Authors note: Ideas taken from mythology and Christian Wicca
Chapter 11
Willow looked at the girl in front of her, confused. "Our mother? I-I don't have a sister."
The girl shook her head, this was going to be hard. "Yes Willow, our mother. Well one of our mothers anyway, we have two."
Willow looked at the girl like she was crazy, "Look, not that I'm not grateful for what just happened but I think you have the wrong person. I've lived with Ira and Sheila Rosenberg all my life, yup a Rosenberg that's me. Besides, I don't think it's possible yet to have two mothers, if you mean biological anyway."
The girl stepped forward, Willow wanted to turn and walk, no run, away but she felt that she couldn't. The girl touched Willow's hand and the world in front of her disappeared into a blinding flash of white.
...
When Willow is able to see again, she finds that she is in a white room. In the room she sees that she is with the girl and also with an older looking version of the girl, only she has white hair down to her back. The woman has a regal air you would associate with royalty and her skin seems to have a glow. Her white floor length dress is almost as dazzling as her hair.
A door opens in the corner and Willow sees a woman she does know, well one she knows of from pictures anyway. The woman's black hair flows in a ponytail down her back, her skin seems pale. She also has a glow, but it seems darker and more malevolent than that of the other woman. This woman was Hecate.
The girl steps forward, "I have brought my sister."
The woman Willow has yet to have a name for looks her up and down before speaking to the girl. "Very good Spirit, you may leave."
"Yes mother." The girl walks out of the room.
Willow looks at Hecate and the other woman, trying to get her bearings. Here she was with a Goddess she knew and it was a safe bet that the woman she did not know was a Goddess also. A child who called the woman she doesn't know "mother" claims that she is her sister...Willow was starting to get a headache.
"You look confused my child," the lighter woman cut into her thoughts.
"W-who are you?"
"Some call me Lady Wisdom, Christian Wiccans believe that I am The Holy Spirit and worship me as female within The Trinity, other books have called me Sophia. Name me what you will, I am your mother Willow."
Willow looked more confused than ever, "One sec, Christian Wiccans? Any Christian I've seen hates witchcraft...besides, I'm a Jew."
Hecate cut in, "And so was Jesus, a bit too goody goody for my liking though, Sophia is right, she, excuse me, we are your mothers."
Willow stared at the two women, is this a trick or am I in a dream or..."I know who my parents are, my parents are Ira and Sheila Rosenberg."
Sophia looks sad as she regards Willow, "We had three children. Our first child, a boy we named Lucifer, he was born with the seed of evil in his heart, he tried to take power that was not his to wield, we sent him far underneath the Earth. You would call it Hell."
"Our younger child," Hecate cut in, "Was born with the seed of good, she is the child you have just seen. We called her Spirit though Christians know her as "The Holy Spirit". Her brother, jealous of our favour, seeks to overrun the Earth with his darkness, though it damages the Earth, our younger child fights and she keeps the darkness from spreading. In her aid, I gave a group of men the power to give a girl the strength to aid this fight, she was known as The Slayer."
"We had a middle child, conceived with the potential for both good and evil. For that child's protection, and so that the goodness in her could develop, I went to Earth to give birth to her. There, a couple adopted and looked after her. That child's name was Willow."
Sophia walks over to a corner and picks up a box, inside that box is a piece of paper, a Birth Certificate. Sophia walks over to Willow and hands her the piece of paper, on the certificate it says "Willow" but no surname is given. Above her name, is the name "Mary", again with no surname given. Willow looks at the certificate, "You say your name is Sophia and that you are my mother but this name says Mary."
Sophia's body changed, her clothes changed to a blue dress with a shawl over her head, her face changed also. Willow knew a character from the nativity when she saw it, she remembered...correction...she thought she remembered seeing Dawn in a Christmas nativity. Sophia spoke, "I once went to Earth under the name Mary so that a child could be born, a child who was to be the Saviour of his people, I went to Earth again under the name Mary, though I didn't look like this."
Sophia touched Willow's arm and immediately, she knew, she couldn't say how she did, she just knew that this was the truth...and Willow's confusion was replaced with a flash of anger. "So if you were up here all this time, where were you when I was beat up in second grade? Where were you when all this Hellmouth stuff started up, where were you when a Hell God tried to destroy the Earth and brainsucked my girlfriend? Where were you when..." Willow's voice had started quiet but had begun to rise.
Hecate raised a hand to cut off Willow's angry tirade, "We are not able to directly influence the events on Earth, that is something only Spirit can do and only when she is on Earth as a human. Though you do not know it, she has on occasion helped you, helped your fledgling powers to grow. It was unfortunate that Lucifer decided to make one of his portals to Earth in the very place we sent you to live, Sunnydale."
Willow's anger faded slightly, her voice now quieter. "So why are you talking to me now?"
