Chapter 7: The Potniae
It was a quarter past midnight and Willow was glad to be home.
She loved her friends but the stress of just being around them was beginning to take its toll. The whole situation was confusing and frustrating. And now Tara. She wasn't sure what Tara's reaction would be. She couldn't blame her for being shocked and scared. Willow knew that she wouldn't turn away from it all, from her and her friends, like Anya had done, but a part of her wouldn't blame her if she did.
Opening the door she was glad to see Tara awake obviously waiting up for her.
"Hey," she smiled as she came in the door.
"How are you feeling?" Willow asked sitting beside her.
"Better," Tara nodded, "Less freaked I guess."
"No one…"
"I'm sorry…"
The both stopped and giggled realizing they were overlapping each other's words.
"Let me," Tara said, "I'm sorry about this afternoon. I hope no one is too mad at me."
"No one's mad at you sweetie," Willow cut in, "everyone totally understands."
"Are you sure? I won't do it again. I was just so…. Is Xander alright?"
"He's…" Willow wasn't sure how to address him just yet, "He's … different."
"Different good?" Tara asked hopefully.
Willow looked a bit dejected as she shook her head.
"We're going to find a way to help him," Tara said reassuringly taking Willow's hand with her own. "I know we can."
"I'm not sure. Tara,
he was so strange tonight. It wasn't
the quiet strange we've gotten use too; this was a whole different level of
strange. He knew things he shouldn't
have. About magic. And the spell."
"So you did do the linking spell?"
Again Willow nodded looking more dejected then before.
"What is it?" Tara asked now seriously concerned.
"He's still connected to Constance. The link isn't as strong as it was before. Giles and I saw her, but she was semi-transparent."
"So that's good.
Right?"
"Yeah that's not bad. But Buffy…"
Willow sighed and began again, "Giles and I got a chance to talk about it
afterwards without Buffy and Xander. We
could both see the link between the two of them. It's there and it's as stronger then Giles thought it would be."
Tara nodded solemnly.
"It gets better," Willow said with sarcasm, "Xander wasn't facing us during the spell."
Tara let out a small gasp.
"And the Furies were there. Giles and I couldn't see them, but Xander and Buffy could. We think that's why the bond to Constance is fading."
"So if we do find a way to lift the curse, will that bring
her back?"
Willow took it into consideration. Giles and her had both thought that Constance's faded presence was a good thing, however it could be attributed to two things. One, the bond actually was fading because of the separate dimensions or two the Furies were interfering with it.
"The bond with Constance might grow stronger again if we break the curse," she
finally admitted.
"But if we don't…"
"Xander will definitely not make it through this."
"So," Tara said hesitantly after a few minutes, "are we going to try it? What we talked about last night."
"I don't see what choice we have left."
****
Buffy felt a bit guilty about only peaking in on Xander, but she hadn't wanted to wake him. Even worse, she'd decided while she'd been out that she'd probably should go home for the rest of the night.
Good or bad Giles had agreed with her decision.
Giles had been waiting up for her, as he said he would, and they briefly went over the night's activities. Slaying had gone well. Only two vamps and one demon. It wasn't a lot but it was much more activity then she'd seen in some time.
Giles had said nothing more about Xander's behavior and Buffy was reluctant to bring it up herself. She was actually relived to not have to talk or think about it for a while.
They'd said their goodbyes and she'd left Giles' apartment just after 2am. The streets were quiet and it gave her some time to reflect. Not that she wanted to reflect, she wanted to forget.
Xander seemed lost to her. She knew that he desperately wanted her to let go. Part of her felt that it might even be the kindest thing to do. She was the only thing holding him here. The reality of the situation was that Xander was losing it, losing it in a big way. Every hour it seemed he got worse. If she just let go he might be better off.
Buffy silently admonished herself for the thought but again it crept back into her head. Was she already doing it? Sneaking out in the night. Going when she'd promised to stay.
Buffy stopped in her tracks and turned back towards Giles'.
A few feet away she stopped again.
She was being silly. One night away wouldn't make a difference.
'He'll be fine,' she thought as she once more headed back towards her home.
A few feet further and she'd changed her mind.
She'd thought the same thing last night. Had the same debate inside her head. Where had that left them? How much worse was he now?
Buffy let out a grunt in frustration not sure what to do. It all seemed to hinge on this decision. She knew if she kept going towards her own house she was ultimately deciding to let Xander win. Let him give in to whatever powers the Furies held and lose himself completely. If she headed back to Giles' she knew she'd end up fighting Xander until the end. She'd be refusing to let him go and probably making the inevitable that much harder on the both of them.
Buffy stood under the street lamp at a loss. She had choices to make and pay for but couldn't quite get herself to do it.
Inside her she knew there was only one thing she could do really. It would be hard. Hard on her and him. On everyone, but she had to do it. She'd couldn't not do it.
With renewed energy she made her decision and headed on her way.
****
Tara and Willow had everything prepared. They'd ran across the means a few nights back and had struggled with the idea since then. It would be dangerous for certain. No one had done it before. At least, no one had ever recorded doing it before.
That there was even a way to contact the Furies had been surprising. Neither had thought they'd really go though with it. Until now.
They'd agreed that Willow would go alone. Tara would support her with the summoning, but would not truly be a part of it. Willow was stronger they both knew that. She'd have to face them by herself. She wasn't sure what she'd say or do once there, but she felt compelled to do it anyway.
