(Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I am just a fan)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season 8, episode 2
Reasoning
[-] Chapter 1
"Who's there?" she called out. She could see nothing but the old road and the silence of the wind blowing through her red hair. "Seriously, I am one bad ass Wicca!" Still nothing; she could sense something though. Eventually she assumed that her senses were still messed up and continued with her Babylonian summoning spell.
"Witch…" echoed the voice again. She turned around quickly and got to her feet.
"Okay, now I'm pissed. Who's there? What the…?"
The sky above her turned from pitch-black to the most nauseating whitest color imaginable. The ground beneath her feet transformed from hard pavement to… well fresh air. It was like she was floating; or her feet were numb. The crater filled up with an ocean of white just like the sky did. She looked down at herself, "was I wearing this a second ago?" she thought. A couple of seconds ago she had her hair tied up in a pony tail and wore a white t-shirt and jeans, but she was just wearing a thin white dress. Wind was blowing though, that suggested she was still on the planet. She was trapped in a vast area of bright white. Maybe not trapped, she could have walked for miles but would still be surrounded by the white. It was boundless, utter boundless; an infinite expanse of white nothingness. She heard it again,
"Witch…" she turned around, but could not make heads or tails of what direction she was facing. She could make out a silhouette in the distance. He wore worn dark black jeans, a plain back t-shirt with a plain red button shirt over it. His hair was spiked. He walked towards her, she squinted at him to try and make out his face.
"Where am I?" Willow asked.
"I believe your people call it... purgatory" replied the figure.
"Oz?" she asked whilst squinting still. Oz looked down at himself and played curiously with his fingers. "Oz is that you?"
"Is it Oz whom you see before you, witch?" Oz asked ruddily and in the third person.
"What are you talking about Oz? Last I heard you were in L.A, what are you doing here?"
"What do you perceive to be here witch?" Oz asked.
"Why are you calling me that? My name is Willow. We have to get out of here." Willow voiced while she reached out for Oz's hand. He didn't respond. He shook his finger at her tauntingly and began pacing in a circle around her.
"You have angered me for the last time; at first I found your rituals amusing and entertaining. But I am a force not to be toyed with witch." He declared.
"You're not Oz. Who are you?" she demanded.
"My appearance is not of my own accord. I am only whom you perceive me to be."
"That doesn't even make sense!" she exclaimed in frustration.
"I am more than you will ever be; I am a force that you can't even conceive of. My being shapes the very fabric of your reality and you will show me some respect witch!" Willow coward as Oz, or whatever was in Oz's form, bellowed angrily at her outburst.
"So if you're not Oz, then can I ask who you are and why you've brought me here?"
"I did not just bring you here, you brought yourself here by your own actions of late witch."
"Which were…?"
"Your insolence is astounding." Oz laughed, "what might your name be witch?"
"You don't know my name? I thought that you had been watching me." Oz growled in anger because of her smug humor, "My name is Willow, Willow Rosenberg. Am I aloud to know yours?" She asked cautiously.
"My name is O…"- He was cut off by another set off footsteps entering into the bright abyss. Willow turned to the direction of the noise. Her hair was brown, straight and breast-length. She wore a purple sweater and black skirt.
"Tara?" Willow asked frantically. Tara studied Willow for a second, surveyed her appearance and the tone of her voice.
"The witch is saddened by my present being" Tara thought, or whatever was wearing Tara thought. "The witch is conflicted, easily swayed by what appears to be when, at her level, she should know better." Tara announced. "I see you started without me dear brother."
"I couldn't help myself." Oz replied with a smile. Tara joined in on Oz's pace around Willow.
"You're not Tara. Please, can somebody tell me what the hell I'm doing here?" Willow exclaimed again. Tara stopped dead in front of her. She tilted her head to the side with a blank expression. She lifted her right hand and struck Willow with the back of it. She was sent hurtling in the opposite direction until she crash-landed on the hard yet transparent ground. Willow staggered to her feet; eyes closed and spat blood from her mouth. She opened her eyes to see how much she had spat out but it wasn't there; nothing was. Tara and Oz were already circling her again. Willow began to panic and shut her eyes tight. She hectically recited every defensive and offensive spell she knew in her mind and began to invoke the name of Hecate. "Hecate" she said aloud, "I implore you…"- She was cut off by the sound of Tara frantically laughing.
"I can't help you now witch." Tara said.
"Hecate?" Willow asked in shock.
"In the flesh… so to speak, I would like you to meet my brother… Osiris." She said gesturing her arm towards Oz.
Willow began, "Oh my…"-
"God?" Oz interrupted. The space fell silent. Hecate and Osiris continued to circle Willow. She was terrified. Trapped in purgatory with two of the most powerful mystical daemons. What did they want with her? Why did they bring her here? How could she have possibly angered them so much? "All things in good time" Osiris announced. He had heard what she was thinking.
"If she had started her ritual we would have had no choice but to abide. We have been careless with this one brother." Hecate acknowledged.
"Yeah, just out of curiosity, how did you know that I was going to perform another Osiris resurrection ritual?" Willow asked confused.
"I believe his name was Ernie, witch." She replied.
"Damn!" Willow thought.
"She does not know of what she has done" said Hecate.
"She must be shown" Osiris agreed. The area began to spin at an accelerated speed. Hecate and Osiris held there hands out in front of them and abruptly stopped pacing. The white got whiter and whiter and whiter until Willow was forced to shut her eyes tight to protect them.
She could see from behind her eyelids that the glow of purgatory had dimmed; almost blackened. The air that she had her feet on was replaced by an oil stained expanse of concrete. It was night too, or she assumed; the windows were blacked out and the room was as dark as the refrigerator when the door was shut. Chanting echoed throughout the room and it came from the direction of flickering candles. She was no longer wearing her white cloth, but was back in her jeans and T-shirt.
"Where am I?" Willow asked whispering. Only Hecate was in the room with her.
"1948" she replied.
"Okay that takes care of the when I am but not there were…"
"Louisiana." She stated; Willow hated one word answers.
"Um, maybe a little something more… specific?" Willow requested.
"I believe this is a factory, yes that's it."
"But why am I here?"
"To learn. Alone." With that Hecate vanished from the room. Willow was left stranded. She thought the most logical thing to do would be to progress towards the flickering light. The chanting got louder and louder until Willow could manage to make out some of the words.
"Govinda, father of protection we implore you. Unworthy are we whom speak your name..." They all chanted simultaneously.
"It's a coven" Willow thought. They suddenly stopped when they heard Willow's footsteps. There were five of them, each sitting on the five points of a black pentagram and with a candle of Govinda the god of protection in the centre. They all wore dark robes and had their heads bowed. They all raised their heads to look at Willow. They were all female. The woman at the head of the pentagram got to her feet. She had long red hair and as she stood up, revealed a baby in a cradle behind her. Willow looked into the woman's eyes but they were completely black.