It was Sophia that answered her, "Your brother and sister are locked in a battle, and truly, your sister cannot win. Where there is light, there must always be darkness, where there is good, there will always be evil to fight against it. The Earth is falling apart and it needs Balance, only then can this fight be stopped, Your body is the only body strong enough to be that Balance, born of us and born with both good and evil inside your heart. Your body is to be the Vessel. However, you can only be the Vessel if you allow yourself to be."
Willow thought for some time, taking in what had just been said. When she answered, her voice was quiet. "Yes mother, I will be the Vessel."
"Willow? WILLOW!!!" Willow's head snapped up as she turned around, the voice seemed to come from somewhere near and yet distant as in echoing, and it was Tara's voice...she sounded scared and upset, it nearly tore Wilow's heart in two...her vision was becoming blurry..."Willow please wake up!"
...
Willow's eyes snapped open and she found herself on the floor, she stood up and Tara backed off uncertainly. Tara looked scared, Willow's hair had turned white and her eyes were now black.
"Y-y-you've been doing dark magick again! Is that why you wanted to be away from me today Willow?"
"Many people new to Earth based religions and mystery religions are often quite confused by the terms white magic and black magic. The bottom line is that all forms of magick is natural and neutral." It was Willow's mouth that moved, but though her voice seemed to be coming out, there was also another voice with it. " Despite what some people may think, natural phenomena used in magick like psychic powers (energy manipulation), pre- cognition (divination), and post-cognition (understanding the past to help you determine a positive present and future), have no moral gradient; they are neither good nor bad - they simply are facts of the natural world. More importantly, they are the building blocks of the magickal world."
"I am the Vessel." Willow's voice was now her own, "Incapable of good or evil."
"The body whom I have inherited, Willow, daughter of Sophia and Hecate..." the voice that had spoken out alongside Willow's earlier was once more speaking with Willow, "...has shown that magick can be good," at this Willow closes her left hand, when she reopens it, she holds a ball of white fire. "And magick can be evil," Willow now closes her right hand and when it is reopened, it holds a ball of black fire. "How the wielder uses it defines his magicks, not magicks in general." Willow claps her hands and now holds one larger flame that is a bluish grey. Willow, who had been looking at her hands since the flames appeared, looked up at Tara. "I am the Balance."
Willow's hair and eyes turned back to their natural forms. Willow looked unsteady for a moment and then gave a bloodcurdling scream...then fainted.
Chapter 11
Willow looked at the girl in front of her, confused. "Our mother? I-I don't have a sister."
The girl shook her head, this was going to be hard. "Yes Willow, our mother. Well one of our mothers anyway, we have two."
Willow looked at the girl like she was crazy, "Look, not that I'm not grateful for what just happened but I think you have the wrong person. I've lived with Ira and Sheila Rosenberg all my life, yup a Rosenberg that's me. Besides, I don't think it's possible yet to have two mothers, if you mean biological anyway."
The girl stepped forward, Willow wanted to turn and walk, no run, away but she felt that she couldn't. The girl touched Willow's hand and the world in front of her disappeared into a blinding flash of white.
...
When Willow is able to see again, she finds that she is in a white room. In the room she sees that she is with the girl and also with an older looking version of the girl, only she has white hair down to her back. The woman has a regal air you would associate with royalty and her skin seems to have a glow. Her white floor length dress is almost as dazzling as her hair.
A door opens in the corner and Willow sees a woman she does know, well one she knows of from pictures anyway. The woman's black hair flows in a ponytail down her back, her skin seems pale. She also has a glow, but it seems darker and more malevolent than that of the other woman. This woman was Hecate.
The girl steps forward, "I have brought my sister."
The woman Willow has yet to have a name for looks her up and down before speaking to the girl. "Very good Spirit, you may leave."
"Yes mother." The girl walks out of the room.
Willow looks at Hecate and the other woman, trying to get her bearings. Here she was with a Goddess she knew and it was a safe bet that the woman she did not know was a Goddess also. A child who called the woman she doesn't know "mother" claims that she is her sister...Willow was starting to get a headache.
"You look confused my child," the lighter woman cut into her thoughts.
"W-who are you?"
"Some call me Lady Wisdom, Christian Wiccans believe that I am The Holy Spirit and worship me as female within The Trinity, other books have called me Sophia. Name me what you will, I am your mother Willow."
Willow looked more confused than ever, "One sec, Christian Wiccans? Any Christian I've seen hates witchcraft...besides, I'm a Jew."
Hecate cut in, "And so was Jesus, a bit too goody goody for my liking though, Sophia is right, she, excuse me, we are your mothers."
Willow stared at the two women, is this a trick or am I in a dream or..."I know who my parents are, my parents are Ira and Sheila Rosenberg."
