It was like he was trapped in a dream and he couldn't wake up. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. He could see and hear what was going on, but it was like watching a movie. There was nothing he could do to break free of the prison he was trapped in. It felt like he was screaming into the wind and no-one could hear him. The darkness had him so enveloped that this time, he sensed there would be no escaping it. This time, it would keep him trapped forever. Buffy, Willow, everyone he loved would be lost to him. Then he remembered the looks between Buffy and the blond elf. He knew he had already lost her, but he couldn't let the evil take her. And thats what it was waiting to do. The evilness that had him trapped was just waiting to take them all one by one until everything was as evil as the ones he was watching.

~*~

"I remember hearing them talk of Boromir," Mara said as Angelus finished filling Richard in on what had been going on. "He was killed before they came to us."

Angelus spun around in his chair and finally looked at her. He could sense that she was older than him. Almost older than time. "He didn't die. In fact, he still searches for the ring."

"It was the ring that was his downfall. He desired it and betrayed those he promised to protect."

"And he had it here?" Richard interrupted.

Angelus nodded. "It was here, but it was taken from him by Faith and then I don't remember what happened to it. All I do remember was she touched me and let me be myself again."

"Belyndra is dead," Mara whispered. "Xander killed her a long time ago."

"Belyndra?"

"The one you call Faith. Belyndra is what her mother called her."

Angelus was confused. How did this female know Faith and Xander? She obviously wasn't from this time. "It seems that I am missing something," he said finally.

Mara smiled as she filled him in on what she knew of Faith and Xander.

Angelus was incredulous. "Xander's the first? He was the one who made us all?"

Mara nodded. "He left me in darkness and let me rot there. He promised to love me and always look after me and he abandoned me."

"Well stories are all very nice," Richard cut in. "But they won't help me find the diaries or get the ring back."

"It was destroyed," Mara said simply.

Richard grinned. "That one was. But we can make another one."

~*~

"Aha," Giles said triumphantly. "I found our mystery demon." He sat down at the table and put the book in front of him. "She is a Gravitas Demon, very rare breed too. They can kill with one look from their eyes but are thought to be a peaceful species, well as peaceful as a demon can get," he added quickly after seeing the look Buffy shot at him. "They draw their power from an amulet that is held by their leader and they have coexisted within demon ranks for centuries without once coming into contact with humans. It is believed they were banished from our world, so to speak, after a war with another Demon race and that they would never return."

"But obviously they have returned," Buffy said. "Xander saw one."

"Yes," Giles said slowly. "Something, or someone must have brought her here. A Gravitas Demon would never willingly return to our world without good cause."

"So why was she here then?"

"Whoever is searching for Xander's diaries must have brought her back to find them for him. Gravitas Demons are loyal to whomever they serve and she would have to be enslaved to this person or have a very good reason for leaving her world and returning here."

"Do you think she is the one?" Xander asked.

Giles paused. "There is nothing to suggest that this Demon is the one we are looking for," he said finally.

"But she's here now," Buffy interjected. "You yourself said she'd have to have a good reason for returning here. Maybe she came back to help us. We need to find her"

"Its too late," Legolas said.

"Too late for what?" Buffy asked.

"She's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

Legolas closed his eyes. "I felt her anguish as her light was extinguished forever. She has gone, as is the rest of her kind."

"The only way to kill a Gravitas Demon is to destroy the amulet. Without it, they have no life force," Giles said.

"Someone destroyed it," Legolas said simply as he opened his eyes. "She, and her kind are gone, forever."

"There goes our only hope," Xander said. "We've lost. The 'daughter of fire' has been destroyed. There's no stopping them now."

"We still don't know she was the one," Giles said softly. "The 'daughter of fire' may still be out there somewhere. I still don't think she was the one."

"I hope you're right," Buffy sighed.

~*~

Willow lay on her bed thinking. Words were rushing through her head. Why did they sound familiar?

'Mountain of roses'. She'd heard them before but she couldn't remember where. She buried her head in the pillows and closed her eyes.

"Willow?"

"Mom? I thought you and dad were away."

Willow sat up as her mother walked into her room.

"The lecture was cancelled so we came home."

Willow nodded. She was used to her parent's comings and goings by now. They were always off to some lecture or away for long periods of time. She never knew when they'd be home. It felt like they were strangers sometimes. Just people who shared a house with her, not parents at all. But it suited them and her. They had their lives and it kept them from interfering with hers.

"Thats ok with you isn't it?" her mother asked as she sat down on the bed beside her daughter.

"Of course," Willow replied a little too quickly. "I was just surprised to see you home."

"I thought you'd be over at your friend Bunny's."

"Buffy," Willow said automatically.

"Right, Buffy."

Willow rolled her eyes. It was always the same. Her mother would say Bunny, she'd correct her and then it would happen all over again the next time.

"...and I really wanted to hear that lecture too," her mother was saying.

"I'm sorry you missed it," Willow said absently. She had been lost in thought and had missed what her mother was saying.

"Something on your mind?"

For once her mother had noticed her, Willow thought. "Do the words 'Mountain of Roses' mean anything to you?" It was worth a shot, Willow thought to herself.

Her mother smiled. "Its about time you became interested in our family history Willow."

Willow stared at her mother in shock. "Our family history?"

"Of course dear," her mother said as she gently stroked her hair back from her face. "In old German, Rosenberg means 'from the mountain of roses."