Abracadabra
Title: Abracadabra
Author: Illyria13 (also go by andariel18)
Word: 5889 wds
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: What if the words "I love you" weren't enough for a juiced-up dark witch? If you only have a few minutes left in this world, what kind of revelations do you have?
Spoilers: AU Season 6, "Grave". Any and all events leading up to this episode could be mentioned.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my millions of DVDs and my laptop. I tried not to copy any dialogue directly from the episode, and maybe two lines are quotes from other Buffy episodes.
A cookie to whoever gets the title!
A/U Season 6, “Grave” Set after Willow gets the power boost from Giles and goes from there.
Summary: What if the words “I love you” were not enough for a juiced-up, dark witch? If you only have a few minutes left in this world, what kind of revelations do you have?
Abracadabra
By Illyria13
The very earth surrounding the witch trembled as her powers ripped through it. Groaning in protest, it slowly separated, releasing the temple that she sought. A smirk twisted her blackened lips as her eyes flashed in victory. That annoying Watcher had thought she would feel sorrow for the pain of the world. He thought their pain would hurt her? Nothing could hurt her. All it had done was give her an idea. It was rather simple.
Destroy the pain. Destroy the world.
It was almost too easy.
But of course her plans had to be interrupted by the arrival of the infamous Xander Harris. Honestly, couldn’t anybody in that pathetic Scooby Gang just let her do what she wanted? Turning to face her long-time best friend, Willow fixed him with an irritated glare.
“You couldn’t just leave well enough alone. Give it up, Xander. I’m not stopping no matter how much you beg. Spare yourself some humiliation.”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned her attention back to her task; a green wind tunnel of power flowed from her to the earth to the temple. Suddenly, the power shorted out as the figure of a man disrupted the flow. Heaving an exasperated sigh, she flung the person backwards, watching as he hit the temple and fell to the ground.
“Can’t a witch kill without everybody else getting involved?”
“Willow, please. You don’t want to do this. I know you, the real you. You could never do this. Remember Jesse? You were so upset when he died. You told me later that you missed it being just us, like when we were kids. Think of those times,Wil. I miss that part of you. I miss those times.”
Willow smiled gently as she stepped forward.
“I miss those times too.” Raising her hand, she struck out with the magic, slicing Xander’s skin. “Play now?”
“Wil, please. You won’t hurt me. You love me; I’m your best friend. Before Buffy, before everyone. It’s me. Xander. Can’t we just talk before you do something you’ll regret?” He pleaded with her, trying to get her focus on something other than her pain.
“Talk? You wanna talk? Fine, then. We’ll talk.”
Unleashing a scream of fury, Willow pushed him into a tree, vines holding him still like rope.
“Well, now. Doesn’t this look familiar? This is exactly how Warren was before I killed him.” Seeing Xander open his mouth to speak, she laced it shut with thread. “Shh. I’m speaking now. This is me talking. Best friend to best friend.”
Stepping back, the dark witch looked at him thoughtfully, gathering her thoughts.
“Correction. You were my best friend. Best friends don’t kill other best friends’ girlfriends. Best friends aren’t jealous of said girlfriends. And best friends don’t spend their entire lives trying to destroy their other friends’ happiness.”
Her voice lowered to a sibilant hiss as she glowed. The black magic rose around her like a menacing shield; a silent shroud of destruction.
“You never approved of her. Of us. As if I couldn’t see the way you looked at her…you were disgusted at what we had. But that’s not the only truth, is it Xander? At least, not the real truth.
Truth is, you couldn’t stand somebody else having me. You didn’t want to share. Admit it. If you couldn’t have me, then no one else could. Not Oz. Not Tara.
You took them from me. You wanted me all to yourself and did everything in your power to keep me.”
The deranged witch threw her head back and laughed.
“Power? What power? You’ve never had any. Always fighting, yet oh so weak. Everyone else around you had power, but not you. Never you. You’re not the Slayer, not a witch, not a demon. You’re nothing.
And despite all your efforts, you failed. So you tried to replace me instead. Cordelia. Faith. Anya.
And all you did was destroy them. In your effort to make them more human, you drove them further away. Into the darkness.”
Willow paused at the look of surprise on Xander’s face.
“Oh, you didn’t know? Cordelia is a demon now. Faith, well, she was never human to begin with. And Anya? You gave us back Anyanka. Without you, she never would have gone back to her old ways. Nice work.”
