When Buffy and Dawn walk back into the house from their morning sister time, Tara looks up from the coffee she's nursing, a pensive look on her face.
"Buffy, would you mind. That is, can you teach me."
Buffy sits down at the table opposite Tara, "Tara, what's wrong?"
Dawn sits down beside Tara, and just hugs her from the side as Tara starts talking, "I'm worried about what you said the night before last. About almost killing all of us because you lost your memory."
Dawn lifts her head up and stares at Buffy, "Buffy, you didn't say anything about killing people."
Buffy holds out her hand to Dawn, "Dawn, I didn't try to kill of our friends last night. I went back to being BunnyGirl, a couple of days after they wiped my memory. So, I didn't know I needed to keep my void energies managed. If Spike hadn't touched my shoulder and got shocked, I'd have exploded in the shop, killing or injuring everyone else there."
Dawn looks horrified, "Buffy!"
Tara nods sadly, "Dawn, I have the same energy in me. I've been using less magic than I have since I got together with Willow, romantically I mean. It's been harder and harder to channel magic and not use whatever energy this is. It didn't hit me until the night before last, first with you exploding in front of the shop, and then while we were talking. That could have been me, but I wouldn't have known what was happening."
Dawn squeezes Tara harder, "I'm sure that Buffy will be able to fix it, she can fix anything."
Buffy chuckles, "There's plenty of things I can't fix Dawn, and as you grow into adulthood properly, you'll start to see that."
Dawns kitten jumps up onto a chair, and then onto the table before nudging Tara's arm.
Buffy chuckles, "Dawn, you really need to come up with a name for that one."
Dawn smiles, "I already have, silly. It's Emo."
Buffy drops her head to the table with a thud as Dawn giggles.
Feeling a bit better by the break in tension, Tara scritches Emo's head while Buffy picks up Patch from where he followed the bigger kitten, "Buffy, would you be able to teach me those techniques you use to keep control of your magic."
Buffy puts Patch on her shoulder, "Tara, it's not magic, it's void energy. The scientists at my old home have studied it and understand most of the ways it interacts with our dimension. I even remember the science and equations for the basic properties of that dimension. But beyond that, I only know the blueprints of the Tenno gear they designed, as we were weapons. Apart from those basics, one of which is that void beam, everything else was designed for it's effectiveness in a fight."
Tara slumps, "I don't think I have a choice, I need to learn them. I-I've been dreaming, and I don't think they're dreams. Last night I dreamt I was freaking out about being a 9 foot tall monster running down a corridor. There's also someone called Natah who keeps talking to me. I can't take it anymore."
Buffy stands up and makes her way around the table to give Tara a hug, "Tara, I'm so sorry you have to experience that, even second hand. Of course, I'll teach you those techniques, and if they help you great. While I remember, I've invited Vhesthine over for dinner on Saturday. That's tomorrow I think."
Tara nods, "Today's Friday."
Buffy looks over at Dawn, "Dawn, parental mode here, how are you feeling today?"
Dawn looks at Buffy, "I'm doing better I think."
"Do you think you can handle school if one of us walks you?"
Dawn smiles, "I'll have Emo, my emotional support cat, with me. Is it me or has he, or she, gotten bigger already?"
Buffy nods, "They were around the same age as Patch when I got them. That's going to get awkward very quickly."
Quickly grabbing Emo by the scruff of the neck, Buffy lifts him and inspects between his legs, "It's a him."
Tara blanches, "Are we going to get him neutered?"
Buffy looks at her blankly, "Neutered?"
"You know, chop his bits off, make sure he can't leave litters lying around."
Dawning comprehension crosses Buffy's face, "Oh, no, that would reduce his aggression, and he'll need that to defend Dawn properly."
Tara shakes her head, "Buffy, Dawn doesn't need that level of protection."
Buffy just looks at her, "Tara, are you living in the same Sunnydale as we are? You've seen what we come up against."
"Buffy, the only time Dawn is in danger is after dark. By which time she's either at work with you, at home with me, or at the Magic Box."
Dawn objects, "Hey, sometimes I go out with friends too."
Tara pats Dawn on the back, "Yes you do, not as often as you should though. You need more friends your age."
Dawn huffs, "Well, Janice and I aren't talking at the moment, and the others are all stupid and immature. So's school, I learn so much more from you than I do at school."