"Who are you?" demanded the woman in a demonically deep tone. Her black eyes faded to a shade of blue; she dropped her hood.
"Me? Uh... I'm Aggie, Aggie woods" she lied, "I've come to join your coven."
"Coven? Child this is no coven, we are worshippers of the demon Alvoki. We know a witch of the light when we see one. Leave this place now!" The witch asserted. Willow now knew that this was a powerful evil coven and even though she could have put up a good fight, in the end Willow would not be able to defeat them. She turned to walk away when a petite witch stood and dropped her hood. Her hair was bleach white and shoulder length.
"Wait!" she exclaimed. Willow sensed her magic; she was a prophesier, and a powerful one. "So much about this one is uncertain Jean" she was addressing the leader of the coven, the red haired lady. "She shows true light, but something is buried deep within, even though she fights it the dark magic's inside her will become dominant. With our supervision this one could become our greatest weapon."
"Are you certain Margaret?" Jean asked addressing the white haired woman.
"Quite" replied Margaret. "The magic's around you, hmm, she is not from this time and she has a strong connection to us. Come, sit." Margaret invited. Willow abided. Margaret's prediction about the dark force within Willow worried her terribly, but she would have to cross that bridge when she came to it. She kneeled down beside Margaret. Jean gave the three others a look and they bowed their heads and continued with their chants.
"Tell me, is what Margaret tells me true?" Jean asked. Willow decided lying was pointless.
"Yes, I am not from this time." She replied nervously.
"Why are you here?" Jean asked. Telling a powerful evil coven that she is a new goddess from the future who has been sent back in time against her will by the most famous gods of pagan lore because she has managed to anger them in some way was too risky. Telling them that she was responsible for casting a spell on goods best defence on the sources of evil, the slayers, was too risky to share too.
"I'm here to learn from you women. Margaret was right about me, I am tired of hiding who I really am." Willow lied convincingly, the fact that it was easy to lie about that worried her, and it felt like it was the truth.
"Do all women dress like that in your time?" Jean asked curiously.
"Yes actually they do. Correct me if I am wrong but Alvoki is a powerful demon of chaos and possession, yet you gather around a pentagram channelling good magic while praying to Govinda, a god of light and protection. What gives?" Willow asked. It took them a moment to fully understand her vocabulary. There was a pause in the coven's chants when Willow mentioned that they were channelling good magic, like they were ashamed of doing so.
"About a month ago our coven was a lot bigger. We had worshipped our dark lord for months and the time came for an offering. Alvoki demanded that we turn over the life of one of our sisters. We faithful few respected our lords' demands but the others were sceptical. A battle broke out; they used good magic on us! Eventually few survived the battle but Alvoki was angry. Our sister's use of good magic angered him and he considered us witches of light along with them. He attacked us from the nether realm through a portal that originated near the north wall. We lost two faithful sisters that night, we prayed to the dark god of protection but he too had turned his back on us. Every night our lord attacked we lost another two sisters until we decided we must do what we must to protect ourselves. We have been chanting for hours but have had no sign of Govindas' energy. We fear all is lost." Margaret explained through heavy tears and shivers. Willow thought "I hope this Alvoki takes these people one by one." "If they try to sacrifice that baby then so help me god I will call on some bad ass earthquake to swallow these bitches whole." But even though these women were evil, they were not demons. She had to protect them.
"I'm so sorry" Willow lied in a sympathetic tone, "When does Alvoki usually make his move?"
"He was supposed to have arrived the moment we heard your footsteps, but when we saw it was you we thought he had sent you." Jean added.
"Sent me?" Willow asked.
"Every night is different. The first time it was our lord himself. Second it was a nest of vampires, then it was plagues; locusts to be exact. And last night was Genlock demons. It was viscous but it killed two of our sisters before Jean was able to eviscerate the beast." Margaret interjected.
"Maybe the prophesier is wrong Jean! Maybe our prayers of light are working!" exclaimed a dark haired woman sitting opposite Willow.
"You will hold your tongue Gwen! Never put your faith fully in the powers of light or so help me god I will strike you down were you kneel you insignificant roach!" Bellowed Jean in the same demonic tone she had used to greet Willow. The candle that lit up the entire hall of the abandoned factory was suddenly blown out leaving the women in complete darkness. Two of the witches screamed in terror.
"Dark witches that are scared of the dark? Irony really hasn't lost its touch" Willow thought as she got to her feet. She had feared this part; she could not use any of her spells of light to light the hall back up and using her dark magic's she considered too risky. But it was either the risk, or the lives of five human beings. She muttered something in Samarian, her eyes blackened and four bolts of green energy emitted from the palms of her hands. They shot off to the four corners of the ceiling and illuminated the room to a slight glow. The doors at the end of the hall were flung open and a bald figure stood in the threshold. It snarled ravenously and walked slowly towards them.
"What is that thing?" Margaret asked fearfully. Willow held out her arm in the direction of one of the magical balls and telekinetically moved it down to above the things head. It snarled in confusion. It was bald and a pasty grey colour, it wore leather and had teeth unlike anything the coven had ever seen; but Willow had seen plenty of them... back in Sunnydale.
"Oh my god, it's a Turok-Han." Willow announced trying to hide her fear.
"A what?" Jean asked impatiently.
"It's sort of like an uber-vampire from the Hellmouth." Willow explained. The women seemed to relax at the word, Hellmouth.
"We're nowhere near a Hellmouth, how did it get here?" Gwen asked through tears of fright.
"The dark lord must have summoned it to the Nether realm and transported it here." Margaret predicted. Willow figured the best logical way to deal with the Turok-Han would be if she used the combined magic of the coven to trap the vampire in a mystical barrier. Whilst trapped she would conjure up a swirl of stormy flames and hopefully that would be enough to kill it. Willow came back to reality. The women had already begun defending themselves from the Turok-Han. Jean had levitated herself in the air and was launching entropic energy at the vampire; it had no effect. Margaret turned to earth magic; she drained some of the earth's energy and changed it into telekinetic energy. She thrust her arm outwards sending the Turok-Han flying back at the southern wall were it had entered. It didn't even phase the thing, Margaret had gotten it angry however, and it ran at break neck speed towards her and grasped her by the neck. Margaret screamed out for her sisters to help her but Gwen and the other two had made a break for the door while the Turok-Han was distracted. It plunged its fangs into Margaret's neck and began to drain her dry. Jean, Willow and the baby were the only ones left. Jeans magic began to drain and she dropped to the floor, she crawled to the baby.