“Willow, please. I know you’re hurting but I can help you. It doesn’t have to end like this. I’m sorry that Tara died. But it will get better. Just let me-,” His voice cut off into an agonizing howl. Vivid red lines appeared across his stomach as an unseen force ripped into him.
Willow clenched her fist closed, yanking harder at his skin.
“Don’t you ever say her name! You don’t have the right. She deserved so much. More than she ever got from this pathetic world. She didn’t deserve to die.” The sinister witch’s ebony eyes flashed in anger. Waves of black magic drifted off of her, and the very air was thick with it.
“You think you know my pain? You haven’t even begun to feel it. But you will. You and everyone else in this world. They’ve already had a taste of it, I could feel that. But you? Not even close.”
She stepped closer to her bound captive with a menacing smile.
“When I get done with you, you’ll be begging to join your little friends. And the pain that you’ll feel? Won’t even be a fraction of my pain.
And just when you think you can’t take any more, I’ll give you the death you will so desperately want.”
Horrified, Xander stared at his best friend, seeing only a shadow of her former self. Deep down, he knew that no one else was coming. It was up to him to stop Willow. Gazing into her black eyes, Xander was hit with the sudden epiphany that he wasn’t going to succeed.
“Aw, what’s the matter, Xander? I thought you loved me. I mean, this is what love is. Sharing my pain, you feeling what I feel.” Placing her hand on his chest, black lightning shot from her fingertips.
Willow breathed her next words into his face.
“Tell me. Is it everything you hoped it would be?
/
Electricity crackled and sparked as the wooden shelves moaned in protest. Looking up, Anya gave a small shriek as bits of plaster rained down from the ceiling. The Magic Box was destroyed; the magic unleashed by the unbalanced witch had torn it from the ground, making it unstable and dangerous. Anya knew that the building wasn’t going to remain standing for long. Unfortunately, she had other problems to be concerned about.
Looking back down at her charge, the ex-vengeance-demon-now-back-at-it wondered how things had fallen apart so quickly. How had she let herself become this? A quaking ball of fear that had hidden behind a Watcher and his Slayer? She was better than this. She had brought herself back into her old powers after the insanity that was Xander Harris. How dare she act like a weak, pathetic human!
A moan from the floor distracted her, causing her to look down at the bleeding man. Giles choked, blood frothing on his lips at an alarming rate. He gasped and wheezed as his internal organs began to shut down. Already his lips were beginning to blue and his skin was turning an ashen color.
And with sudden clarity, the vengeance demon realized that the human was going to die, and he was going to die soon.
She didn’t know how long she sat there, her hand resting on the chest of the fallen Watcher. It had stopped rising a brief moment before as the soul that was encased had fled from its shell.
Humans were wrong, Anya thought bitterly. There was no beauty in their deaths, no final farewells or a look of peace. There was only despair.
A loud rumble snapped Anya out of her musings as she lost her balance, pitching forward onto the floor. Gasping for breath, she moaned as the very air around her thrummed with power.
A slow smile crept onto her lips. She was one of D’Hoffryn’s chosen few and understood better than any in the Scooby Gang what Willow was doing. By unleashing the temple, Willow was going to destroy this plane, finishing the job started by Proserpexa’s followers. Already Anya could feel the life-force from the planet being drawn towards the temple. She knew it was only a matter of time before the dark witch completed her task.
Casting her energy inwards, Anya focused on the essence of the Slayer, attempting to locate her. There! Snapping her eyes open, she prepared to teleport to Buffy in order to tell her what Willow was planning.
Yet something stopped her. The vengeance demon in her rose up, whispering in her mind.
You know what the witch is doing. And you know that the Slayer can’t stop her. Not in time.
“Xander is there. You heard Giles, he’s the only one that can stop her,” she protested. “If anyone can, it’ll be him. He’s known her forever.”
Do you really think that impudent boy will be able to stop the witch? You can feel her power. You can feel the fury, the grief, the vengeance. It’s in her blood. And once it’s in there, it will never come out. What will the boy do? Spew meaningless words in the hope of comforting her? He’s as good as dead.