"That's because you have my mostly undivided attention while you're doing your homework. Now, off you go, you need to shower and then do your homework over breakfast."
Once Dawn is off to school, Buffy moves the coffee table in the lounge area.
"Tara, are you ready?"
Tara shakes her head, and takes a deep breath before sitting down in the now cleared space.
Buffy kneels down opposite her with a gentle smile, "The first thing you're going to learn is how to feel the void energy inside you. This might be easy or hard, but it's the first step to controlling it." She grimaces, "It's also the hardest step, as you have to keep that awareness all the time. You can't just check in occasionally, you need to know it like you know your bladder."
Tara winces, "So this is potty training all over again?"
Buffy shrugs, "I have no idea what potty training is, but probably."
"So how do I do this?"
Buffy sighs as she thinks, suddenly she remembers what happened just after she arrived, "Before we begin, I just remembered something. When I first arrived, the void energy inside me was quiet. I could use it, but it was hard. When I tried to change the school I was focused on…"
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Buffy looked around the strange room that also looks so familiar. Of the four possible doors she could have chosen to find this room, she managed to pick the wrong one twice. So much for the conquering hero of the origin system, or terrorist, or mercenary, depending on who you ask.
Lifting her hand, she looks at the scab with a shake of her head. Where ever this world it, and if it's an implant driven dream, or it's real. It's clear she doesn't have access to her implants. That means that she's now responsible for her own health and wellbeing, and a fighting style as outright offensive and aggressive as Madurai is probably going to be detrimental to her long term survival.
Looking around the room, Buffy finds a clear space, and kneels down in the centre of it. Closing her eyes, she looks inwards at the different faces of the structure she, and her brother and sister Tenno, had to construct around the wellspring of void energy inside them. A sense of nostalgia passes through her as she remembers Archimedean Naliee guiding her through creating the original, flimsy, shell.
Shaking herself out of her memories, she turns the structure to look at the different Tenno Ways. As she does, the void energy explode out of the placid sphere it was. Jumping and spiking like it was when they first recovered them from the Zariman. Pulled out of her meditation, she grimaces at the scorch marks on the walls and carpet before looking at the door in alarm.
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Buffy looks up as she finishes recalling that first attempt, "That's when I went out to warn Dawn about coming into my room unexpectedly."
Tara looks down in thought, "You're worried that this will happen to me too?"
Buffy nods, "I am, you have an advantage over us though. As you're already accustomed to handling energy. If this does happen to you, then we'll head out to the woods, and I'll teach you how to expel the energy in a directed beam. I don't believe that you'll be in danger of exploding, as that didn't happen to any of us until they wiped our minds. I think it's because we got so used to holding the energy in, that our bodies no longer expelled it without our control."
Tara looks on with dawning comprehension, "And you think they accidentally removed that automatic reflex when they removed your memories?"
Buffy considers that for a moment, "That's certainly a possibility. I'd need to consult an Archimedean about it, not that there are any here, as they were the scholars and researchers of the Orokin culture."
"What do you think would happen if we waited?"
Buffy sighs, "You said that it's getting harder to not use it. I would suggest that it's still coming through, just more sluggishly like mine did. At some point, you're not going to be able to avoid using it. Then you'll be stuck trying to do all of this without killing anyone."
Tara nods sadly, "I'll do it. What do I need to do?"
Buffy sighs, "Tara, my old home, they didn't have magic, so they were making these things up on the fly. For the moment, I just want you to find it, and I'll be here to give advice if you don't have anything that helps you. If that happens, I'll talk you through the visualisations we used."
Tara closes her eyes and easily finds the sense of calm that she and Willow used to use in the park when they were first communing with nature, and learning how to even touch magic, let alone use it. Buffy watches as tears start to fall down Tara's cheeks.
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Tara smiles as she builds up her favourite visualisation of herself and the magic around her. A small forest filled island to represent herself and her own experiences. Surrounding the forest is a soft sandy beach that separates the ocean of magic from herself. As she moves around the island, she finds old channels she's dug in the past to allow her to use magic. The hot milk from the other night is now just a faint runnel, and will be gone in another day or so. A deep channel that is still filling from her part in Buffy's resurrection. There are a few other channels that are almost filled from spells that she did with Willow over the last few months.