"I will not let that thing hurt you my darling Grace." Jean promised. Willow staggered backwards to Jeans' side. The baby was wrapped tightly in a large white cotton blanket. Its bright blue eyes stared up at Willow. She noticed a small stitch in the blanket written in light blue string. "Rosenberg" it read. Willow now made the connection of why Hecate had chosen to bring Willow here. Grace Rosenberg was the name of Willow's mother and her Grandmother, Willow called her Grammy, was called Jean Rosenberg. Jean died when Willow turned eight. The woman that disgusted Willow when she met her now became a woman that Willow cared a great deal for.
"My Grandmother, a dark witch who practised dark magic's and worshipped the demon Alvoki? This cannot be right." Willow thought briefly. Willow remembered her grandmother teaching her how to ride her bike when she was five years old. No wonder when Willow's Mom found out she was practising magic it was so easy for her to burn her at the stake. But this was not the way things were supposed to happen, her grandmother was not destined to die here on this night. "Gram- I mean Jean, take my hand!" Willow exclaimed. Jean grasped Willows hand and they stood facing the Turok-Han. It had just finished draining Margaret and thrust her decapitated head the wall. Willow and Jean stood in the centre of the pentagram. Willow's eyes blackened once again. Jean looked at her.
"What are you planning to do, a teleportation spell is too risky" Jean warned.
"I'm going to construct a barrier using our combined abilities; I should be able to hold the Turok-Hon long enough for you to get away with Mom- I mean your baby." Willow explained.
"Just how do you plan to do that!" Jean exclaimed. Willow turned to her threateningly.
"With good magic." Willow stated. Even though Jean loosened her grasp she never let go. Willow began to chant.
"Sermonia minerva saypio sayperay saypsay saypio impedimentum!" Willow exclaimed. Jean felt an upset in her balance but chanted along with Willow; her grasp tightened. A translucent barrier ensnared the Turok-Han. It clawed at the invisible wall, its snarls grew louder and holding the barrier became harder and harder. "Go, now!" Willow advised Jean loudly.
"Thank you for this, I swear my children will know of you" Thanked Jean. Jean let go of Willows hand and the barrier weakened. Jean ran for her baby from the crib and ran as fast as she could towards the doors. Willow couldn't hold it; The Turok-Han broke free. It lunged at Willow and grabbed her by the neck. The vampire snarled at Willow and leaned forward. She tensed up to prepare for the soon to be searing pain but... there was nothing. The grasp around her neck disappeared and the drip from the leaky roof of the factory was nowhere to be heard. She opened her eyes. She was trapped again in the white nothingness with Hecate standing so close to her that their noses were almost touching.
"What say you?" Hecate asked plainly.
[-] Chapter 2
Willow was completely disoriented. Fathoming what she had just experienced proved difficult so she ignored Hecate and walked in the opposite direction. "We're far from finished." Hecate announced as she walked slowly behind her. Willow turned, she was angry.
"That... was something I did not need to know. Honestly no more family tree thing I've learned my lesson, send me home." She pleaded. Hecate's head tilted again to the side. Willow backed away to avoid getting bitch slapped again. "Why did you send me there, what was I supposed to learn?"
"You tell me..." Hecate advised.
"Something about my Mom maybe? Or that I wasn't supposed to save my grandma and the powers that be wanted her dead? Or"-
"You're not seeing the big picture witch. Think deeper." Hecate said interrupting her. Willow racked her brains for an explanation. She new Hecate would not let her leave if she didn't figure out what she was supposed to learn.
"Is it something to do with my magics?" Willow guessed.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
"Ooh! My weakness is kryptonite, that's what's making my powers go all wonky?" Willow guessed with a happy yet unconvincing smile. Hecate didn't look amused. "My magics right, well magic isn't essentially good or evil, it's how you use it that defines you"-
"That's where I'm going to stop you witch. You must know by now that you're not just any other sorceress."
"So you're saying my magical roots are evil because of my Grammy Jean?" Willow asked weakly. Hecate slowly paced towards her. Willow found it so hard to look at Hecate and not feel Tara's' essence. She, without thinking, trusted Hecate because of the way she appeared and it killed Willow that Tara wouldn't just grab her and kiss her passionately. Hecate placed her hand on Willow's' head and a relaxing sensation washed over her. Once again the whiteness of the room got whiter and whiter until Willow shut her eyes again.
Before she opened them she felt around on her body to see what she was wearing; she'd ditched the dress again and was wearing her jeans. She opened her eyes. The sound of a ringing telephone echoed through the hall of a bright white corridor. Wooden doors were placed in rows along the walls and a distressed couple entered the hallway and began to walk in the direction of Willow and Hecate. "Okay, I'll bite. Where am I now?" she asked. Hecate opened up her mouth slightly to reply but was interrupted by Willow, "No wait, better question; When am I?"
Hecate despised Willow's' constant questions and lack of respect and she wasn't good at hiding it. Willow spotted the look and instead gazed at the tiles beneath her shoes. "Sunnydale memorial hospital. Second floor up, room seventeen. Six years and one month ago." Hecate replied.
"Is there any point in me asking why I'm..."- Willow was cut off mid sentence as the whimpering couple passed right through her. They sneezed simultaneously as they phased out of Willow. "What was that! Last time we did this I was me. Corporeal me anyway... what gives?" asked Willow in shock.
"Correct me if I am wrong but in 1948 you were not born or even in the process of creation. Were as now, in this time you already exist; body and soul. So some adjustments had to be made. A witch at your level and you haven't explored time travel?" She disappeared once again and Willow was left, incorporeal and ghostly in a corridor in Sunnydale, alone. Great." She thought. She peered through the nearest window but it was empty except for the bed and machinery. So was the next one and the next one until chanting speech echoed out the door of the final room on the hallway.
"Are we ready?" a familiar voice asked.
"Stinky herbs are go" replied Cordelia's voice.
"Did I mention I didn't take Latin?" asked Oz's' voice.
"You-you don't have to understand it you just have to say it, I hope." She knew now that it was her voice that was in the room with Oz and Cordelia. She knew now where she was specifically. This was where she performed her first real spell; the spell to cure Angel. She picked up her pace and walked through the wall to enter the room. She stood in the corner and watched.
"Right" Oz replied. "Quad perditum est... invinator."
"Not dead nor not of the living" Willow began, "Spirits of the interregnum I call." Future Willow mimed the words to herself in the corner as she watched past Willow perform the spell.
Past Willow continued, "Gods bind him, cast his heart from the... evil... realm." Future Willow remembered while watching how much she felt like she was going to pass out at this point.
"Return... I call on..." past Willow began breathing heavily.