“No! I have faith in him. Xander… He can do this. He…”
Listen to me! The human part of the witch is gone and nothing will bring her back! If the worthless mortal could get close enough to kill her, then he’d have a chance. But you and I both know that he won’t. It is as you said. He’s known her forever. He will never bring harm to her, even at the cost of his own life or the life of the world.
“I could teleport there and tell him. He’d listen to me!” Anya cried out in desperation, her words flashing back to her. I care whether you live or die, Xander. I just don’t know which one I want.
And do you really think he’d choose you over her?
With these final words, the demon’s voice withdrew and settled in the back of her mind. But it had done its job.
Anya stopped as the truth of the words struck home.
One of D’Hoffryn’s first lessons: Never go for the kill when you can go for the pain.
She had never understood it until now.
There was nothing to hold her here. All her ties to this plane had been dissolved, and the way things were looking, this world wasn’t going to be standing for much longer.
Taking a deep breath, Anyanka made a decision.
“Blessed be, the name of D’Hoffryn. Let this space be now a gateway to the world of Arash Ma’har, where demons are spawned…”
/
The gift of foresight can be very helpful, especially in battle.
Sometimes, when she slept, she would see things. Visions and specters of the past haunted the dreamscape, while siren calls of danger filtered across the canopy. She’d wake up unable to breath, drenched in sweat and thrumming with energy.
She had never told anyone.
One group of crazy followers had tried to kill her and everyone else, and had almost succeeded. Too many had been hurt or killed that night; they couldn’t handle any more attempts like that.
In time, she had grown accustomed to the whispers. They had saved her life on more than one occasion. They gave good advice and got her out of many dangerous situations.
So when a scream of danger filtered through her mind, she reacted. Grabbing the knife she always kept at the small of her back, she spun, flinging it towards the demon that was attempting to choke her sister. The knife slammed into its’ back; dropping its’ victim, it fell to the ground unmoving.
The stunned look on the Slayer’s face was priceless as the realization that her little sister had just saved her life sunk in.
Too bad Dawn didn’t have the time to appreciate it.
Without pausing, she lifted her elbow, slamming it into the face of the demon that had snuck up behind her, intent on catching her off guard. It fell to the ground like a stone.
Seeing her sister open her mouth, Dawn quickly cut her off with a terse, “Not now.”
Without stopping to see if the Slayer had obeyed, Dawn rolled out of the way of an incoming fist and turned her attention back to the fight.
Working together, the two sisters quickly dispatched the rest of the dirt demons; Dawn’s seemingly flawless fighting style coming in handy. When they were done, the only sound was their harsh breathing echoing throughout the cavern.
That seemed almost too easy, Dawn thought, as a deep chill went down her spine. What is she going to hit us with next?
She was broken out of her thoughts by a hand grabbing her forearm, jerking her around. Coming face to face with her sister, Dawn mentally groaned. The Slayer was not happy. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.
“Do you really think now is the time for this?”
Dawn wanted to hit herself the moment the words came out of her mouth. What better time for a deep chat when the world was going to end at any moment? Taking a deep breath, she tried again.
“I don’t know what it is. It just sorta happened. One moment I was my normal, crazy self and the next, I had abilities and memories that weren’t my own,” she spoke quickly, praying her sister would leave it at that. They were running out of time.
She wasn’t that lucky.
“You saw that demon even though your back was turned. How did-,”
“I know it was there? I don’t know. Just like I can’t explain how I know that Giles is dead. How about the fact that Willow is raising a demonic temple that is going to suck the energy out of the earth and destroy us all? I don’t know how and I don’t know why. But that is the least of our problems. Please, Buffy, just leave it at that,” Dawn pleaded.
The Slayer’s mouth pressed into a firm line as she nodded reluctantly.
“Fine. Now, since you seem to know so much, tell me what’s going on with Willow.”
Dawn nodded, releasing the breath she had been holding.
“Well, from what I can tell, she’s raising a temple out of the ground and using it to channel the life force of the planet. It’s going to drain it and destroy us in the process. First, we’ll lose-,”
“Ok. I got it. End of the world, everyone dies, blah blah blah. God, could we have something original for once?” The Slayer sighed in frustration, sitting down on the ground; her shoulders slumped in defeat and weariness. When she spoke again, unshed tears made her words heavy.
“Wil, why are you doing this? What would Tara think if she could see you now?”
