Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Willow's fingers moved swiftly, the keyboard clicking in time with her strokes. The information she needed to help Legolas must be somewhere on the net... but she couldn't find it. Her favorite occult sites had come up dry, and her google search was useless - "magic" sites written by blessed-wanna-bes, "elf" sites run by fantasy gamers, and "poison" sites written by people too scary to contemplate knowing. No site that combined all three keywords, though there was one with real information on actual elves. She scanned the site. If nothing else it couldn't hurt to know more about Legolas's people, even if there wasn't any information on how to poison 'em there.
"Damn," Willow muttered, reaching for her coffee cup. Cold. She gulped it anyway, needing the caffeine. She hadn't slept very well since she'd returned from the forest... since she'd met Legolas, he'd haunted her dreams. Now there was no time for sleep; she had to stay awake, had to keep working... and she had to ignore the whispers from that obnoxious ring on the mantel.
"I'm not listening," she said aloud, knowing that the ring could hear her. "Not that it'll stop you from talking to me, but I'm not going to give in." She felt the compulsion, the 'knowledge' in her head that all she had to do was put on the ring and all would be okay again. She'd have the power to cure Legolas, then kill whatever evil thing had poisoned him. All she had to do...
"You're not going to sucker me in that easily," she told the ring. She remembered Legolas's words in the forest, reminding her of her strength. "I'm on to you. I've faced darkness, and I survived. I can resist your temptation." At least, she hoped she could.
****
Buffy poured a cup of coffee before the machine had even stopped percolating. She gulped down the hot liquid, grabbing a second cup from the shelf and pouring it as she drank.
"I'm going to take this into Willow," Buffy said.
"What about me?" Dawn asked, looking up from her perusal of a book on magical potions from the Renaissance.
"What about you what?" Buffy looked at her sister, puzzled.
"Why aren't you bringing me coffee?"
Coffee? Since when did Dawn drink coffee? Buffy had never thought about her sister becoming a coffeeholic like the rest of the crew. She was still a kid. "You're young. Coffee will... stunt your growth." Okay, lame, but it was the best she could come up with on short notice.
Dawn looked at her, disgusted. That was the best Buffy could come up with? "I'm already taller than you are. Stunt-free, really."
Buffy sighed. Little sisters could be such pains. She handed Dawn the other cup of coffee, pouring a third cup for Willow. "Happy?"
Dawn smiled. "Can you bring me the sugar?"
****
Willow felt her eyelids drooping, and hastily downed the dregs from her cup, wincing at the bitter taste. "Must stay awake," she murmured.
She turned around and took Legolas's hand in her own. "I'm not going to let you die," she promised. She brought the back of his hand up against his cheek, remembering their time together in the forest. He'd touched her so tenderly, so lovingly despite the fact that he was too afraid to get close enough to anyone to love. Her eyes drifted closed as she remembered their kiss.
****
Buffy hesitantly approached the living room. She didn't want to interrupt if Willow was having another heart to heart with her unconscious... what was he, exactly, to her? Not a boyfriend, really, but 'afraid-of-caring-about-anyone-elf-friend' was too long to say.
The living room was silent. She didn't even hear the familiar clacking of the keys on Willow's computer.
Buffy peeked around the corner. She saw Willow asleep, clutching Legolas's hand like a lifeline. Poor Wills. She'd found someone to love again, but he didn't want anything to do with other people. Then when he did finally show up on her doorstep, he was dying from some mystical poison. Life wasn't fair. Why couldn't they have normal love lives like people who didn't live on the Hellmouth?
She turned away. Let Willow sleep; she'd wake her in an hour.
****
When Willow opened her eyes, she was lying in a forest. Not Breaker's Woods... it felt different. Older, more powerful. She smiled, realizing that she wasn't alone. She snuggled deeper into Legolas' embrace.
"Are you awake, my love?" he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
"Barely," she confessed, closing her eyes and relishing the feeling of lying in his arms. "I'm so comfy here I don't want to wake up."
He gently stroked her back as he spoke. "You must, you know, sometime. This cannot last forever."
"Why not? I like it here." She didn't want to wake up, didn't want to remember. Bad things would happen when she woke up.
"This isn't reality, meleth nin."
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. His bright blue eyes stared down at her intently. "You may rest here, but reality is waiting for you to awake," he reminded her.
Then she remembered. Legolas. Coma. Couch. "You're lying unconscious on Buffy's couch... You're..."