As she finishes the circuit of her island, she looks around in concern, as she can feel that new energy, so very close to the surface. Slowly, she sends vision into the forest that makes up her and her experiences. After an unknown amount of time climbing through the forest, she pauses as something niggles at the back of her mind. Looking around, she finds a rocky outcropping, this one represents her time in the cabin after her mother died. As she observes it, she notes that the sharp edges have worn away, and it's starting to look more like a natural part of her past than the jagged shard it used to be. Moving to the top of the outcropping, she looks out over the trees to the ocean of magic far below. As she does, that niggling feeling becomes stronger, and she feels like she's missing something frightfully obvious. Turning around, she tries to look up past the trees to see how far she has to go to reach the core of herself.
It's with dawning horror that Tara finds herself flying out over the ocean, her visualisation receding into the distance until she can take in the whole island. Where before it used to be mostly flat, with the occasional feature poking out above the treeline representing major traumatic events. Now, growing out of the island, is a volcano. All of her life events are now decorating the sides of the volcano.
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Tara's eyes open in a panic, "I'm a volcano, I'm a god damn volcano."
Buffy leans over and touches Tara, who jumps at the unexpected context, "Hello, I'm not Tara, so you're going to have to unpack that a bit."
Tara giggles nervously, "Hello Not Tara."
Buffy smiles at Tara, "What did you find?"
Tara puts her hand on her chest, takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, "A couple of years ago, when I met Willow, we used to practice magic, real magic, in the parks. We used a lot of those new age magick for beginner's type books, trying different things and even the occasional spell from the Giles' library when he let us. Most of the stuff was useless, even if we could get some of the spells to work for us. One that we did get working was visualising yourself and the magic surrounding you. It didn't really work for casting magic, so Willow gave it up after a few months. I kept it up because it allowed me to picture how my life was going."
She lowers her head shamefully, "I modelled my visualisation off of the sorts of desert islands that you read about in Treasure Island, or Robinson Crusoe, as they were usually quite pretty, but they were also isolated and alone. Like I was."
Having being doing some of her own meditation while Tara was meditating, Buffy struggles to remember what's expected in this situation. So she falls back on what works for Dawn, and shuffles round to pull Tara into a hug, and stroke her hair.
Tara sobs, "I'm so alone, still alone even when I thought Willow…"
Buffy holds her as she dissolves into incoherent sobbing, "Shh, shh, it's ok, we're all alone. We build connections with people, and invite them into our lives. Sometimes we're invited into their lives too. But all those connections are transitory, and will eventually pass, whether because you grow apart, or they die. It's like the old roads on Deimos, where they went all over the moon, connecting the different parts of it. But even thousands of years later, where there's only a few tracks from the families home worn in due to the frequent passage of the family and occasional visitor. Around the edges of their territory, you can still find remnants of those roads, showing that there was once a connection there."
The two of them sit/kneel there for a couple of hours before Tara recovers from crying herself out. Once she's recovered, she sits up firmly.
"Right. Crying isn't going to solve this. I need to. I need to accept that this is going to be part of my life one way or another. I need to make space for it, otherwise it will make its own space… Oh goddess, I can't do this."
Buffy rubs circles on her back, "Yes you can. Tara, you learnt to do magic, you can do this. You will do this, as I know that you will still be here once it's an undeniable part of your life. You will pick yourself up like our friends say you did after Glory, and you will go forward scarred, but stronger for knowing you survived it. The basis for each of the Tenno ways is a permanent use of void energy to do something for us, or around us. The Vazarin way makes it easier for my allies to learn and work together. The Zenurik way allows us to regain the energy we reserve for out abilities. The Madurai infuses our bodies, allowing us to hit harder, while Naramon allows to carry the flow of battle with us. Finally, Unariu infuses our bodies to make us impossibly surefooted.
"We also visualise a pool of energy that we hold so that we can do other things while the rest of our energy bleeds off. Though, that one didn't work so well, as we have nowhere to bleed it off to. But, you aren't us, you have the opportunity to make your own way, to find a way to deal with the energy without needing a tool to bleed off the excess."
Tara sits there being comforted by Buffy as her mind tries to process what was said. Then the strident tones of her cell phone alarm goes off, and both of them jump in surprise, leading Tara to giggle when Buffy punches a hole in the window with her void blast.
Sheepishly, Buffy hangs her head, "We can fix that."
Tara laughs out loud as she picks up the stuff she needs for university, before heading out. At the front door, she looks back at Buffy, with her binbag, newspaper, and Sellotape, "Thanks for staying with me earlier. It really helped."
