Sunnydale High Library, two hours later.
"So the Willow in this dream mentioned someone by the name of Glory?" Giles asked as he leaned back against the counter in the Sunnydale High library. He had his hands in his pockets while looking questioningly at Willow and Tara sitting at the table in the middle of the room with stacks of books behind them on the upper level. "And Tara, you said that this dream, or rather a nightmare, seemed to be something like an apocalyptic future?"
"That's about the gist of it," Tara said with her hands on the top of the table. She looked at Willow to her right, and then back at Giles before continuing to speak, "the whole place felt… evil. Like evil took over the world."
Willow gave Tara a small smile when the latter looked at the redhead again. "But the thing is, Giles," the redhead said turning her head back to Giles who was walking towards them, "what about Tara's throat? The marking there's like someone really did try to strangle her."
"That is indeed strange," Giles said taking a seat across from them, "either Tara's dream was so convincing that her mind created those markings…"
"Like a psychosomatic thing?" Tara asked as Willow smiled at her girlfriend once again. Giles smiled as well before shrugging his shoulders and saying that it was entirely possible. He then leaned forward with his arms on the table and brought forward another theory that was also equally possible, "or it could be that you somehow managed to send yourself to the future through some magic."
"That's not possible," Willow shook her head remembering the warmth of her arm lying over Tara's hips while they slept, "she was with me the entire time. I mean I was sleeping with her, and she was breathing, and well… anyway, then she started shouting… that's when I woke her up."
"Why would I time travel?" Tara asked while her left hand made a motion of an airplane rising into the air before motioning her hand towards her girlfriend, "I mean Willow was with me… I mean really with me. We prevented the end of the world, and…"
"That's something I can't answer," Giles said looking at the both of them while continuing, "maybe there was something that has you worried, Tara? Something that has you so stressed that, at least unconsciously, you sent your soul to the future to make sure that whatever has you stressed does not come to pass."
Tara looked away and tried to think of anything that could be giving her stress; but other than her classes, she couldn't think of anything. It was then that she stopped thinking, and her thoughts focused on the woman she had seen in the light back in their home, the woman who looked like an older Dawn. If nothing else, Tara knew that she was thinking about that woman and who she was, and why she looked just like an older version of Dawn.
And that's what Tara told Giles, that she was thinking about that mysterious woman. Giles nodded his head before running his chin and responding, "maybe that has something to do with what you saw in your dream. You did say that Dawn was killed. And this woman looks very much like Dawn from your description."
"Yeah, but…" Tara shook her head, suddenly unsure of herself, "I don't know."
"Maybe you can find something when we go to Devon?" Willow said with a small smile as she reached for her girlfriend's hand.
"Yeah," Tara whispered nodding her head hopeful that Willow was right. "Yeah."
Sunnydale, one week later, 2000 hours.
Willow felt the warm breeze brush past her dress as she stood in the backyard of her house. She watched the trees slightly sway to-and-fro while the leaves rustled as she breathed out, relieved for the umpteenth time that she was cured of any lingering darkness that remained in her from Hell. It had taken the witches at the Devon Coven several hours to examine her body a week ago, but thankfully they had found nothing. However, they had no explanation for Tara's 'dream' nor anything about the woman that Tara had seen taking the place of Dawn momentarily. They examined the younger Summers, but found that she was a normal human being… no matter how deep they searched into her very being, that was all they found. There was no green energy field that Dark Willow had been talking about.
After their return to the States, life had returned to normal… or at least as normal as it could get for the Scoobies. As Willow stood on the dimly lit grass, the light from the back porch behind her, she turned her head and watched the door to the kitchen open and then close after Tara walked onto the porch. Willow then turned around and smiled at her lover as the blonde witch walked down the three steps to the lawn.
Tara, without a word, walked over to Willow and wrapped her arms around the latter's waist. She then leaned in to kiss the redhead for a few seconds before pulling away. "You ready?" Tara asked looking into Willow's green eyes. After returning from Devon, Willow had told Tara that she needed some time to gather the energy necessary for casting the very spell that would create a small amount of Alpha radiation.
"Well, not really create it," Willow had said a day after returning from Devon, "more like open a breach into a dimension that… you know, contains Alpha Radiation. That's what I did back when I went all Dark."
Back in the present day, the door leading to the porch opened again leading to Tara and Willow turning their heads towards the rear porch. Out onto the porch walked Faith, Giles, Jenny, and Xander; all carrying cans of pop in their hands as they walked down the steps to the back yard after finishing the delivery dinner.
"You sure about this, Will?" Xander asked as Willow reached into her pocket and dug out her Ranger badge.
"We haven't gotten anything on Glory or whatever this Key thing is supposed to be or do," Willow said looking at Xander and then at the badge in her hand, "there's no choice."
"Big G did say he's leaving for London at the end of the week," Faith said nudging Giles who added that he was, in fact, summoned after having been asking around about Glory and the Key. Faith shrugged before continuing, "maybe we wait until he gets back with whatever it is that the Council knows."
"Giles? You think they know anything," Willow asked the older man.
"I was summoned a day after I made a request for any information on the Key and Glory," Giles explained, "either they have more information to give me, or they desire more information. Either way, I'll only know once I have reached London." Giles finished talking before rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Willow, use your clairvoyance abilities to find out what you can about the Key and Glory. I will not share that information with the Council, but will instead use it as an additional source of intelligence."