“Because she feels she has nothing left. Don’t you see? Willow defined herself by Tara. When Oz left, Tara filled his spot. She became everything you and Xander couldn’t be for her. Don’t you remember what happened when Glory came after Tara? Willow almost destroyed her as payback. Tara was everything to her. Glory only hurt her, and Willow nearly killed her. Are you really that surprised that she wouldn’t kill the person who killed Tara?”
“Yeah, but this is Wil. How could she do this?”
“Wake up, Buffy! Willow is gone. That isn’t her anymore, I can feel it. The witch that’s going to destroy the world is Willow’s pain, her grief. It’s all that is left. And the boost of magic she took from Giles only made things worse. She’s feeling the pain of the entire world, not just hers. It drove her insane, Buffy. She thinks she is doing everyone a favor by ending it all. If she-”
Dawn stopped as a tendril of fear snaked down her spine. A sense of doom crept into her bones, and a tingling sensation swept over her body. Looking down at her hands, she was astonished to see a faint glow of power wafting off of her skin.
The Key was struck by a sudden premonition of her previous conversation with the dark witch at Rack’s.
“It’s time you went back to being a little energy ball.”
Crying out in agony, Dawn collapsed to the ground as her entire body began to glow. Sparks of power crackled at her fingertips and the heat she was emitting intensified.
The pain was everywhere. Inside her heart and her head and her mind. She was vaguely aware of the Slayer leaning over her, shouting something that she couldn’t hear over the roar in her ears. Images reeled across her eyes, disorganized and indistinguishable from the next
/Flash/ A smiling Buffy and Xander walking down the hallway towards a red-headed figure.
/Flash/ Buffy, Willow and Xander at the bronze, watching Oz onstage with his band.
/Flash/ A heartbroken Willow watching Oz pull away from the curb, weeping in agony.
/Flash/ “I am, you know. Yours”; A whispered promise between two witches that would last a lifetime.
/Flash/ An argument that would set these two lovers apart and place them on the path towards death and destruction.
/Flash/ Red on white, a macabre splatter of fury.
/Flash/ Blackened hate, a web of destruction and vengeance leading to the damnation of all.
In a moment, it was over. Dawn lay there struggling to breathe, her very mind feeling raw and torn.
Yet somehow, she knew it wasn’t finished.
I guess everything’s coming full circle, Dawn though hazily. Her head lolled to the side as a mad giggle escaped her throat. She closed her eyes against the pulsating light that seared her eyes.
Unbidden, a vision of herself and her sister as children playing jump rope rose in her mind, and the haunting rhyme echoed through her ears.
Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down.
“Yes,” Dawn whispered aloud to herself. “It’s all falling down.”
And the world exploded in a nauseating whirlwind of emerald green light.
/
I never thought breathing could hurt so much Giles reflected. Then again I’ve never had a whole store brought down on my chest either. Moaning with pain, and every bone in his body screaming in protest, he attempted to lift himself off the floor, knowing there wasn’t much time left. He needed to get to Willow. He was the only one who could possibly stop her now. He could sense that Dawn and Buffy were dealing with their own problems. That left him.
If only he could get up.
Giving one more valiant effort, he screamed as an audible crack wrenched through the air. Falling back to the floor, he felt a sense of fear freeze his body as the sensation in his legs disappeared.
Blinking back his tears of pain, Giles marveled at the changes that had occurred in the young people that had been so important to him. Once again, he cursed himself at abandoning them just when they needed him most. It wasn’t about being an adult; they had cried for help and he had ignored it.
Buffy…she had been his daughter in everything but blood. He knew how hard she had adjusting to being back from the dead. She had been resentful and aloof, uncaring and cold. He had understood why. She had given so much for the world, and the world had spat in her face. She had finally found a purpose beyond just slaying; when she was brought back, that purpose had been destroyed. She felt, and rightly so, that her gift had been meaningless; that her sacrifice had meant nothing.
Yet he had left her. Instead of helping her reconnect, he’d left, hoping it would force her to grow up and act like the adult she was. What he had neglected to realize was that she wasn’t an adult. At least, not at first. She had suffered a great trauma, one no one would be able to sympathize with. Her entire life had been one trauma after the other, and just when she thought she was done with it, she wasn’t. He had no right to expect that she would deal with being brought back in a calm, rational manner. In neglecting her, he had destroyed her. His ill-thought actions were going to destroy the world.