Buffy calls back over her shoulder, "Your welcome. Oh void damn it!" Tara smiles as she closes the door while Buffy goes chasing after the roll of tape.
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As Buffy is packing a bag for work with the notebooks she's been using for her designs and threading her dagger onto her belt. The news catches her attention with the report of a security guard at the local museum being found frozen solid this morning. As it does, she turns to look at the screen, and her mouth drops open as the Frost Warframe immediately springs to mind. Rushing to the phone she dials the Magic Box and curses when it goes to the answer phone.
"Anya, it's Buffy, we might have a problem. Please tell me that there's something supernaturally that can freeze someone into a popsicle."
That done, she makes her way to the school to pick up Dawn, before heading to work before it finishes getting dark.
When the two of them arrive, in the reception area, Willow is waiting by Razial's door.
Dawn glances at Vhesthine, before skipping to the door to Razial's office and knocking politely. There, she stands, head looking at the floor slightly.
Willow hisses, "Dawn, what are you doing?"
Dawn doesn't say anything until Razial calls, "Enter!"
Razial looks up, and his eyes widen minutely in surprise, "What can I do for you Dawn?"
Dawn smiles at the desk, "Would I be able to have the disguise again please Master Razial? So that I can help Vhesthine."
Razial cocks his head curiously, then an incomprehensible stream of words pours out of his mouth, and Dawn feels her body shift.
As the feeling ends, Dawn smiles, "Thank you Master."
Razial waves her off, "If you see my apprentice out there. Tell her to just knock when she arrives rather than waiting until 4 on the dot. It will give her more time for personal instruction before she needs to work."
Dawn nods and closes the door, before turning to Willow, "Hi Willow, I guess you heard that."
"Dawn, what are you doing? He's a demon."
Dawn nods, "He is, but he's a nice demon. Not good, just nice. This means I get to help Vhesthine without needing to worry about customers trying to make off with me. I've got to get changed, enjoy your lesson."
Dawn skips off to the breakroom to get changed, only tripping once on the way. A muffled "Ow! That hurt." Comes from the other side of the breakroom door as it catches her tail.
Once Willow has picked her jaw up off the floor, she takes the implied order and knocks on the door.
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At a quarter to 8, Buffy puts down her tools and reduces the heat on the forge.
"Ir'in! I'm taking my break, I've got a meeting with the boss in 15"
Ir'in raises their appendage to acknowledge that they've heard her, before turning back to the iron fence they're making. As she walks to the stairs, she pauses for a few seconds as Roselyn works on the silver toppers for the iron spines. Each spike being a work of art on its own.
Pulling herself away from Roselyn's work, she makes her way upstairs to get cleaned up. Opening the door, she smiles at Dawn, "How are you getting on Dawn?"
Dawn smiles broadly at Buffy, "Ok, it's not as interesting as I thought it would be though. As Vhesthine's been dealing with paperwork most of the time. I did get to go downstairs to get some of the deliveries, and Roselyn showed me how she does some of her work. It's beautiful isn't it."
Buffy smiles, "Yes, Roselyn is a true artist. I don't remember seeing you down there though."
Dawn nods, "You were working on the big banging hammer."
Buffy nods in understanding, "Ah, that would be when I was learning how to make wrought iron by hand, as we only had cast stock. I'm glad you're doing well, and thank you for looking after her Vhesthine."
Vhesthine smiles, "She's a delight to have around, it's like having a fledgling at home, she's so full of questions."
Buffy nods, "Are you still on for tomorrow night?"
Vhesthine nods, "I am."
"Are there any human foods that you particularly like. I remember you said that it doesn't taste that good to you."
Vhesthine's eyes widen slightly, "Spiced food is nicer. It has lots of flavour and complexity so it doesn't feel so bleh."
Dawn looks at Vhesthine, "Is it really that bad?"
Buffy laughs, "Dawn, you've got a Hershey's bar in your bag, why don't you try it while I'm cleaning up before my meeting."
Dawn looks at Vhesthine, who waves her off, before bouncing after Buffy.
A few minutes later, they both come back. Dawn with a chocolate bar, and a can of Pepsi, and Buffy with her notebooks. Sitting back beside Vhesthine at the desk, Dawn opens the chocolate and takes a bite. A couple of chews later, she swallows hard and sticks her tongue out, "Bleurgh, that's disgusting. It's worse than eating cardboard."