"Willow?"Oz asked worried.
"Are you okay?" Cordelia asked. Future Willow smiled; she knew this was the part where she let the magics take over. But... past Willow just continued to breathe heavily into the bed sheets. "This isn't right, by now I had already began the Latin part. What's wrong? If she doesn't concentrate now then the whole future will be changed." Willow knew the rest of the spell and so acted on impulse; she catapulted off the wall and jumped right into herself. She took control of past Willow's body and continued with the spell.
"Te implore duomne nuegnora chesta rugamente..." Willow chanted.
"Is this a good thing?" Oz asked Cordelia.
"Hey, speak English!" Cordelia said to Willow. She ignored them, she had to continue.
"Nichimore nichia fiente la orseecha ava transporta sufletool la ien." The orb began to glow and Cordelia and Oz looked worried.
"A safia, a safia acum, ACUM!" Willow felt that familiar sensation and quickly left past Willow's' body. She landed on the floor and shut her eyes on impact. She opened them and found that she was lying on the transparent air that was purgatory. She stood up and looked at Hecate. "Again with the dress?" she asked rhetorically. Hecate paced in a circular motion around her again. "That was way too risky, if I hadn't jumped in then the spell wouldn't have worked. Why was she weaker than I was?"
"She wasn't, you were both at equal stages at that time" said Hecate.
"Then why was I able to complete the spell alone when she wasn't?" Willow then realised how naive she had been. That spell was a powerful one and an inexperienced witch could not have performed it that easily. "Unless the same thing happened then, my future self jumped into me and took control. Well that's a self esteem buster ill tell ya' that." Willow sighed.Hecate nodded in approval.
Meanwhile back in Ohio...
Buffy had set her alarm for four fifty-five so that she could greet Willow when she returned. She had been gone all day and was to be expected back around now-ish. She clambered out of bed at the sound of the alarm. She placed Mr. Gordo on the opposite side of the bed and walked to the hallway. It was still dark out so the mansion was only dimly lit. Her shoes were at the side of the entrance door so she slipped them on and cluttered herself down to the main gate. She hated the private road at night, the chirping of the insects was incessantly irritating and what others called a road she called a mud trekked path with tire imprints. She had only had about an hour and a half's sleep as it was her turn for training and patrolling today but she didn't mind. It passed the time when she was... bored. "Thank god Giles didn't hear me think that. Yeah Buffy that made a lot of sense" she thought. The bushes and hedges on either side of the private road seemed to take on a life of their own, like they watched her or something. The black barred gates were illuminated by small solar lights and on the opposite side Buffy spotted Kennedy pacing from one side of the path to the other. "Kennedy?" Buffy asked as she crossed the gates. Kennedy bolted at the sound of Buffy's voice and spun round quickly back-punching Buffy Square in the face.
"Buffy I'm so sorry; I thought you were a vamp or something." Kennedy exclaimed.
"Little tip? Vamps and things don't usually acknowledge that they're behind you; or know your name. Well usually. What are you doing out here?" Buffy replied while she straightened up.
"Well I missed my Willow Y'know, and I knew that she'd be back this morning and I couldn't wait. Besides my room is directly above Rona's' and she plays her music loud so people don't hear her crying." For some unknown reason when Kennedy said that Buffy felt guilty.
"So what if she feels guilty. She should. She got seven innocent girls killed" she thought. "What time is it? Shouldn't she be back by now?"
"Yeah actually, its past five am, I'll give her another half hour and then I'll call."
"Actually Kennedy, I've known Willow a lot longer that almost anybody in the house. And I know when she lies and I got a weird vibe from her before she left. I don't think she went to find a new Slayer. I think she went to do something witchy related and if she isn't back yet I'm worried she might have ran into trouble. I know I'm just being worry-gal but could you call her please? Y'know put my mind at ease." Buffy pleaded weakly as she sat on the small stone wall that formed the boundary of the private road. Kennedy fumbled around in her pocket for her cell and took a seat next to Buffy.
"Sure Buffy." Kennedy began to dial and held the cell phone to her ear. 'Your call is being forwarded to an out of range area'.
"Willow should at least be back in Ohio state lines in her car by now" Buffy said with a nervous tone.
"Maybe she is but she just lost her cell?" Kennedy guessed weakly but she didn't even manage to convince herself. Buffy got up from the wall and ran back to the house to wake Giles, Kennedy followed behind her. They burst through the entrance door and spotted Nicholas at the head of the dining room table. He was obviously waiting for them to come back.
"Ladies, if you would like to take a seat." He announced. Kennedy and Buffy exchanged a look but never the less took a seat.
"Okay Nick what'dya know? Where's Willow?" Buffy started.
"So Tabatha hasn't returned to the manor? Can't say I'm surprised." He replied bluntly. Out of blind anger Kennedy rose from her chair, grabbed Nicholas by the neck and launched him on top of the table. She held him down.
"Lets try this again" Kennedy began, "Where's Willow?" Buffy placed her feet on the table just next to Nicholas's' head.
"Boy, she looks pissed." Buffy said tauntingly.
"Alright alright! Just let me up." He exclaimed brutishly. Kennedy loosened her grip around his neck and eventually pulled back completely. He sat up on the table and began to speak.
"Miss Rosenberg had a little dispute with your friend Alexander a few days ago. Long story short she decided to a acquire herself an Urn of Osiris. She left for the Sunnydale crater yesterday to perform the ritual closer to the body. I myself, knowing where she was, was expecting her an hour ago. But from what your precious sister has told me, Sunnydale outskirts are deserted. Not even demons go there no more, they fear that they will be swallowed into the crater or something." Kennedy strongly grasped him by the collar of the blue shirt he was wearing and dragged him off the table; she almost knocked his sunglasses off, almost. She dragged him to the door.
"Kennedy what are you doing!" Buffy yelled. She had already shut the door behind her. Giles heard the bang and looked over the first floor balcony in his bed robe.
"Buffy what is it?" he hollered. Buffy looked up at him wearing an anxious expression.
"Willow" she replied. Buffy ran at the entrance hall doors and flew out of them. Kennedy was halfway down the private road sidewalk. "Kennedy, where do you think you're going!" She stopped suddenly and turned to meet Buffy's worrying gaze.
"Sunnydale."
Hecate was still pacing around Willow. So far all Willow had learned was that her magics rooted from dark power and that's why it's so hard for her to fight the temptation. "Okay, I learned. Hell I even brought me a number two pencil. Can ya send me back now?" She asked.
"Much more to be seen. To be heard. To be smelled. Touched and felt. Come." Hecate said as she once again grasped Willow by the forehead. So far Hecate had taken her to 1948 where she learned of her magical roots. Then to where she performed her first spell, well partially. After that Hecate took her back two years and six months ago to Sunnydale cemetery to where she resurrected Buffy. And finally she took her to a month and a half ago when Willow performed the spell on the potential Slayers.