It was just after one o'clock and Willow was ready.
The required items were surprisingly easy to obtain. No special amulets, no magic chalice. Willow knew that the key to actually summoning the Furies would have to do more with will power then words. She'd have to call them with every part of herself, every morsel of her being.
She sat in the center of their living room. The candles were lit. The charms were drawn. Over and over she recited the incantation. Again and again.
Every muscle in Willow's body was tense. Every part of her was focused on the words she repeated.
Tara sat nervously outside of the perimeter watching. Twenty minutes had passed and still nothing. Willow's brow was lined in sweat, still uttering words in Greek. Her voice was nearly pleading.
Another fifteen minutes passed much the same, when Tara began to feel the air changing. It was a subtle shift, but the room began to feel noticeably cooler. And an odor, a familiar odor faint on the air began to dance around her.
Tara inhaled deeply and was struck by it.
She recognized the smell. It was
hard to forget. It was the odor from
Giles' apartment earlier today, the very fragrance she'd smelt before finding
Xander missing.
Willow seemed unaware of the change. Was in fact, unaware of anything now except the words she spoke. She was one with them.
It felt as if those words were all there ever was or would be of Willow Rosenberg at that moment.
Tara was becoming increasingly alarmed. The smell. That smell. Something bad was happening. It had to be. It was death here before them. Tara debated within herself on whether or not she should stop Willow from going further.
She never got the chance.
The room had gone silent. Tara looked to Willow and saw her staring straight ahead, unblinking, eyes black as coal. Her lips no longer repeated the incantation. They no longer needed too. Tara knew that Willow's body might still be here with her, but the rest of her had gone on to meet the Furies.
****
Instinctively Willow knew she'd succeeded, at least in part.
Alone she sat on a cold floor. She was surrounded by what she could only describe as emptiness. The description seemed wrong, but it was the best she could make. It wasn't so much emptiness as it was lack of substance.
Willow didn't know what would happen next but decided to let her instincts drive her. And they were telling her to wait.
So she continued to wait and wait. Sitting stone still for no telling how long. Still concentrating within herself on her goal. Still repeating within her head the incantation.
After an untold time she felt their presence gathering around her. The three Furies were now with her. They surrounded her just beyond sight. One sister each to the left and right, and the third directly in front of her.
Willow continued to sit. She felt that she must let them make the first contact. Invite her in so to speak.
They drew closer.
Now, ever so slightly, Willow made out what sounded like air passing slowly from a tire. Leaking.
She knew what the sound was.
Hissing.
The Furies were often described as beautiful and terrifying to look at. Winged sisters with wild snake filled hair. They had been born of anger and blood.
As Willow slowly made out the figure before her she found that nothing could have prepared her for this. No book, no description could compete with the physical sight of them. Only determination kept her from running. A determination to see this through at all costs.
Before her was a woman tall and god like. Her hair billowed and moved on its own accord, alive with vipers whose eyes could be seen glinting in the dark. They peaked out at her and hissed from behind locks of thick black hair. Her skin was gray and pale, a deathly shade that was oddly translucent. Brass tipped wings tucked behind her back, barely visible but occasionally catching hold of some unseen light and reflecting it. Her robe, once white, now stained and splattered with blood; blood still evident on her hands.
She stood before Willow, silently demanding her full attention and respect.
She had it.
"We are the Erinyes. The Potniae. The Praxidikae."
Willow was now truly scared. Only the one before her had spoken, had actually moved her lips, but it had come out in three distinct tones. A full range, almost harmonic. It was as if all three were speaking to her at once, each voice menacing and piercing.
"We know why you have come. The Fates
have foreseen it."
Willow started to say something then held her tongue.
"There is nothing for you to do. Return to your world. Return to your life. You were foolish to try. End your journey here."
"Wait," Willow said as they began to recede backwards. She had been to caught up in the sight of them, so startled, that she had almost forgotten why she'd come in the first place.
"Foolish girl. Heed our words. There is nothing for you to do. Return to your world. Return to your life."
"He's done nothing wrong," Willow cried out in frustration, "you're punishing him for no reason."
Unsure if she had been spun around or if it was they, Willow now found herself facing a different sister. She looked nearly identical to the first, except her robes were not bloodied and her eyes, if possible, were harder and colder.
"She is set in her mind," the Furie before her said, not really to Willow but more to her sisters. And this time her voice came out as one tone, the deepest of the three.
Again the room spun, and the third now stood before her. They seemed to be examining her. Looking her over and over, as if they could sense deceit.
"She is strong. She is…" the words seemed to die on her lips. Once again the voice was a single octave, this time the highest. "She is cunning."
Willow once more felt the room spin and before her was the first Furie.
"I am Alecto," she said in her even middle range voice, "My sisters Megaera and Tisiphone have decided to do something we have not before."
Willow allowed herself for a split second to hope again.
Alecto seemed to sense it. She sensed her hope and had fed off of it.
"We will hear your story."
****
A/N: The Potniae is one of the names used to describe the Furies in Greek and Roman mythology. It means "the Awful Ones".
The Praxidikae, I think I've put in before, means "The Vengeful Ones".
As with most Roman/Greek mythology, they are virtually the same. The Furies and The Erinyes are their names respectively for each culture.