"Dying." He nodded. "I know."
"I'm not going to let you die," Willow assured him. "We'll find a cure."
"That is not what is important."
"No! It is! It's very important," she protested.
"Darkness is coming. Unless you can stop it, evil will cover this land, destroy all that is good, and enslave what little of humanity remains," he warned
"The ring..." She looked away, unwilling to tell him how much she'd wanted to give in, to use the ring to help her cure him.
"You're strong. You have faced darkness and temptation and have already triumphed over them. You can resist its lure." He turned her to face him. "I believe in you, Willow." His moved closer, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "Awaken," he commanded.
****
Willow sat up, startled. She was propped up against Buffy's couch, holding Legolas's hand. She'd dreamed... had it been a dream, or had she really been communicating with him in her sleep? If only there was so me way to find out.
"Time for more research." She reached for her laptop, confident and determined once more.
"Hey, Will." Buffy came into the room carrying two cups of coffee.
"Ooh!" Willow smiled broadly. "Caffeinated goodness. Kindness, thy name is Buffy."
Buffy smiled, handing Willow a cup and sitting down in a nearby chair. "How's it going?"
Willow's smile fell. "Not good. I can't find much on magical poisons and those I did find aren't strong enough affect elves. They're apparently very resistant to both magical and physical illness."
"Takes major mojo to knock 'em down, huh?" Buffy tucked one leg up underneath her as she sipped her coffee.
"Definitely. Whoever did this has serious power."
Buffy watched Willow closely. The redhead looked like she was going to say something, but didn't quite know what to say. "Why do I sense there's something more to this story?"
"Whoever did this was a major magic user. Even at my most powerful, right after I absorbed all the dark magic books, I don't think I would have had the power to work a spell to create a poison that could kill an elf."
Buffy stopped. More powerful than Dark Willow? No one could have stopped her physically or magically. She'd nearly destroyed all of them, and only the love of Xander brought her back from the edge. If this new villain in Sunnydale was more powerful... "We are in such deep trouble."
Coffee cup in hand, Dawn appeared in the entranceway to the living room. She'd been reading for hours with no success. There had to be a better way to fight this thing. "Maybe we can do something with the ring. Use the enemy's strength against him or something like that."
"No!" cried Buffy and Willow simultaneously.
Dawn jumped back. "It was just a suggestion."
Buffy walked over and put an arm around her sister. "This ring is big-time black magic. No redeeming qualities. It corrupts good people into doing evil things." She captured Dawn's gaze, making sure the young woman understood. "The ring stays in the box until we figure out how to destroy it."
"Okay." Dawn nodded.
"Don't listen to it," Willow warned. "Both of you. The ring talks to you, gets inside your head, tries to make you believe that everything is going to be okay if you just put it on. But it's not true. Legolas told me so."
"Legolas told you?" Dawn asked, puzzled. "Before or after he collapsed into a coma?"
"After," Willow said.
Dawn's eyes widened. How could he tell her anything if he was unconscious?
Willow looked up to find Buffy watching her, understanding in the Slayer's eyes. "You sure it was real? Not just a dream?" Buffy asked.
"You sure you were actually talking to Faith when you were both hospitalized right before graduation? She gave you the key to destroying the mayor from her coma."
Buffy smiled. Maybe Willow really had been talking to Legolas in her dreams. "Be careful," she warned. "Make sure this isn't some kind of wacky magic caused by whatever witch or wizard is out there working on his evil plan."
"I'm careful. Always," the redhead reassured her.
"So, do we know how to destroy it?" Dawn had crossed the living room while the two were talking. She picked up the box and looked at it, as if she could peer through its fenestrated wooden walls. "Seems like a lot to go through for something so small."
Willow walked over to Dawn, firmly took the box from her and set it back on the mantel. "We're working on it. Now, back to research." She gently pushed Dawn in the direction of the kitchen.
"I'm book girl." With a wave, Dawn headed back to her reading.
Willow looked in the direction where Dawn had gone, then back at the box. "Buffy..."
"We'll keep an eye on her."
"We all need to be careful." Willow hugged her arms around her, wishing Legolas was able to hold her.
"We will." Buffy enveloped Willow in a warm hug. "We're going to find whoever is behind this and destroy him - or her -- and the evil ring." She pointed to the laptop. "Now, work. Dawn told me Xander and Anya are on the way. I'm going to order pizza."