Sophia looks sad as she regards Willow, "We had three children. Our first child, a boy we named Lucifer, he was born with the seed of evil in his heart, he tried to take power that was not his to wield, we sent him far underneath the Earth. You would call it Hell."
"Our younger child," Hecate cut in, "Was born with the seed of good, she is the child you have just seen. We called her Spirit though Christians know her as "The Holy Spirit". Her brother, jealous of our favour, seeks to overrun the Earth with his darkness, though it damages the Earth, our younger child fights and she keeps the darkness from spreading. In her aid, I gave a group of men the power to give a girl the strength to aid this fight, she was known as The Slayer."
"We had a middle child, conceived with the potential for both good and evil. For that child's protection, and so that the goodness in her could develop, I went to Earth to give birth to her. There, a couple adopted and looked after her. That child's name was Willow."
Sophia walks over to a corner and picks up a box, inside that box is a piece of paper, a Birth Certificate. Sophia walks over to Willow and hands her the piece of paper, on the certificate it says "Willow" but no surname is given. Above her name, is the name "Mary", again with no surname given. Willow looks at the certificate, "You say your name is Sophia and that you are my mother but this name says Mary."
Sophia's body changed, her clothes changed to a blue dress with a shawl over her head, her face changed also. Willow knew a character from the nativity when she saw it, she remembered...correction...she thought she remembered seeing Dawn in a Christmas nativity. Sophia spoke, "I once went to Earth under the name Mary so that a child could be born, a child who was to be the Saviour of his people, I went to Earth again under the name Mary, though I didn't look like this."
Sophia touched Willow's arm and immediately, she knew, she couldn't say how she did, she just knew that this was the truth...and Willow's confusion was replaced with a flash of anger. "So if you were up here all this time, where were you when I was beat up in second grade? Where were you when all this Hellmouth stuff started up, where were you when a Hell God tried to destroy the Earth and brainsucked my girlfriend? Where were you when..." Willow's voice had started quiet but had begun to rise.
Hecate raised a hand to cut off Willow's angry tirade, "We are not able to directly influence the events on Earth, that is something only Spirit can do and only when she is on Earth as a human. Though you do not know it, she has on occasion helped you, helped your fledgling powers to grow. It was unfortunate that Lucifer decided to make one of his portals to Earth in the very place we sent you to live, Sunnydale."
Willow's anger faded slightly, her voice now quieter. "So why are you talking to me now?"
It was Sophia that answered her, "Your brother and sister are locked in a battle, and truly, your sister cannot win. Where there is light, there must always be darkness, where there is good, there will always be evil to fight against it. The Earth is falling apart and it needs Balance, only then can this fight be stopped, Your body is the only body strong enough to be that Balance, born of us and born with both good and evil inside your heart. Your body is to be the Vessel. However, you can only be the Vessel if you allow yourself to be."
Willow thought for some time, taking in what had just been said. When she answered, her voice was quiet. "Yes mother, I will be the Vessel."
"Willow? WILLOW!!!" Willow's head snapped up as she turned around, the voice seemed to come from somewhere near and yet distant as in echoing, and it was Tara's voice...she sounded scared and upset, it nearly tore Wilow's heart in two...her vision was becoming blurry..."Willow please wake up!"
...
Willow's eyes snapped open and she found herself on the floor, she stood up and Tara backed off uncertainly. Tara looked scared, Willow's hair had turned white and her eyes were now black.
"Y-y-you've been doing dark magick again! Is that why you wanted to be away from me today Willow?"
"Many people new to Earth based religions and mystery religions are often quite confused by the terms white magic and black magic. The bottom line is that all forms of magick is natural and neutral." It was Willow's mouth that moved, but though her voice seemed to be coming out, there was also another voice with it. " Despite what some people may think, natural phenomena used in magick like psychic powers (energy manipulation), pre- cognition (divination), and post-cognition (understanding the past to help you determine a positive present and future), have no moral gradient; they are neither good nor bad - they simply are facts of the natural world. More importantly, they are the building blocks of the magickal world."
"I am the Vessel." Willow's voice was now her own, "Incapable of good or evil."
"The body whom I have inherited, Willow, daughter of Sophia and Hecate..." the voice that had spoken out alongside Willow's earlier was once more speaking with Willow, "...has shown that magick can be good," at this Willow closes her left hand, when she reopens it, she holds a ball of white fire. "And magick can be evil," Willow now closes her right hand and when it is reopened, it holds a ball of black fire. "How the wielder uses it defines his magicks, not magicks in general." Willow claps her hands and now holds one larger flame that is a bluish grey. Willow, who had been looking at her hands since the flames appeared, looked up at Tara. "I am the Balance."
Willow's hair and eyes turned back to their natural forms. Willow looked unsteady for a moment and then gave a bloodcurdling scream...then fainted.