Xander…Giles had watched him grow from a laughing prankster to a mature man. He’d seen the love between him and Anya, wondering how this person had shown a vengeance demon how to love again. He’d watched Xander help Buffy and Dawn adjust to the lack of parental figures in their lives. And he’d realized that Xander was an incredibly intelligent young man that was the balance to the Scooby Gang’s mystical powers. For Xander to go against everything he’d every believed in and leave the woman he loved at the altar, it was the biggest sign of distress. If he had been there, perhaps he could have helped ease his mind. Worst of all, Anya had returned to being a vengeance demon, becoming one more threat to the world that they didn’t need.
Speaking of Xander, where is he? Giles pondered. Perhaps he can…there.
“He is with Willow.” He spoke aloud without realizing. Maybe he can do what I could not. Maybe he can talk Willow into becoming, well, Willow again.
Thinking of the dark witch made his very heart throbbed in pain. She was his greatest failure as a Watcher.
He had first introduced her into the magicks, hoping that under his tutelage he could control what she learned. He had so hoped that he could keep an eye on her power and stop her if things got too far. He had failed at that as well.
He’d seen how far she’d gotten but had been utterly blind to her intents. Raising Buffy from the dead had been the last straw for him, and the argument they had had rang in his ears.
It was himself he was mad at, not her. And even though he had seen how far she had fallen, he still left her unchecked. If he had done something then, perhaps the sweet red-head he remembered from the high school library could have stayed alive.
Yet his foolish plans had backfired yet again, and Willow was lost to them. It wasn’t just the magic; she had taken a human life. Together, those two made the likelihood of saving the smart, inquisitive witch very slim.
Of course, if she destroyed the world first, then Giles wouldn’t have to worry about saving her. Even if Xander stopped her, he wasn’t sure if he’d be around for the aftermath.
Giles winced as he felt the blood rise in his throat, causing him to cough violently. Cold swept through his body as the red splattered on his face and clothes.
I guess this was life’s way of hindsight being 20/20. And your life really does flash before your eyes before you die.
Giles had one last moment of clarity as the world began to dim to blackness.
I failed in my duties as a Watcher. Now the world has to pay for my mistakes.
I wonder what the Council would think of that?
/
It was days like this that really made her wish she had stayed dead.
Dodging a fist aimed for her face, the Slayer found herself slammed against the wall, struggling to breathe. She wondered why it seemed to be the goal of all evil beings to choke her to death. Kicking at the demon fruitlessly, she pondered the irony of dying in a dirt tomb. Considering she had dug herself out of one grave already, she figured she could do it again. And there was that one time in the nightmare universe when she rose as a vamp-
Feeling the edges of her vision blacken, Buffy was surprised to see a flash of silver in front of her. She gave a cry of surprise when she was unceremoniously released from the demon’s grip. Of course, the knife sticking out of its’ back could have been the motivation behind his releasing her.
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as she saw her sister standing in front of her, arm raised in the perfect knife-throwing position.
Did Dawn just- Oh, my God. My little sister just saved me. The Slayer. What the-
Her thoughts were interrupted by Dawn’s quick comment. Seeing that there were more demons to fight, she quickly jumped back into the fray, inwardly thrilled at the chance to destroy them all.
Willow was right in a way. It is about the Power. But she had to admit, the violence was fun too.
Losing herself in the thrill of the fight, she was struck by the similarities between this amped-up Willow and Faith. Both had lost something in their lives and had turned to their own vices to escape. Faith lost herself into the slaying, Willow into the magics.
And Buffy had failed them both.
She hadn’t thought about her sister Slayer in a long time. It had been about two years since their last encounter. Buffy’s death also kept them apart, for obvious reasons.
Funny how this moment in time made her think of Faith.
In fact, Buffy wished she had thought of Faith sooner. If anyone could understand being lost and misplaced in the world, it would be her. She could have visited her, seen her and perhaps she could have filled that void inside herself.
Maybe the best way to feel would have been to feel the Slayer itself.
Faith was more in-tuned to the Slayer power than her, Buffy could admit that. She could lose herself in the hunt and the kill-as long as she didn’t turn on the humans. But Faith’s problem came from her hatred of humans.
Buffy didn’t hate humans. She just hated their helplessness.
Sometimes, she wondered why the Slayer was created. Why did she have to save the world? Why couldn’t they save themselves?
