Prompt: Blood magick

By the time Willow made it out of the town, she'd figured out that the tendrils she could see could hurt. She could feel them. Sympathy circled the stomach, and Willow felt sick with it round her. Every now and then when Tara's love broke through her fear, she felt it. Warm. It was warm, warm all over. And she drank it in. Before that blue mist shrouded everything over again. And Buffy. Her black barbs hurt. They felt like they cut her back, small pricks slicing her back, pushing her away from Buffy. And when she last spoke to Buffy, the colour that exploded from her both pushed her away and tried to pull her back. So she ran. And now she was here.

The door to the Magic Box flung open so hard the handle splintered the wall and tore the bell off the top of the door. Rushed footsteps made their way down to the group sat around the table. Giles pushed his glasses back on his face as he eyed the woman stalking towards them.

"Buffy, you should be more care—"

"Not now Giles." Buffy cut him off with a glare. "Where's Will?"

"Willow?" Xander looked up from his book when Buffy entered, taking in her rushed look. Not only the look on her face, but the look on her clothes. Like she'd rushed to get ready. Rushed to get to them. To Will. "She left here like an hour and a half ago."

"Dammit!" Buffy kicked at a chair, splintering the leg and causing the chair to fall to the floor. The onlookers watched their newly-resurrected friend destroy more than just the door.

"Buffy. Maybe we should discuss why Willow's whereabouts are important to you." Giles approached his Slayer carefully, looking at her face for any signs she'd lash out again. When she nodded slowly, Giles motioned for another chair to be given to Buffy and they all sat around the table to listen to her. Buffy took a deep breath, and told them what occurred at her house.

"Good Lord." "What?" "Will…" "Her soul?"

"Yeah… Look, we need to find Will." Buffy stood up and pushed her chair back, stalking over to the counter. "Tara."

"…Yes?" The taller blonde looked through reddened eyes at the shorter blonde. All this time, she'd been wondering why Willow was acting differently, didn't like to get too close, didn't even like to look at her. Now she knew why. And she let it happen, she encouraged Willow to use that darned spell. Willow didn't even let her read it over first. Thinking back to that day, Tara vividly recalled Willow putting blood on her own face, and the magical cuts that opened up all over Willow's arms. Blood magick. She'd used blood magick to get Buffy back. Dark stuff.

"Locating spell. Can you do it?" Buffy asked, her resolve back and her arms folded. She had a friend to find. At first, she hated Willow. She was dragged feet first out of Heaven because of her, back to a burning hell of a town. And she hated her. But now? Willow condemned her own soul to get Buffy's back. How could she hate her for that? Yes, it was stupid, but it was out of pure unconditional love. She suffered in her own guilt. Quietly.

"W-well in theory… I-I'm not sure now Willow's s-soul isn't t-there." Tara looked like she was about to cry when Xander's arms wrapped around her and pulled her up.

"We'll go into the training room. I'll call you when we're done." Xander nodded to Buffy, who nodded back, and she watched as he and Anya helped Tara out of the room, leaving her alone with Giles.

"I called her weak." Buffy spun to face the older man, who'd taken his glasses off his face and rubbed thumb and forefinger over the bridge of his nose. "I called her weak, arrogant, and an amateur."

"Giles…"

"She's not weak, to give up her own soul… That's the strongest thing I can think of. And no amateur can pull that off." Giles replaced his glasses, sighing and looking at his Slayer, his surrogate daughter, his reason for being back. "Find her, Buffy. She's going to need everyone we can get."

"Buff!" Xander called through the door, and Buffy turned to face the door, and after one more glance back at Giles, she started forward into the training room.

"Where is she?" Buffy demanded in the most gentle voice she could muster.

"Kingman's Bluff." Tara replied, pushing the map away from her and looking up at Buffy.

"There's nothing there, why would she go there?" Buffy asked, looking at the box of weapons and shaking her head. Soulless, not evil.

"W-we used to go up there. W-Willow said she felt connected to the magicks up there. I… I couldn't fell any, but she could."

"Then let's go get her."

And they left.