"Where are we?" Willow asked for the fifth time. She had had enough of all this time travel.
"This place has gone by many names. In your time I believe you call it, home." Hecate said. Willow looked around, she was standing on the cliff edges of the manor, it was night and there seemed to be a struggle inside.
"My home was swallowed by evil, the manor is just a place where I sleep" Willow said with a hint of despair. Hecate was confused. "Feel free to disappear now." Willow scoffed. And just like every other time Hecate was gone. She was incorporeal so she knew that she wasn't drastically in the future. She was disappointed to discover that even in the future she was stuck at the manor. She hadn't admitted it to anybody but when she performed the Scythes spell she thought to herself, "Hellmouth? Closed. Kennedy? Alive. I can finally have a normal future" But apparently she would be having no such luck. The doors had been blown of the hinges and the bricks on the front side of the manor that were as old as when Cassandra Blaire led her crusade where completely gone. Vampires were raiding the entrance hall and the Slayers were being cornered. By the looks of Amalia she was around sixteen. She's thirteen now so you do the math. Vi had thrown a chair at a vampire that was making a run for it in Willow's' direction but it just went right through her. The sofas had been thrown across the room and had scorch marks all over the leather. Seven of the twenty-four chairs where still by the dining room table; not standing up but still close by. Banging growled from the upstairs floor and the threshold in-between the grand staircases were door less. The kitchen seemed to be on fire too. She looked around; she couldn't make out the face of Kennedy, Dawn, Vi, Rona or Xander. Giles and Robin were battling the fire in the closed door hallway and Buffy seemed to be battling a dark haired woman in dark clothes on the first floor balcony.
"What have you done!" Buffy yelled at the woman as she high kicked her to the face. Willow couldn't hear what the woman was saying.
"Is that Faith?" Willow thought.
"How could you lose control like this, again?" It sounded like Buffy was crying.
"Yep, definitely Faith. Faith must go all 'five by five and Buffy sucks' again." Faith rose to her feet and started attacking Buffy. Buffy lunged forward with a flying kick but Faith caught her and grabbed her by her jacket. Faith thrust her over the edge of the balcony and she crashed onto the dining table, it was snapped in half by the impact of Buffy's body. Her neck snapped. "NO!" Willow exclaimed. She ran to Buffy's side with tears welling up in her eyes. She looked up at Faith. "This can't be real...this can't be happening..." it wasn't Faith on the Balcony with Buffy, it was Willow. Her hair was black again. Her eyes were empty, saying they were black felt like an understatement. Willow was cut and bruised but she didn't even seem fazed. Evil Willow looked directly at Willow. She levitated off the balcony and landed right next to her, she crouched down and took her by the hair.
"I thought I could stop it too, prevent it. But the entire time all that blonde bitch did for a decade or so was hold us back. Look at the power you could have here, just give in Willow and save yourself years of battling the wrong people. The only reason I can see you right now is because I'm so juiced but I'm draining fat so lets just cut the chase. If I remember right Hecate comes to get you just before I kill Buffy and Xander, or was it after? I don't know it was years ago. Anyway, one down... I'll be seein ya."
Evil Willow glamoured out of sight leaving a black electric mist in her place. Willow felt the sudden urge to run to find Xander and protect him but before she could get out of her crouched position the mansion was already changing into that familiar yet growingly irritating white abyss of nothingness. Willow sat on the floor and took her head in her hands.
"You see what is to come." Hecate and Osiris said together. Osiris hadn't joined Willow and Hecate on their quest through time but he had suddenly reappeared.
"So let me take a wild crack at this. You brought me here, to take away my magics because I'm inevitably going to try and destroy the world again?" Willow asked angrily through her tears.
"In the plainest sense... precisely" replied Osiris.
"But I'm not, I mean future me or other future me? Whatever my point is that I won't let that happen, I need my magics to help find the Slayers. Without my magic I'm just another girl in that mansion. Please don't do this" Willow pleaded.
"Three years ago the Willow you just witnessed said the same thing. We cannot risk it" Hecate asserted.
"But I have friends, they help me to keep a level head, without them my head would be all wonky. And I have Kennedy" Willow began to whimper more.
"Your friends? They're just a distraction witch" said Osiris.
"That's complete fooey and you know it" she argued.
"The death of one of your friends is what triggers your dark magic back into motion" Hecate added. "She hasn't learned as much as we hoped, she's a stubborn little witch. She must be shown..."-
-"No! No more showing of anything to anybody, I've had enough! Take me home, now" Willow exclaimed in utter anger interrupting Hecate mid sentence. She raised her arm to hit her again. "Don't you dare touch me." Hecate stopped, shocked at Willow's' outburst.
"She shows potential and power brother. More than I may be able to handle." Hecate backed away until she dissolved into the transparent walls of purgatory leaving Willow stranded with Osiris.
"As much as I am tempted to see just how much power you do contain witch, time is of the essence. Your friends will find you soon. We must hurry" he warned.
"Why should I go anywhere with you?" she asked.
"Because destiny appears it so and so it will be."
"Okay did that make any sense that I don't know?" He began to walk towards her, she backed away. He grabbed her by the face firmly but as much as she tried to free herself he was just too strong. He leaned in and kissed her straight on the mouth. She refused to close her eyes but was forced to as the whiteness of purgatory began to become stronger and stronger once again.
[-] Chapter 3
"Where are we?" Willow asked Osiris. It looked like a cliff side but without the sea part. Instead it was just a lake and small kids around Amalia's' age were jumping off of certain rocks. There were wooden cabins on a field near the cliff and a house that was smaller than the manor but larger than Buffy's home back in Sunnydale perched further up a small bridge.
"You must forgive me, my sister is a lot more talented in time travel so your guess is as good as mine."
"But I've never been to this place or even heard of it, what's this got to do with you wanting to strip my magic?"
"You do remember saying that your friends keep you grounded? I'm trying to prove to you that they have their own agendas. They use you Witch."
"Yeah yeah whatever, why haven't you disappeared yet?" she asked disappointed.
"Call me curious."
" 'Great' so any idea on why which of my friends I'm here for?" she said, she remembered he had heard her thoughts previously and worried in case he heard her comment.
