"What did Willow do to herself?" Xander asked, terrified for the sister of his heart.
"Let me give them some background first, so everyone understands. A century ago, one of the most vicious demon breed vampires in existence, fed on and killed a teenage gypsy girl. For some reason, her people thought the best way to deal with him, was to curse him. And it was a nasty curse too. Only problem is, all it does to the demon is confine it. What they did, was tear the soul that had occupied the body at the time of death from its most recent reincarnation and bound it into the vampire. The soul was what suffered, not the demon. Fast forward a century, and a cheerleader valley girl is Called as the latest Slayer. She meets the vampire with a soul, tragic tortured and very handsome hero or so she wants to believe. That he was twenty six at the time he became a vampire and she was fifteen when he first became interested her, just makes it more romantic for her. They fell in love and the curse was broken. Since the point of it was suffering and he wasn't suffering anymore, the demon was free. She couldn't bring herself to destroy the monster wearing her lover's face and he spent five months rape, torturing and killing his away around Sunnydale. Over a hundred people total died. Then the curse was rediscovered. Willow decided she could do it. She had no clue what she was doing, but wanted to believe she did. She's a practicioner witch, which means, she has to acquire power from outside herself to practice Magic. The closest source of power in Sunnydale is the Hellmouth. She drew Hellmouth energy into herself to do that curse and now it's apart of her body and soul. And to make matters worse, the soul had moved on and she too, tore it from its most recent reincarnation. And the demon was in the process of opening a portal to a demon dimension using his own blood and a sacrifice, which meant to close it, his blood and a sacrifice was needed. Buffy had to send him, soul and all to that demon dimension to close the portal." Leo told them, horrifying everyone listening.
"None of us knew. Oh gods, Willow. We've seen what Hellmouth energy can do to people. And from the outside. Who knows what it can do on the inside." Xander said. "We have to get back to Sunnydale. We need to talk to Giles, there has to be a way to help Willow."
"Tell him to look in the works of Dramius. That will help him find a means of cleansing it from her." Leo told him.
"We will." Cordelia told him. "We should go. I may not like Willow very much, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone. And I know Xander's going to be frantic until we get this resolved. Willow's like a sister him."
"And we'll stay in contact and think about the Elders idea. I'll see you Saturday Leo, for our boxing lesson."
"Let me give you our phone number." Prue said, writing it down quickly. "If there's anything we can do to help, call us, okay? This sounds bad."
"We will." Cordelia said, tucking the piece of paper into her purse. She and Xander headed for their rental car and back to the airport. Xander drove so Cordelia could call ahead and have the plane readied and cleared for take off. Sometimes having money could be very useful, especially alot of money, because people jumped to be accommodating. Fortunately it wasn't a long flight and they were soon back in Sunnydale and headed straight to Giles condo, where Xander explained what they'd learned.
"You are descended from a whitelighter and are manifesting whitelighter abilities. Cordelia's mother came from another reality and is a Halliwell, the most powerful line of born witches in the world. Cordelia's powers are currently bound and Willow used Hellmouth energy to pull a soul from its reincarnation in order to redo the curse on Angel. To sum up everything you just told me." Giles said. "I should have realized the power would come from there. And why didn't I realize the soul had reincarnated?"
"Probably because Buffy seemed to think Angel was still in there, just buried under Angelus. No one was really thinking things thru, Giles. And Buffy was so desperate to get Angel back, that all we could see was how it was affecting her." Xander said. "Leo said to check the works of Dramius, you can find a way to help Willow in there."
"And Prue said they'd be willing to help if you need it." Cordelia added. "And the Halliwell's are really the most powerful line of born witches in the world? They didn't say anything about that."
"They mostly just seem like an ordinary family. That kicks demon butt apparently and guards the entrance to the Underworld, which isn't a demon or Hell dimension."
"No, it's more like a city for demons. A place where they can be demons without the risk of exposure. Both sides want to avoid that. Chances are, humans would turn on both sides out of fear and humans outnumber both sides, combined. The works of Dramius are at the library. I'll begin studying them tomorrow. I will find a way to help Willow, I promise. I was so blindly trying to help Buffy that I didn't see what was right in front me."
"Giles, I had a thought. Leo reminded us that there are two Slayers right now. What are the chances we could get the new Slayer transferred here? We have no idea when or even if, Buffy will ever come back. We're doing our best to guard the Hellmouth, but we need muscle. And Cordy and I aren't sticking around after graduation. I especially can't. I can do alot of good if I manifest whitelighter abilities and I don't want to risk turning into a demon. Knowing Sunnydale is protected would go a long way towards easing my mind and I wouldn't feel like I was abandoning you guys."