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Disclaimers: All characters here are owned by Joss Whedon and Co. They are in no way mine, and there is going to be no profit made from this story, except for my personal enjoyment.

Distribution: Anywhere, just tell me where it's going, and give me credit (The-Aussie-Witch)

Spoilers: Season 6, and some Season 7 rumoured spoilers (I'm not looking at all the spoilers for Season 7)

Rating: PG-13 because of violence and language, and because there is no M-15+ on Fanfiction.net (An Australian Rating standing for Mature Audiences, fifteen and older).

Summary: starts straight from the minute Grave left off! I am not a Spike and Buffy 'shipper' and I'm not sure if things will be right between those two as of yet (Maybe, maybe not). Some 'people' from Spike's past as a human might be involved as well.

Authors Note: All I can say to all the Willow Fans out there is that Willow WILL NOT get a new love interest. So don't scream at me, I know that she needs her grieving time, and I wouldn't do that cause I'm one of the biggest Willow (and Tara, both as a couple and as separate people) fans.

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Chapter 10

As Willow entered the room, she saw a lot of hooded figures standing around, idly talking. The room was lit by torches that hung off the walls, and gave the whole scene a medieval look as the light from the flames danced around the room. Willow now noticed a large pentagram painted onto the floor in the middle of the room now, where the rug used to be when she was in her earlier with Samantha, Montague and Giles. She was surprised when everyone turned and looked at her as she entered through the doorway. Michael and Clifford each put a hand on her back as they escorted her to Samantha and Montague, who were roughly in the middle of everything. She was glad when she saw Giles in with them, and all doubts she had before faded. If Giles was there and going along with their plans, nothing could be wrong. Willow looked over to her shoulder and saw the girl, Cassia who she had met by the fire enter the room. It was the first time Willow had gotten a look at her, and she was also dressed in the long brown robes that everyone else was. There were a select few who were dressed in long green robes, and Willow guessed that they were members of the coven.

"Hello Willow," Samantha greeted with a warm smile. Willow just weakly smiled back. "There's nothing to be afraid of. This part of the ritual is very easy and no harm can come to you… All we're going to do is to get our power back from you," Samantha said while reaching out and holding Willow on the shoulder. She looked to Giles, and then back at Samantha, uneasy about the dream she had had. When she looked at Samantha, she could tell that the dream she had was probably out of her own fear more than anything else, as by the looks of things, Samantha didn't mean to hurt anyone.

"O-okay," Willow said weakly, not sure what else to say.

Cassia watched as Samantha guided Willow to the middle of the pentagram. She had doubts that this was the same Willow that she was told about. At the fire, Willow had looked like a gentle, timid and very withdrawn woman, and Cassia couldn't picture her harming a fly, let alone killing someone and trying to end the world. Everyone started moving around Cassia, and she knew that the ritual was going to begin. Everyone gathered around the outside of the pentagram, in a circle, with only Samantha, Montague and Willow inside. The members of the actual coven formed the first ring, while everyone else formed the second and third rings. Cassia was in the second ring, and she had a clear view of what was about happen.

Willow stood in the middle of the pentagram, just like she had been told. She was facing the end of the room that had the door. To her right was Montague, and to her left was Samantha. They were facing her. Around her, she could see everyone with the green robes form a circle around her. Everyone that was wearing the brown robes formed a circle behind them. She watched as Samantha and Montague nodded, and everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Everyone but one person: Cassia. Willow noticed this, but she looked back to the end of the room. She could feel the air around her become very, very warm as everyone's energies were directed at her. She took in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, unsure of what was to come. She noticed that all the windows in the room were closed, and that the air was perfectly still.

A dull circle of transparent energy slowly shimmered into view around her. It slowly transformed itself into a sphere around her as Willow was lightly lifted an inch above the floor. She knew that this energy was there to draw the power out of her, and she closed her eyes and waited. She felt something inside her stir and move around her body. She was more aware of it now, as it was getting called to the surface. Willow opened her eyes, and she could see Giles standing in the corner of the room, observing the ritual. All of a sudden, there was a lurch inside her. Willow had felt this before, in her dream. All of a sudden, all the feelings of her dream became crystal clear. She could remember every single one with unimaginable detail, and she knew that what was happening to her now was the same thing that had happened in the dream. Warmth began to spread throughout her body. She knew this feeling. It was the same feeling she had every time she and Tara were together. It surfaced from somewhere deep inside her, and slowly made it's way to Willow's skin. She could feel her skin alive, and buzzing with joy. Willow knew that this wasn't the power that she had taken from the coven, as there was something about the energy inside her that had Tara's 'signature'. It belonged only to Tara, and Willow had come to know it well. She could feel it start to leave her body, and she could feel every square inch of her body, inside and out, try to hold it, but the spell was too strong. To Willow, it felt like they were ripping herself out of her body. Willow now felt a strong breeze on her face as her hair was pushed back by it, almost like she was facing the wind on the top of a high mountain peak. With one simple word, the room changed, and Willow was released from the spell.

