Chapter Two: Anya Wakes
A pair of hands pull Anya from the water. She hears someone speaking as she regains conciousness. "Aleph am I. From mine unfathomable will, the universe hath its beginning. In my boundless wisdom are the types and patterns of all things." She opens her eyes to see Willow crouched above her head staring down at her. "Willow?" Anya stands to face her. Willow stands and watches her with a smile. Anya looks to her surroundings confused. The room is strange, stone floors, large collumns that going so far up she can't see their end, only darkness. A large wheel suspends in the air at the center of the room, with arcane symbols on it and animals surrounding it. A lion and bull lie below the wheel. A snake hangs on one side and the Egyptian god Anubis on the other. A Sphinx sits atop of the structure with an eagle above his shoulder. "Willow? What...?" She looks to Willow, who is dressed as a fool. Willow continues to grin and starts to sing.
"Glad that you're fellin' strong,
Thought I might lose ya.
Don't use words, sing a song,
This is Illusia!"
Anya stares at Willow in confusion, "This is what? Where am I? And I know you don't have a very good fashion sense, but don't you think the court jester look is taking it a bit far." Willow starts walking and dancing around Anya, while begining a new song.
"Anya be warned, Anya beware
By closing your eyes you can see what isn't there
Anya be calm, open your eyes
Lies may be truth and truth may be lies"
Anya, starting to get agitated by the situation, stops Willow. "All right, Willow, cut the song and dance. What's going on? Where are we?" Willow takes Anya by the arm and walks her toward the large wheel singing.
"Fate is a wheel, it will reveal
All you've become, all that your feel.
Destiny knows what has to be.
You'll pay the price, nothing is free.
I'll be your guide, take the hand of your muse,
You just might lose your way in the Land of Illusia.
Illusia is music, a world built on rhyme.
It's carved out of space in the absence of time.
You've tasted how evil and good coexist,
The bitter and sweet of it..."
"All in the lips that you kissed."
(Willow draws Anya's attention back to the wheel.)
"Lion and bull, eagle and snake.
To live or die,
It's a choice you've got to make.
Can you undo what you create?
Step through the wheel...
Follow your fate."
(All the animals join in for the chorus.)
"The fates have a fix on you,
We can play tricks on you.
We deal the truths you're too troubled to face.
Gamble the worth of you, on the rebirth of you.
Don't turn away, don't start to fade.
What's still unwritten...
You can erase."
(Willow takes over again.)
"You villainous infamy tortures your soul.
Decent into evil must levy it's toll.
The darkness that rots you has brought you to this."
(The snake turns to Anya.)
"Surrender serenity, suffer sweet misery.
Sin seeks it's cursed abysssss."
(Anubis)
"Oh Anya, with death there is always rebirth."
(Sphinx)
"Come see with vision denied you on Earth."
(Willow)
"Illusia is waiting -we'll show you the way
But all consequences are your own creation
And there's a price you must pay"
(All the animals join Willow)
"The fates have a fix on you,
We can play tricks on you.
We deal the truths you're too troubled to face.
Gamble the worth of you, on the rebirth of you.
Don't turn away, don't start to fade.
What's still unwritten...
You can erase.
Illusia is music,
A world built on rhyme.
It's carved out of space
In the absence of..."
Anya grabs Willow by the shoulders to make her stop singing. "All right Willow; you like little ditties? Fine, Here's one. You're acting so strangely that I hardly know you, but still I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you." Anya pushes Willow away and she falls to the ground.
"Ow! You're wrong not to trust one that knows you so well. I never betrayed you that was, well..." Willow waves her hand in the air and an image of Xander appears in the air before Anya.
"Xander." She looks to his image with anger before turning to Willow. "Is he here; the one who betrayed me, is he in this land?"
Willow swipes her hand through the image making it disappear. She stands smiling at Anya "I'm mearly your guide dear, along for a grin. You'll get no free ride here. If you want to know more, then spin." Willow stands next to the wheel awaiting Anya's decision.
"Fine." Anya says with a sigh "As long as it gets me away from you and that lispy singing snake."
A/N: In Xena's the Bitter Suite, the symbols of the 22 major arcana of Tarot cards were used throughout the episode. In this chapter, they would be Willow as The Fool and the Wheel of Fortune.