She always found herself at that moment. When she jumped off the platform, she had finally found her purpose in life. She killed herself so that the world could live. That was her gift.
Being brought back to life was the world returning her gift. It was them saying that they couldn’t live without someone else fighting their battles.
Willow was also right, Buffy reflected. She had finally been at peace in death.
If she combined the two, where did that leave her? Fighting the good fight and living without peace? What existence is that? A hollow one. An existence where she lived only for the people around her.
She was tired of trying to please the world by hating herself.
Blinking her eyes, Buffy was brought back to herself when she realized there were no demons left. Which brought her to another point.
“You saw that demon even though your back was turned. How did-,”
She was cut off by a long-winded explanation from her sister. Listening with a weary mind, Buffy wondered when she had started being so blind.
Her sister had crazy powers and Willow had been abusing the magic. God, sometimes it really sucked being the Slayer.
Releasing a deep breath, Buffy looked up, prepared to create a plan with her newly fashioned mini-Slayer of a sister.
Oh, shit.
Her sister was glowing. As in light-bulb-with-a-hint-of-green type of glowing.
Great. Now what?
Buffy really wished that sometimes, even the comments in her head stayed to herself.
Kneeling next to the writhing form of her sister, a part of the Slayer felt completely detached. The cold, dead feeling that she had first had when she’d come back had returned, filling her insides completely.
She wondered why she even cared.
When had she stopped caring?
She wondered why she loved her sister.
When had she not?
She wondered when the world would take care of itself again.
When had it done so in the first place?
Her thoughts were cut off by a wave of green light. Slamming into the rock wall, Buffy vaguely saw the form of her sister, glowing so brightly it seared her vision and made her head pound.
Looking at the world through a haze of green, the Slayer realized that it really didn’t matter anymore whether she felt connected to the world.
She was about to leave it again.
/
Willow stepped away from the bleeding figure, distracted by a strong wave of power. Closing her eyes, she smiled as the meaning of the wave rose up. She glanced at Xander, watching him struggle to breath. A hint of wonder touched her voice when she spoke.
“Well, now. Would you look at that? The Key really was a green ball of energy.” At Xander’s puzzled look, she explained further. “She went boom. Took the Slayer down with her, too. It’s kinda poetic, really. It was magic that killed Buffy the first time, magic that brought her to life, and now, magic that took her back.” Willow gave a careless shrug.
“Oh, well. I took the pawn and the queen off the chessboard. Score one for me.”
“Oh, God. Willow, what did you do? You killed them.” Xander whispered, struggling with every breath. His pain had no effect on her. His words did.
The black faded from her eyes and for a moment, she was Willow again. Looking into her eyes, he was devastated by the madness. She may have looked like his Will, but she wasn’t in there. When she spoke, her voice held a child-like quality.
“But don’t you see? I’m saving them. Freeing them from this existence.
The Slayer. I tore her out of paradise. Now I’m sending her back.
The Key. Dawnie… she’s too good for this world. Too innocent. Too human. Her powers were coming out , you know. She didn’t understand. But I did. So I made her what she really was. She was nowhere and now she’s everywhere.”
Without warning, pain raced through his body as she threw her hands forward, ribbons of black cutting every inch of his skin. Through the haze of pain, he could see that she had lost herself in the magic again.
Willow smiled, a darkness etched into her skin.
“And then there’s you. The white hat. You’re the only one left for me to kill. My last link to humanity. Faith was right you know. Human weakness… never really goes away.”
A white glow accented her hair as her voice lowered to a demonic roar.
“Unless I rip it into shreds.”
Lashing out with her magic, the dark witch shrieked, wrenching the air apart with her voice. Magic rose from the ground and combined with the tendrils of power that she emitted, forming a menacing ball. With just a thought, she propelled the magic into Xander.
The tree in front of her shuddered under the force, splintering and cracking, yet it still remained standing.
The tree survived. The man tied to it wasn’t so lucky.
The sheer force of the magic ripped through him, twisting and destroying his insides. Blood began to pour from his eyes and ears; the bones in his arms and legs shattered into little pieces, some breaking the skin. His spine was ripped out, completely intact, while his ribs were squeezed inwards. An agonizing moan fell from his lips as he lifted beseeching eyes to his tormentor.