"No," she calmly commanded.

Cassia felt the breeze before anyone else did, including Willow. She watched the girl, as she floated at least two feet off the ground now. She was surrounded by a mottled white and yellow sphere of energy. Her head was rolled back slightly, and her eyes were closed. When she opened her eyes, Cassia could see that there was something wrong. Her pupils were black, and took up all the visible section of her eye. Cassia watched as Willow commanded.

"No." Then, in an instant, the sphere around her disappeared and she fell back to the ground, only to land on her feet. Everyone else was still trying to get the spell to work. They all still had their heads bowed, and their eyes closed. Cassia watched as dark red and black energy crackled around Willow's hands, and it reached out and pushed Samantha and Montague to the floor. Willow looked towards the door. "Sleep," she commanded while she waved her hand in front of her. Everyone between her and the door dropped to the floor, except Cassia. Cassia stood there, shocked. She quickly got out of Willow's way.

"Willow," she heard a pleading voice from the other side of the room. She looked back and saw that Mr. Giles was rushing through the crowd, who looked like they were all unconscious but standing.

"Stay away!" Willow commanded as she spun around to look at Giles. "You knew," she accused him. Cassia had no idea what Willow was on about. "You knew," Willow repeated. "You knew that they were going to do this to me."

"Willow? I don't know what you're talking about," Mr. Giles replied. "What happened? Did the spell do something else?" Cassia thought at that moment that Willow would lash out at Mr. Giles, but she kept on talking.

"They tried to take her away from me. The only thing I have of her left, and they tried to take Tara away from me," Willow replied. Giles had a confused look on his face. Cassia saw Willow turn around and head towards the door. Using her power, Cassia closed the door and put up a barrier spell on it, so Willow couldn't leave. Willow noticed this immediately. "You think you can stop me little witch?" Willow said to her, rage threaded throughout her voice. Cassia moved towards the door and stood between Willow and it.

"Y-you can't l-leave here," Cassia said, her nervousness showing. "You're m-meant to get b-better here."

"What the hell would you know about me? About what happened? You weren't even participating in the spell," Willow accused her. "Now get out of the way." Willow took a step forward, but Cassia stood her ground.

"I want to know what happened," Cassia blurted out. "I didn't p-participate in the spell because I k-knew that I-it was too soon." Willow looked past Cassia, and waved her hand. Cassia turned around and saw that her barrier spell had been destroyed. She saw the door get blasted off of it's hinges and fly at least ten metres. She turned back to Willow.

"Let me outside," Willow muttered.

"Y-you have to come through m-me first," Cassia stuttered. She had no idea what she was doing, but it sounded right, and most importantly, it felt right. She couldn't let this girl out of the building like that.

"Not a problem," Willow muttered back. Red and yellow energy poured from her hands at Cassia, and Cassia was lifted off the ground, the energy flowing through her. Willow knew that it was too much for anyone to handle, and it would give the recipient great pain before it overloaded their bodies and killed them. She could hear someone coming up behind her, and she knew that it was Giles. The energy stopped pouring out of her hands, but Cassia remained floating in the air, four feet off the floor. She was now clutching at her neck as Willow turned around and with the wave of her hand sent Giles flying across the room, knocking him unconscious. Willow turned back to Cassia, and she saw her clutching at her throat, gasping for air. Willow saw the pleading in her green eyes, and something hit home. Willow saw the distress on the girl's face, and she knew that she couldn't extinguish the girl's existence from the world. Cassia fell to the ground, panting for air. When she looked up, she saw Willow standing before her. Her eyes were back to normal, and tears formed in them. Cassia got up, and she could see Willow break down in front of her. She had a great urge to run up to her and hug her and comfort her and protect her from the big bad world that was out to get her, and that had caused her so much pain. She took a step towards her, but Willow ran past her and outside into the forest. Cassia turned around to follow her, but a hand reached her shoulders and stopped her. She turned around to see that it was Mr. Giles, who had obviously just regained consciousness.

"Let her go. She needs to be alone," he said to her. Cassia turned back towards the doorway and she could just see Willow running off into the forest. She turned around and began helping everyone else up.

She ran and ran. All she knew was that she had to get away from that place, and away from everyone. Eventually, Willow became tired and she sat down on a fallen tree branch, catching her breath. She thought about what the coven had tried to take away from her, and she instinctively hugged herself, in an act to try and keep everything locked inside her. She had just realised that a part of Tara was still with her, and she didn't want to let go of that. Willow finally let out all her emotions that she had been bottling up for days, and she cried her heart out anyone that would be within hearing distance.