"No" he replied. She tutted to herself silently and walked off across the field. The cabins were kinda' old and the windows had a yellow tint but the families that inhabited them seemed joyous and happy, all except one that was closest to the top of the Cliff. Willow peered through the window and spotted a dark haired aged woman lying on a wet sofa wearing the same expression she had been seeing on Xander for the past month or so. She was drinking wine straight from the bottle and had a white powder lain out in layers on a small mirror; Willow assumed cocaine. Willow walked around to the opposite side of the house when she spotted a little girl; she must have been around ten years old, standing on the top rock ledge of the cliff. There was a sign next to it that read 'Boston Family Quarry.' The girl had long wavy hair down to the core of her back and it covered a worn pink bikini top and bottoms. The drop from where the girl was standing to the lake below was huge and Willow worried for the girl's' safety. But when she ran towards the little brunette girl to warn her of the dangers and the decking chair that she should have tumbled over heavily just passed right through her she remembered that she was incorporeal.
"Don't do it Faith you'll hurt yourself!" cried a little boy floating in the water below. The girl didn't react, she gave him a smug smile and swan dived right off.
"Faith?" thought Willow. Willow turned quickly to look at Osiris but he wasn't there, he must've gotten bored or something. "Asshole" Willow thought. It was only then that she noticed the old cabins had gotten a lot older. Some had even caved in, the grass of the field had turned yellow and every window was smashed. The clear lake had turned a pasty green colour and Faith was once again standing at the top of the Cliffside. She was taller and more clothed; her hair was shorter and darker. Without realising it Willow must've made another jump through time. Faith set off at break-neck speed towards the quarry house. Willow followed behind her. The quarry house's' windows had been smashed and boarded up, the carpets were bloodied and dusty and a gaping hole leading to a dark tunnel lay in the centre of the main room. Faith looked down nervously as the screams of a British woman echoed out of the small chasm. Faith dropped down and followed the tunnel. A shovel covered in wet mud and rats lay next to a rocky wall but Faith picked it up anyway.
"One of the first rules to vampire slayage... find a weapon, anything and everything is a weapon..." Faith mumbled to herself aloud. A cave lit by candles stood dead ahead, the British woman lay pinned to the floor by two vampires. She was bleeding from her wrists and had large bruises all over her; what Willow could see of her anyway. Even though she was under the strength of two vampires she wriggled, twisted a writhed to try to break free. She flicked the hair out of her eyes and met Faith's' gaze.
"Faith! Go it's a trap!" she warned. Faith ignored the woman's comment; she was too busy trembling in place at the vampire that just appeared out of the shadows. He was as old as the idea of space and time and had turned a pinkish colour in skin tone. He was stark naked and his hands and feet were cloven. He began to clap in mockery.
"That must be Kakistos" thought Willow.
Kakistos began, "You didn't spare a minute did you my dear. Your watcher did say you would come to save her but I imagined I would have had more time to torture her further, ah well. So this is the Slayer" he reached almost nose touching distance to Faith, "oh, my mistake I meant a slayer, I hear that there are two now? Tell me Faith is this just a rumour?" Faith shrugged her shoulders and tightened her grip on the shovel. "Forgive me but I imagined you taller, more intimidating perhaps but I guess you're just another disappointment to my day. I am going to kill you you know. But not before I kill your precious watcher." He paced around her and twirled his claws through her dark hair. "You are simply mouth watering..." He shot a look to his vampire lackeys and they released their grip on Faith's' watcher and lunged for her. Faith reacted too slowly and one vampire knocked the shovel from her hand and the other launched her at the closest wall. Faith rose to her feet, took a stake out of her jacket pocket and began to fight back, hard.
Kakistos kicked Faiths watcher onto her back. She tried to sit up but he head-butted her and knocked her out. Faith was cornered and the vampires pinned her down. "Hold her! I want her to see this" Kakistos exclaimed through a nasty snarl. Faith was pinned stomach to the floor by one vampire while the other held her head so that she was forced to look in Kakistos's' direction. Kakistos tore her watcher's' skirt down the middle. He raped her. Faith screamed at him, cursing while she writhed under the strength of the vampires. Kakistos took pleasure in Faith's' shouts. He sank his teeth into her watchers neck. Willow couldn't watch, it was horrifying. She turned away. She only turned around at the sound of Faith's' stake collide with the chest of a vamp and him scream into dust. Her anger gave her the upper hand and she took out the two vampires as though they were simply kindergarteners. Kakistos didn't even notice, he was too busy and ignorant to notice. Faith picked up the shovel and plunged it right through Kakistos's' right eye. He screamed in pain and fell off of her watcher into unconsciousness. Faith could see by her watcher's' blank, lifeless and empty expression that her watcher was past help, even magical help. Kakistos began to squirm back into reality. Panic washed over Faith, she threw the shovel at the dirty, rocky ground and ran back though the dark tunnel.
Willow dropped her head in her hands; she was utterly saddened by what she had just witnessed. Every grudge Willow had against Faith dissolved into... pudding and sympathy. She looked up from her eyes expecting to find a corpse and a vampire but instead found Osiris standing in front of a vast white background. "What does that have to do with anything!" Willow yelled in anger and through tears.
"Since that moment Faith has never put her trust into anybody else. Even though she'll well never bring herself to admit it, she felt betrayed by her watcher for abandoning her. When the time comes Faith will not help you, she will not help anybody except herself" Osiris advised.
"I don't believe that" Willow replied. Osiris suddenly disappeared; Willow was startled by his abrupt departure. "Has he left me here? Alone? Forever?" she thought. It must have felt like hours to Willow, at one point she even sat down and randomly started blurting out vowel sounds just to check that her ears were still wired right. He abruptly returned in the distance and ran towards her. She got to her feet and brushed strands of hair out of her eyes.
"They're almost there Hecate!" he exclaimed. Tara's silhouette entered purgatory. It grew larger and larger until Willow could make out her dead lover's' features.
"I know I'm afraid we're behind this year dear brother. My powers drain every time we break through the time stream and if we wish to release her back to her time and reality she will just have to be told, not shown" she advised.
"Wait, hold it! Who's almost there?"
Thirty one hours and twenty-eight minutes earlier...
Kennedy dragged Nicholas into his black Aston Martin that he had parked in Giles's' usual space. Kennedy jumped in the driver's seat and Nicholas was forced to ride shot gun. She put the keys in the ignition and began to pull out onto the roads that lead into town. Buffy hurried down the sidewalk to catch up with them before they pulled out of the gates. She threw herself in front of the car causing Kennedy to jerk into a stop. Buffy got up and hopped round to the driver's seat window. Kennedy rolled the window down. "Buffy what the hell! I could have seriously killed you just now, jeez!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah and if you think that you can drive this early without any sleep in your emotional state you're going to meet the same fate. Listen, I wanna find Willow just as much as you do Kennedy. Scoot over and let me drive" Buffy proposed. Kennedy debated with herself whether to let Buffy come along. "Strength in numbers?" Buffy added with a smile. Kennedy smiled, booted Nicholas into the backseat, moved over and let Buffy in. Kennedy was completely silent during the ride through town, she gazed out the window looking into every car that passed to see if she could catch a glimpse of Willow's' long red hair but she was unsuccessful. Nicholas eventually spread out across the black leather that was the backseat and drifted to sleep. Cleveland was empty, barely a soul on the street. No vamps or demons in sight. Just the open road. Buffy let her eyes wonder, she figured they were the only people on the road so she let her concentration drop. She pondered the sidewalk on her side of the car and her eyes were drawn to a passed out dark haired man lying amongst broken glass. "Xander..." she mumbled under her breath. Kennedy heard her say something but she wasn't quite sure what.