Opening the Pepsi, she takes a mouthful, before running to the bathroom to spit it out. When she gets back she exclaims, "That was worse! Vhesthine, how do you cope?"
Vhesthine smiles, "If I have to eat, meat and a salad or rice. Water by preference, although I do like tea as it's fragrant. A meal has to be more than just sustenance for it to be bearable. I can't stand most Italian because it's so bland." She glances up at Buffy with a wicked smile, "Of course, the dessert is the most important part of the meal for succubus, and should be savoured slowly in bed."
Dawn scrunches her eyebrows, "What, like cherries and chocolate mousse? Or sex like Willow and Tara do sometimes?"
Buffy's face turns bright red, "I'm going to see if Razial's available a little early."
As Buffy disappears through the door, Dawn looks up at Vhesthine, "Vhesthine, um, how do young succubus feed if they can't eat food?"
Vhesthine looks at Dawn seriously, "Dawn, I'm not sure that I should tell you. I am becoming fond of you, and I fear that your disguise is less of a disguise than it should be."
Dawn looks at her with concern, "It can't be that bad, can it?"
Vhesthine nods gravely, "The way we feed our young also teaches them how to feed themselves. If, on Saturday, I see you not only eat, but enjoy your meal, I will consider telling you about it. I may even demonstrate for you if Buffy agrees."
Dawn smiles, "I know, we can get spike to punch me. If he gets a migraine, then it's a disguise. That's what he did to prove that Tara wasn't a demon last year."
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Buffy walks in and pauses as she sees Willow working at a table, drawing a circle of chalk around a quartz crystal while muttering an incantation. Giving her a quick glance of wariness and distrust, Buffy takes a seat in front of Razial. Once it becomes apparent that he's busy with something, Buffy lays out her notebooks and starts to order her thoughts. Starting with the feeling of mortification she seems to have inherited from Buffy Summers.
It doesn't take too long for Razial to finish his work, and clear it away before looking up at Buffy. "Apprentice Buffy, you asked for a meeting."
Buffy nods, "I need help. The other night I almost killed my friends and myself because my memory was stolen."
Razial nods, "I see, continue."
"The reason I almost killed them, is the build-up of void energy."
Razial looks over at Willow, "Apprentice, come and take notes. This is important. Please explain what you mean by build-up and what that energy source is."
Buffy nods, "I was born around 1,000 years ago into the Orokin culture. 16 years later, the colony ship we were on was trapped in the void. The void energy drove all of the adults insane, and we had to kill them to survive. Every single child or adolescent that survived made a deal with an entity that exists in the void. This allowed us to channel the void as a weapon against the adults. When we were rescued, we discovered that while we had left the void the void had not left us."
Razial nods, "And what is this place you are talking about?"
"It is another dimension."
Razial taps on his desk, "Yes, the problem becomes clear now. However, you say you were born 1,000 years ago. How then was this not a problem for you then?"
Buffy opens the notebook that has her designs for sleeping pods, and amps, in it, "The void was discovered thousands of years before I was born, and the Orokin were very adept at using and manipulating it. We were taught a variety of mental techniques to control the void inside us, they also designed pods like this one to syphon void energy away from us while we slept. When I awoke from the Second Dream properly, I learnt that they had also finished the design of a wrist mounted device that would do the same, and also act as a reservoir of void energy for a built in weapon. I have designs for all of those in that notebook. The problem is that I no longer have access to the materials we used to make them, or the tools we used to put them together. I was hoping you may know of where to get similar tools or alternative materials that may work."
Razial spends a few minutes flicking through the notebook. At one point he mutters a spell, and his eyes narrow slightly as a nictating membrane flicks across them rapidly.
"These designs are well drawn, though the language is unfamiliar to me. However, to know if I am able to help you, I must first understand the energy that you are using. Will you be willing to demonstrate this energy for us?"
Buffy nods, "I'm always using it, so sure."
Razial mutters a few spells, before shaking his head, "I suppose it was a faint hope that I could detect it. Apprentice. Let Vhesthine know that we will be gone for at least an hour." He pauses for a second and Willow hurries to the door, "Tell her that I request she escort Dawn home if we have not returned by close of business, and stay with her until Buffy returns."
Buffy starts to gather up her notebooks, when she pauses as Willow comes back inside, "What about Dawn's disguise?"
