here to close any rift." He searched her eyes for a glimpse of her thoughts.

Willow slowly backed away from the shimmering form of Tara, her lips pressed together so hard that they turn white. Giles could see that she was battling disbelief with loss with wrath.

"Who are you?" Willow's voice was now the dangerous one. Giles could feel her energy crackling in the air. The form of Tara morphed into a hideous long-eared she-beast with a menacing voice all its own,

"How dare you interfere," it shot a current of green electricity at Giles' head. He was ready though, and dove to the ground, narrowly escaping the deadly bolt.

"Giles!" Willow started towards the fallen Watcher, but suddenly stopped and reeled around to face the beast. "Who are you," she demanded.

"Don't you know, foolish girl?"

"Why don't you make it easy for me?" a shade of sarcasm seeped into Willow's voice. She instantly regretted it though, as the demon straightened to its full height, magic crackling all around.

"Oh, it won't be easy," a magic tendril reached out and wrapped around Willows neck. "You summoned me witch. Now you will finish what you started. I am Proserpexa."

Giles tried to cast a binding spell on the creature, but to no effect. Willow's face was screwed up with pain as the green fingers of electricity squeezed around her neck. He made a split-second decision and moved quickly towards Willow. He grabbed her hand and said in a low voice,

"We need to re-entomb the temple." He grimaced as the green tendrils wrapped around his neck too. "I think that when you raised the temple and started the incantation before, you inadvertently opened a way for Proserpexa to enter partially into this world. She must not be able to take purchase here, which is why her magic is so weak." He gripped her hand tightly though the pain.

"You call this weak?" she doubled over. The demon's voice cut through,

"You will finish what you started girl, or your man will die." Giles groaned, as the tendrils grew brighter.

"Don't listen to her Willow. I don't think she has the power to kill either one of us, which is why she needs your help. She only has one foot in this reality. We need to bury the temple now."

"Giles," she cried out in despair, "I don't think I have enough power to do that. I've already used most of what I have…"

"We'll do it together," he squeezed her hand. They began the chant and Proserpexa began to scream with fury. She tried to release more pain into the couple, but faltered as the ground began to quake. Willow and Giles were knocked off their feet but continued to chant. The green electricity lost its hold and surrounded Proserpexa.

In a last desperate effort, the demon morphed back to the visage of Tara.

 "Willow p-p-please." Willow ignored her. The demon morphed into Jenny, "Rupert, stop this…please." The lying demon's pleas fell on deaf ears and she began to fade.

After another minute of chanting the wavering image of Proserpexa winked out altogether. Breathing heavily, Willow and Giles both remained on the ground, too exhausted to move.

"Do you think that did the trick?" Willow looked up at the twilight sky. The stars were just beginning to appear. She felt Giles give her hand a squeeze as he moved to sit up.

"I certainly hope so," he brushed off his dusty pants. "If not, she can have the damn world. I'm too exhausted to save it again," he grinned and offered his other hand and pulled her up.