Chapter 4
Willow's fingers moved swiftly, the keyboard clicking in time with her strokes. The information she needed to help Legolas must be somewhere on the net... but she couldn't find it. Her favorite occult sites had come up dry, and her google search was useless - "magic" sites written by blessed-wanna-bes, "elf" sites run by fantasy gamers, and "poison" sites written by people too scary to contemplate knowing. No site that combined all three keywords, though there was one with real information on actual elves. She scanned the site. If nothing else it couldn't hurt to know more about Legolas's people, even if there wasn't any information on how to poison 'em there.
"Damn," Willow muttered, reaching for her coffee cup. Cold. She gulped it anyway, needing the caffeine. She hadn't slept very well since she'd returned from the forest... since she'd met Legolas, he'd haunted her dreams. Now there was no time for sleep; she had to stay awake, had to keep working... and she had to ignore the whispers from that obnoxious ring on the mantel.
"I'm not listening," she said aloud, knowing that the ring could hear her. "Not that it'll stop you from talking to me, but I'm not going to give in." She felt the compulsion, the 'knowledge' in her head that all she had to do was put on the ring and all would be okay again. She'd have the power to cure Legolas, then kill whatever evil thing had poisoned him. All she had to do...
"You're not going to sucker me in that easily," she told the ring. She remembered Legolas's words in the forest, reminding her of her strength. "I'm on to you. I've faced darkness, and I survived. I can resist your temptation." At least, she hoped she could.
****
Buffy poured a cup of coffee before the machine had even stopped percolating. She gulped down the hot liquid, grabbing a second cup from the shelf and pouring it as she drank.
"I'm going to take this into Willow," Buffy said.
"What about me?" Dawn asked, looking up from her perusal of a book on magical potions from the Renaissance.
"What about you what?" Buffy looked at her sister, puzzled.
"Why aren't you bringing me coffee?"
Coffee? Since when did Dawn drink coffee? Buffy had never thought about her sister becoming a coffeeholic like the rest of the crew. She was still a kid. "You're young. Coffee will... stunt your growth." Okay, lame, but it was the best she could come up with on short notice.
Dawn looked at her, disgusted. That was the best Buffy could come up with? "I'm already taller than you are. Stunt-free, really."
Buffy sighed. Little sisters could be such pains. She handed Dawn the other cup of coffee, pouring a third cup for Willow. "Happy?"
Dawn smiled. "Can you bring me the sugar?"
****
Willow felt her eyelids drooping, and hastily downed the dregs from her cup, wincing at the bitter taste. "Must stay awake," she murmured.
She turned around and took Legolas's hand in her own. "I'm not going to let you die," she promised. She brought the back of his hand up against his cheek, remembering their time together in the forest. He'd touched her so tenderly, so lovingly despite the fact that he was too afraid to get close enough to anyone to love. Her eyes drifted closed as she remembered their kiss.
****
Buffy hesitantly approached the living room. She didn't want to interrupt if Willow was having another heart to heart with her unconscious... what was he, exactly, to her? Not a boyfriend, really, but 'afraid-of-caring-about-anyone-elf-friend' was too long to say.
The living room was silent. She didn't even hear the familiar clacking of the keys on Willow's computer.
Buffy peeked around the corner. She saw Willow asleep, clutching Legolas's hand like a lifeline. Poor Wills. She'd found someone to love again, but he didn't want anything to do with other people. Then when he did finally show up on her doorstep, he was dying from some mystical poison. Life wasn't fair. Why couldn't they have normal love lives like people who didn't live on the Hellmouth?
She turned away. Let Willow sleep; she'd wake her in an hour.
****
When Willow opened her eyes, she was lying in a forest. Not Breaker's Woods... it felt different. Older, more powerful. She smiled, realizing that she wasn't alone. She snuggled deeper into Legolas' embrace.
"Are you awake, my love?" he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
"Barely," she confessed, closing her eyes and relishing the feeling of lying in his arms. "I'm so comfy here I don't want to wake up."
He gently stroked her back as he spoke. "You must, you know, sometime. This cannot last forever."
"Why not? I like it here." She didn't want to wake up, didn't want to remember. Bad things would happen when she woke up.
"This isn't reality, meleth nin."
She opened her eyes and looked up at him. His bright blue eyes stared down at her intently. "You may rest here, but reality is waiting for you to awake," he reminded her.
Then she remembered. Legolas. Coma. Couch. "You're lying unconscious on Buffy's couch... You're..."