Razial waves his hand airily, "I am teaching my apprentice tomorrow, I will remove it when I return her."
Buffy scowls, but doesn't push the issue, as she's aware that he could have left it till work on Monday. When Willow returns, Razial takes hold of both of them and they disappear, only to reappear in a stone circle, which is itself sitting on a hill in a desolate landscape dominated by obsidian, granite, and lava flows. The sky above hangs heavy with dark clouds that glow an ominous red.
As she finishes looking around, Buffy asks, "Where are we? As this could be Jupiter, or pre-terraforming Venus. But I don't think we're on a mining platform, equally, we're not suffering from breathing in the atmosphere."
Razial looks at Buffy curiously, while Willow looks at her in horror, and blurts, "How do you even know what those look like?"
Razial gives Willow a stern look, and she cowers, "Sorry Master."
Razial growls, "That is not why I am upset with you. Buffy has already told you the answer to your question not 10 minutes ago. You must start using your intelligence for analysing what you know as well as gathering information. Only then will you start asking pertinent questions."
Hoping to divert attention away from Willow's behaviour, Buffy asks, "As we're not currently in the middle of any demonstrations. What was Willow doing when I came in?"
Razial glances at Willow to make sure she's paying attention, "She was imbuing crystals with magic using a magic circle to filter out the taint in the magic."
Buffy looks surprised, "Taint? Does that affect spells?"
"For the most part, it doesn't."
Buffy looks confused, "Then why would you need to remove it?"
"Because a magic circle can only filter magic to a level as tainted as the magic used to create it."
Buffy opens her mouth, then closes it again as she thinks, "Wait, doesn't that mean that there was no point to the circles Willow was using?"
Tears start to form in Willows eyes at the question, and she starts openly crying when Razial answers, "Indeed."
"So, how does someone create a circle with less taint than they themselves have?"
"One way would be to use the magic from a crystal to create the circle."
Buffy shakes her head, "No, that doesn't track, as you then have a Kubrow and pup scenario, except genetic engineering isn't an acceptable answer. There must be some way to quickly reduce the amount of 'taint' someone has."
Razial nods, "Go on."
Buffy sinks down to her knees so that she can mediate to clear her thoughts, "It is possible to use soiled water to make something cleaner than the water, but that requires higher pressures, and the impurities act as an abrasive. Alternatively, you could use something as a filter and cycle the tainted water through the system, and then through the filter. Then each time it passes through that filter, it would be slightly cleaner than it was. But then you need to make sure that the filter is either cheap enough to be disposable, or simple enough to clean that you don't make things worse again by doing so. I seem to remember that sedimentation used to be used as well, but that takes a lot of time, and not all impurities will settle out of water. There's another possibility that works for liquids… evaporation. You can evaporate the liquid and recondense it. That would get rid of nearly all impurities." Standing up she adds, "I'm not sure how that would apply to magic, but it's where I'd start."
Razial nods, "Indeed, and there are similar methods for magic, but they are either painful or long."
Buffy hums, "Would I be able to get the details of a couple of ones that should only be uncomfortable, but take a moderate amount of time, one with a filter, and one without. Same way I did the spell for Dawn's cat?"
Razial nods, "I can acquire those for you, do you wish them deducted from your pay, or pay upfront."
"That all depends on how expensive they are."
Willow tearfully says, "Master, why didn't you tell me yesterday?"
Razial turns to Willow, "Oh, but I did. I told you that the purest crystals were used in large scale cleansing rituals. You are not a youngling, so I will not spoon feed you. You are intelligent and resourceful that is why you are my apprentice. It is up to you to hone those traits and use them to pick out the information you need, and identify where you are lacking."
Willow ducks her eyes, "Yes master."
"Remember, you are my apprentice, that means you are encouraged to ask relevant questions."
Willow sags, "Yes master."
Razial turns his attention to trying to divine the nature of Buffy's Void energy, to little to no avail. Though, this seems to leave him happier than he started, to the point that he begins instructing Willow in how to help in more than just impatient or exasperated terms.
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When an exhausted Willow gets back to her dorm that night, she looks tiredly at Amy in her cage. Then she heads to the kitchen, to splash her face with cold water. Finally, she smiles slightly and starts writing out her idea for restoring Amy to human form. At some point she remembers to set her alarm, and wakes up with the imprint of her pen in her cheek.