Nodding her head, Willow asked everyone to step aside before she mentally grabbed her badge and then mentally brought it high into the air. She then raised a hand and closed her eyes while picturing a tear opening up as she recalled the spell she had used a little over a week ago. Tara stood next to Xander, while Faith stood in the middle of Giles and Jenny as they felt the temperature suddenly drop around them. They stood to Willow's left while goosebumps appeared on their arms and the back of their necks as a blue ball of energy gathered in the palm of Willow's outstretched left hand. Willow continued to calmly breath in and out as she mentally lowered the badge and pushed it into the middle of the ball of energy. The group heard Willow mumbling a spell while the energy was being absorbed into the Ranger Badge that had blue energy crackling on its surface. In a few seconds, the light was gone, the badge remained floating, and Willow stepped forward grabbing the badge out of the air.
"You sure about this, Red?" Faith asked.
"Like I said, we still know nothing about this Glory person, or about the Key," Willow said glancing at her and then at the badge, "we need to know what's going on."
"There is no way to know when the Council will have any information on Glory or the Key," Giles added while Tara crossed her arms over her chest, "or rather if they have anything. Willow, this is ultimately up to you. But I feel we must know how dangerous Glory could be, and we need to know what is so important about this Key."
"Tara?" Willow asked.
"I'm right here, baby," she nodded her head, "and I agree with Giles. This is up to you."
"Your choice, Red," Faith added.
"I searched online for anything on Glory and the Key," Jennie said shaking her head, "I tried every occult forum I could find. All in all, I have didly squat. I agree with the others, this is your choice."
"Okay then," Willow whispered looking back at the badge in her hand, "here goes nothing." Willow pressed down on the badge. She heard the click and then felt the familiar surge of the Alpha radiation from the badge rushing through her body to the Series Five implant in her brain. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath while images poured in hard and fast- images she tried to piece together.
"I… I see a man…" Willow whispered while the others listened, "he's wearing some kind of a robe and… wait… I.. I think this is now. I mean right now."
"Where?" asked Giles.
"No, wait…." Willow said as the images started to rush past her once more. The redhead concentrated and slowed the pacing of the images in front of her somewhat, "I see someone handing a glowing ball to Buffy, I… I see… wait…" Willow knew that her clairvoyance abilities would show her everything that could happen. She could control what she saw, but there would be images that bled through what she wanted to see… images that had no part in her need to find out about Glory, "I see… oh God…"
"What is it?" Faith asked in concern before she turned her head to look at an equally concerned Tara who had her eyes wide open in worry. The two of them then turned their heads stared at Willow closing her eyes tightly, "Red?"
"A… a blonde… wearing a red dress is savagely beating Buffy… I… I see her face, Oh.. Faith… I.. I see you and… I'm there…," Willow said as the images of Buffy, Faith, and then Willow herself being beaten to an inch of their lives in a warehouse rushed past her. Then she saw Joyce fall on the kitchen floor with Dawn terrified and standing over her.
Willow spoke out as she watched Joyce telling Buffy, "they found a shadow."
"A shadow?" Tara asked glancing at a worried Giles, "where? Where does Mrs Summers have the shadow?"
"Her.. her brain," Willow whispered with tears falling down her eyes as she watched herself and Tara arguing in their room before the wall was ripped away to reveal the blonde woman in a redress standing enraged. Willow said that the mysterious woman shoved her aside before shoving her hand into Tara's head. "I… no.. the blonde has her hand in Tara… in her head and… she… she's taking energy. I… I see…" Willow shook her head as she saw Faith and Buffy get into the fight, she saw them both killed before a badly injured Willow was thrown into a wall. Willow saw herself fall to the dirt cover floor before going unconscious. Willow then hear da gasp and turned to see Dawn.
"My Key!" the blonde woman yelled before she ripped off Tara's head and then rushed at Dawn while Willow remained injured and lying on the ground amongst the destroyed apartment. Suddenly the images twisted and turned to show her standing in a waiting room with Tara, Xander, Dawn, Anya, and the others. Buffy was telling her that 'they' were taking too long. That 'they' said the operation to take out the tumour would be a couple of hours.
"And it's already been four hours," Buffy said with a worried tone in her voice. The images then changed to show Joyce still alive and recovering with Willow, Buffy, Faith, and everyone else around her. Then the scene around Willow melted once again, and was replaced with the redhead being dressed in black. She looked around and saw Buffy crying while holding onto a sobbing Dawn. Willow then turned to her left and saw a crying Tara, and then Xander, and Anya.
"And we lay our friend, Joyce Summers….." Willow turned her head to the priest, and then to the coffin that was being lowered into the freshly dug earth. Willow shook her head as the scene changed to the blonde Woman killing Dawn high in the air on a tower in a junkyard. There, the blood flowing from the latter caused a surge of energy to appear before a portal opened. Willow saw lightning erupt from the portal before the blonde woman threw aside Dawn's body from the top of the tower, and then jumped into the portal while laughing maniacally. Willow saw the world end as the charge in her badge gave out. Opening her eyes, Willow looked though her tears at the surprised Giles, Faith, Jennie, and Tara.
"Willow?" Giles said taking off his glasses, "you stopped speaking. What did you see?"
"Call Buffy back from patrol," Willow said shaking her head while she placed the Badge back into her jeans pocket, "call everyone for a meeting at the Summers house."
"Willow," Tara said after having seen Giles rush back into the house after appearing to want to saying something, but upon hearing the seriousness in Willow's voice decided against it, "do you know who Glory or the Key are?"
"Yea," Willow whispered wiping the tears from her eyes while her body shuddered at what she had seen. "It's not good. Not good at all and.. and there's more."
"What?" Faith asked with concern in her voice.
"We to discuss this together," Willow said looking at those standing around her, "together."
"Then we have to wait for a few more hours," Jennie said, "Joyce is working later, Althanea has a late night too."
"Then we wait," Willow said while her heart raced at the images she saw, "they need to know… everyone needs to know what's coming."
TBC.