"Dying." He nodded. "I know."
"I'm not going to let you die," Willow assured him. "We'll find a cure."
"That is not what is important."
"No! It is! It's very important," she protested.
"Darkness is coming. Unless you can stop it, evil will cover this land, destroy all that is good, and enslave what little of humanity remains," he warned
"The ring..." She looked away, unwilling to tell him how much she'd wanted to give in, to use the ring to help her cure him.
"You're strong. You have faced darkness and temptation and have already triumphed over them. You can resist its lure." He turned her to face him. "I believe in you, Willow." His moved closer, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. "Awaken," he commanded.
****
Willow sat up, startled. She was propped up against Buffy's couch, holding Legolas's hand. She'd dreamed... had it been a dream, or had she really been communicating with him in her sleep? If only there was so me way to find out.
"Time for more research." She reached for her laptop, confident and determined once more.
"Hey, Will." Buffy came into the room carrying two cups of coffee.
"Ooh!" Willow smiled broadly. "Caffeinated goodness. Kindness, thy name is Buffy."
Buffy smiled, handing Willow a cup and sitting down in a nearby chair. "How's it going?"
Willow's smile fell. "Not good. I can't find much on magical poisons and those I did find aren't strong enough affect elves. They're apparently very resistant to both magical and physical illness."
"Takes major mojo to knock 'em down, huh?" Buffy tucked one leg up underneath her as she sipped her coffee.
"Definitely. Whoever did this has serious power."
Buffy watched Willow closely. The redhead looked like she was going to say something, but didn't quite know what to say. "Why do I sense there's something more to this story?"
"Whoever did this was a major magic user. Even at my most powerful, right after I absorbed all the dark magic books, I don't think I would have had the power to work a spell to create a poison that could kill an elf."
Buffy stopped. More powerful than Dark Willow? No one could have stopped her physically or magically. She'd nearly destroyed all of them, and only the love of Xander brought her back from the edge. If this new villain in Sunnydale was more powerful... "We are in such deep trouble."
Coffee cup in hand, Dawn appeared in the entranceway to the living room. She'd been reading for hours with no success. There had to be a better way to fight this thing. "Maybe we can do something with the ring. Use the enemy's strength against him or something like that."
"No!" cried Buffy and Willow simultaneously.
Dawn jumped back. "It was just a suggestion."
Buffy walked over and put an arm around her sister. "This ring is big-time black magic. No redeeming qualities. It corrupts good people into doing evil things." She captured Dawn's gaze, making sure the young woman understood. "The ring stays in the box until we figure out how to destroy it."
"Okay." Dawn nodded.
"Don't listen to it," Willow warned. "Both of you. The ring talks to you, gets inside your head, tries to make you believe that everything is going to be okay if you just put it on. But it's not true. Legolas told me so."
"Legolas told you?" Dawn asked, puzzled. "Before or after he collapsed into a coma?"
"After," Willow said.
Dawn's eyes widened. How could he tell her anything if he was unconscious?
Willow looked up to find Buffy watching her, understanding in the Slayer's eyes. "You sure it was real? Not just a dream?" Buffy asked.
"You sure you were actually talking to Faith when you were both hospitalized right before graduation? She gave you the key to destroying the mayor from her coma."
Buffy smiled. Maybe Willow really had been talking to Legolas in her dreams. "Be careful," she warned. "Make sure this isn't some kind of wacky magic caused by whatever witch or wizard is out there working on his evil plan."
"I'm careful. Always," the redhead reassured her.
"So, do we know how to destroy it?" Dawn had crossed the living room while the two were talking. She picked up the box and looked at it, as if she could peer through its fenestrated wooden walls. "Seems like a lot to go through for something so small."
Willow walked over to Dawn, firmly took the box from her and set it back on the mantel. "We're working on it. Now, back to research." She gently pushed Dawn in the direction of the kitchen.
"I'm book girl." With a wave, Dawn headed back to her reading.
Willow looked in the direction where Dawn had gone, then back at the box. "Buffy..."
"We'll keep an eye on her."
"We all need to be careful." Willow hugged her arms around her, wishing Legolas was able to hold her.
"We will." Buffy enveloped Willow in a warm hug. "We're going to find whoever is behind this and destroy him - or her -- and the evil ring." She pointed to the laptop. "Now, work. Dawn told me Xander and Anya are on the way. I'm going to order pizza."