"Huh?"She muttered. Buffy pulled the car into a jerking holt in the middle of the road. Nicholas was flung in the direction of the wind screen but instead met the back of Buffy's and Kennedy's chair.
"What in the world?" he asked groggily. Buffy leapt to Xander's' side while Kennedy trailed behind her.
"Buffy he's just passed out, again. We don't have time for this" Kennedy warned.
"Kennedy shut up its Xander!" Buffy exclaimed. She crouched to Xander's side, he was drooling all over the sidewalk and his whiskey bottle had smashed on the ground. Buffy shook him awake. "Xander" she said softly. "Xander it's Buffy."
"Huh?" he muttered. Buffy helped him up. He shook himself out of her grasp. "Get off of me Buff! I'm fine." Buffy froze at Xander's' words. He kicked the smashed bottle off the kerb and into the crease of the road. Buffy unfroze, grabbed him by the arm and punched him in the jaw. He fell sideways to his knees. He looked up at her shocked and noticed the tears in her eyes. "Buffy... I'm so sorry" She seemed to have knocked the drunken Xander out of him. "Wait, what is it?" he could sense there was something else bothering her than just his vile drunken attitude.
"It's Willow. She w-w-went b-back to Sunnydale to try to hel-help you. She went to do another resurrection spell for you!" She hit him again. "We all miss Anya Xander, and you made her feel so guilty, you made her feel like it was her fault. I don't know who you are anymore; she could be lying dead in a ditch somewhere and that's on you." She went to hit him again but Kennedy pulled her away. "Get your drunken ass in that car, if anything happens to her I swear to god I will push you into that crater myself." Xander opened his mouth to reply but he caught a 'don't make it worse for yourself dumbass' look from Kennedy. Buffy got back into her previous position in the car as did Kennedy. Nicholas had clambered back into sleeping position across the back seat. Xander opened the door.
"Move over British boy." He shoved his legs off the right side of the seat and sat down. "That was our conversation? I suppose it could have been worse. Why would Willow do this, I never asked her to. Bitch is trying to play hero. Oh my god, that's Willow I'm talking about. Oh man what's going on with me?" he thought as he shook his head from side to side as though to try to get his thoughts to fall out his ears. The rest of the car journey was pretty silent save for Nicholas's' soft snoring.
6:00 am.
7:00 am.
8:00 am.
9:00 am.
9:14 am. Buffy had let Kennedy take over driving when they reached Cincinnati and she slowly drifted to sleep. The vibration of her cell in her pyjama pocket startled her awake. She slid it up and held it to her ear; she didn't even bother to open her eyes. "Hello?"
"Buffy?" asked Dawn's' voice.
"Hey Dawnie what's up?"
"Uh I wake up to find Giles frantic in the library and you, Nicholas and Kennedy are missing?"
"Oh right... that, don't overreact but It's Willow, she's missing."
"Oh god, how's Kennedy?" Buffy looked over at Kennedy who was keeping firm eye contact with the road in front. 'When did the sun rise?' Buffy thought.
"She's dealing."
"Well I'm in full watcher detective mode, what can I do?"
"Actually the best thing I think you could do is sit tight. I'll call you if there's any news, shouldn't you be in school?"
"Yes because kids all over America go to school on Saturdays" Dawn said sarcastically.
"Ha ha. I'll see you in a little while. I love you." She hung up and tugged the phone back in her pockets. Xander wondered whether to say anything, maybe break the silence and he was curious to what Buffy's' reaction would be.
"Everything okay with the Dawnster?"He asked in an upbeat tone.
"Fine" Buffy said following a sigh. Xander heard her heavy exhale and took the hint.
9:20 am.
10:00 am.
12:00 noon.
2:00 pm.
4:00 pm.
5:30 pm. In the space of time were Buffy had finished her conversation with Dawn to now all the passengers in Nicholas's' car had uttered was "Pull over here, I need to use the bathroom" and "I think we're running low on gas, I think there's a gas station up ahead."
"That is... disappointing. No matter I think I can prolong their arrival" Osiris said smugly to his sister.
"Wait what is that supposed to mean?" Willow asked worried.
Buffy, Kennedy, Nicholas and Xander were driving on a desert road. It was blistering heat and there was no sign of civilization for miles. The heat floated on the road ahead in wave like transparent fire and through that Xander made out the statue of a hooded figure through the fog like sand.
"Is that a hitchhiker?" He asked confused, "We must be in the middle of dead vill, what's somebody doing out here alone?" Kennedy began to step on the breaks to talk to the hitchhiker.
"Whoa! What do you think you're doing?" Buffy asked rhetorically, "That guy could be a murderer or... some other type of homicidal... guy."
"Buffy this guy could have seen Willow. I'm stopping this car" Kennedy said assertively. Kennedy pulled over and waited for the man to catch up. Through Nicholas's' dark tinted windscreen Kennedy could see that the man was wearing a black jogging sweater with the hood up, tracksuit pants and shoes; his face was hidden by the hood. He crouched down by Kennedy's' door window and knocked on it. She gave Buffy a 'take it easy' look and pulled down the window.
"Hey buddy have you by any chance seen a red headed woman? She's about"- Kennedy was cut off by a pair of scaled green claws grabbing her by her top and dragging her out of the car. Buffy caught a glimpse of him, or rather its, face. It had bone coloured horns in the place where its ears should have been and its eyes were glowing a bright purple. His skin was scaled and green like his hands but he was absent a nose. Buffy leapt out of the car to Kennedy's' rescue followed by Xander while Nicholas rolled his window down and enjoyed the brief entertainment. The demon had Kennedy pinned to the ground and was whaling on her. Xander pulled him off her while Buffy scissor kicked it in the chest. Both the demon and Xander were sent hurtling in the opposite direction. The demon got up first and upper-cutted Xander knocking him into the trunk of the car. The trunk was blown open by the impact.
"I just had this car detailed, that's two hundred dollars flushed down the toilet" Nicholas grunted from inside the car. Buffy held a hand out to Kennedy to help her up. They stood facing the demon in an aggressive fighting stance and waited for his first move. He lunged at them with a right hook and caught Kennedy in the side of the head; she stumbled slightly and knocked Buffy to the ground. Kennedy retaliated but her attack was caught by the demon and he gripped her by the neck and held her in the air, he began choking her. Buffy stretched her leg out and twirled by the demons feet tripping him and knocking Kennedy free from his grasp. She dropped to the floor and coughed holding her neck. Buffy lunged for him, left punch, right hook, side kick and high kick but he was remarkably strong and countered her every attack. He flipped her over his shoulder and got her in the same position he had Kennedy moments ago. Kennedy got up to pull him off her but was interrupted by Buffy's' outburst.
"No, a weapon get, me a weapon!" Kennedy began rooting through Nicholas's' trunk for a stake or a sword of some sort.
Nicholas began, "Uh... my dear? Sorry to interrupt but I believe that that is a Spanish Illyard demon. Very strong..."-
"Let's just skip the demon animal kingdom tutorial and get straight into how we kill the thing!" Kennedy interrupted. Buffy kneed the demon to the chest causing it to flip straight over her head onto its back. They both got to their feet and continued the fight. Buffy was sent toppling over the hood of the car and the demon went for Xander, he was trying to creep behind the demon to help Buffy but it had heard him when he stood and crunched up a nearby soda can.
"I believe a hot metal rod through the demons head will do the trick. The heat of the rod grantees the demons brain will... well frazzle for lack of a better term" he advised. Buffy slid back across the hood of the car to help Xander. He released Xander at the sound of Buffy's' shoes hitting the tarmac road and caught a nasty jab to the head from her. Kennedy looked around for something rod like and metal. There was a sign post a couple of feet away warning travellers of wild dogs.
"I guess the pilgrims will have to take their chances with the savage beasts of the desert" she thought as she rammed the root of the sign with her boot. ¾ of the sign snapped off while the other ¼ stayed rooted into the ground. She picked it up and spotted Xander and Buffy getting whaled on by the demon. "How's this?" she asked Nicholas.
"Seems sufficient but it needs to be heated" said Nicholas.
"Kennedy hurry!" Buffy exclaimed. The demon had knocked Xander out and was choking Buffy on the ground.
"What was that spell, umm ah yes, Exuro lamia!" The metal signpost's' tip turned a burning white colour and Kennedy ran around the car to Buffy's' rescue.
"For Osiris I Live, for Osiris you'll die!" spat the demon in Buffy face. Kennedy heard what the demon said and, full of rage, thrust the pike through the head of the demon. It collapsed onto Buffy and she tossed it aside. Kennedy threw the pike on the ground and ran back to get in the car. Buffy helped Xander to his feet reluctantly, she was still angry with him.
"Uh guys, shouldn't we put Mr. Grinch... I dunno' somewhere that's else?" He asked concerningly.
"We so don't have time for that." Kennedy stated as she clambered back into the driver's seat.
"Diddo" said Buffy in agreement. Xander decided he would have agree to disagree and hurried back into the car. Kennedy stepped on the grass and they bolted forward with a screech; leaving tire marks on the tarmac.
"They defeated him sister, time works differently here, and one minute to us is hours for them. We must do this quickly" uttered Osiris. Hecate nodded.
"Do what quickly!" asked Willow worried.
Hecate began, "When the time comes when you...change, Alexander will not help you..."-
"It was Xander that saved me last time!" she argued.
Hecate continued, "But this time, he will not be there..."-
"You must not reveal too much about the future to the witch dear sister!" interrupted Osiris.
"Mr. Wood only looks to save his precious Slayer Faith. That Andrew fellow will not help you. Your precious Slayer Kennedy gives in to easily and does not help you. Rupert Giles was not surprised by your giving in and so gives up on you, he will not help you. And your precious Buffy Summers, you kill her witch and you kill her sister; the key."
"Her name is Dawn!" Willow spat through angry tears. "So I have no choice in this? You s-send me back to my reality without any power, helpless? That does not seem fair."
"You upsetting the balance of the world with your blasted spell on the potential Slayers made things unfair!" he retorted.
"Even if it upsets your precious balance it was necessary. We won. They lost. End of story." She said as she caught Hecate giving her brother a worrying look.
"I'm afraid the time has come. I am deeply sorry that it came to this" He stretched his arm out towards her as though to grab her by the breast. Hecate tilted her head to the side as though she was struck with a sudden realisation.
"Stop" she uttered. "Perhaps this time we reach... a compromise... of sorts?" Osiris looked intrigued and let his sister continue.
"We will allow you to keep your magic witch, if you give us something in return?" she proposed.
"Well I uh, like what? Ooh you can have my collection of ancient Samarian crystals? They'll fetch a healthy price somewhere... I think?" she persuaded but Hecate just ignored her comment.
"We will allow you to continue mystical, spiritual and magical practice if... you allow us to reset the balance between good and evil?" she offered with a smirk.
"Just how will you do that exactly?" added Willow.
"That's the deal witch, take it or leave it."
'Oh my god. What does she even mean? Like a zombie apocalypse maybe, because I don't think I can work the whole shotgun look. I'm better with the whole broomstick and pointy hat thing. But if I don't take her offer there will be girls all over the world waking up with this enormous power and nobody will know who they are or where to find them. Plus I won't be able to help Buffy. I'll just be that red haired lesbian on the fourth floor who's dating Kennedy. A few days ago my biggest decision was should I put milk in my coffee or not.' She thought frantically.
"Have you reached a decision?" Osiris asked impatiently. Willow shook her head from side to side. She even considered that this whole time had been a dream and that if she pinched herself hard enough she would wake up in Kennedy's' arms.
9:00 pm.
10:00 pm.
12:00 midnight.
2:00 am.
4:00 am.
5:00 am. "Home sweet home" Buffy announced as she spotted a sign through the darkness of night. It read, "Welcome to Sunnydale. Home of the Razorbacks!" They drove for another thirty seconds when Nicholas's' headlights met Giles's' Cherry red car that was parked just next to Willow's' unconscious body. Kennedy swerved to a stop and all four of them rushed to Willow's' side. Kennedy picked Willow's' head up off the damp concrete and placed it in her lap. She nudged her awake. Willow's' eyes twitched along with her fingers and legs. Kennedy kissed Willow on the forehead in relief. Buffy spoke first as it was Buffy who Willow first looked at. She was wearing a confused expression.
"Hey Will" she smiled, "Thank god you're okay, what' happened?"
She groggily lifted her head from Kennedy's' lap and sat up right, "Uh yeah I'm fine. Who're you?"