“Help me…Wil, please stop..”
With a resounding crack, she broke his neck with a wave of her hand.
Hell was here and she had come to play.
As the last vestiges of what was once the witch named Willow faded away, black lightning danced across the alabaster skin, crackling in its intensity and lashing out in fury. Proserpexa’s temple loomed overhead as the earth crumbled beneath its massive turrets. The dark goddess remained, untouched and unfazed by the destruction that raged around her or the wind that struck out at her hair and clothes.
The figure smiled, yellow orbs of fire shining through the ebony irises.
A whispered promise hung in the air; eons of torment unfolding from this one moment, a single breath that echoed of agony.
“Brave new world.”
And the earth trembled.
/End fic/
AN: Well, now. Isn’t that….neat?
Author: Illyria13 (also go by andariel18)
Word: 5889 wds
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: What if the words "I love you" weren't enough for a juiced-up dark witch? If you only have a few minutes left in this world, what kind of revelations do you have?
Spoilers: AU Season 6, "Grave". Any and all events leading up to this episode could be mentioned.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my millions of DVDs and my laptop. I tried not to copy any dialogue directly from the episode, and maybe two lines are quotes from other Buffy episodes.
A cookie to whoever gets the title!
A/U Season 6, “Grave” Set after Willow gets the power boost from Giles and goes from there.
Summary: What if the words “I love you” were not enough for a juiced-up, dark witch? If you only have a few minutes left in this world, what kind of revelations do you have?
Abracadabra
By Illyria13
The very earth surrounding the witch trembled as her powers ripped through it. Groaning in protest, it slowly separated, releasing the temple that she sought. A smirk twisted her blackened lips as her eyes flashed in victory. That annoying Watcher had thought she would feel sorrow for the pain of the world. He thought their pain would hurt her? Nothing could hurt her. All it had done was give her an idea. It was rather simple.
Destroy the pain. Destroy the world.
It was almost too easy.
But of course her plans had to be interrupted by the arrival of the infamous Xander Harris. Honestly, couldn’t anybody in that pathetic Scooby Gang just let her do what she wanted? Turning to face her long-time best friend, Willow fixed him with an irritated glare.
“You couldn’t just leave well enough alone. Give it up, Xander. I’m not stopping no matter how much you beg. Spare yourself some humiliation.”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned her attention back to her task; a green wind tunnel of power flowed from her to the earth to the temple. Suddenly, the power shorted out as the figure of a man disrupted the flow. Heaving an exasperated sigh, she flung the person backwards, watching as he hit the temple and fell to the ground.
“Can’t a witch kill without everybody else getting involved?”
“Willow, please. You don’t want to do this. I know you, the real you. You could never do this. Remember Jesse? You were so upset when he died. You told me later that you missed it being just us, like when we were kids. Think of those times,Wil. I miss that part of you. I miss those times.”
Willow smiled gently as she stepped forward.
“I miss those times too.” Raising her hand, she struck out with the magic, slicing Xander’s skin. “Play now?”
“Wil, please. You won’t hurt me. You love me; I’m your best friend. Before Buffy, before everyone. It’s me. Xander. Can’t we just talk before you do something you’ll regret?” He pleaded with her, trying to get her focus on something other than her pain.
“Talk? You wanna talk? Fine, then. We’ll talk.”
Unleashing a scream of fury, Willow pushed him into a tree, vines holding him still like rope.
“Well, now. Doesn’t this look familiar? This is exactly how Warren was before I killed him.” Seeing Xander open his mouth to speak, she laced it shut with thread. “Shh. I’m speaking now. This is me talking. Best friend to best friend.”
Stepping back, the dark witch looked at him thoughtfully, gathering her thoughts.
“Correction. You were my best friend. Best friends don’t kill other best friends’ girlfriends. Best friends aren’t jealous of said girlfriends. And best friends don’t spend their entire lives trying to destroy their other friends’ happiness.”
Her voice lowered to a sibilant hiss as she glowed. The black magic rose around her like a menacing shield; a silent shroud of destruction.
“You never approved of her. Of us. As if I couldn’t see the way you looked at her…you were disgusted at what we had. But that’s not the only truth, is it Xander? At least, not the real truth.
Truth is, you couldn’t stand somebody else having me. You didn’t want to share. Admit it. If you couldn’t have me, then no one else could. Not Oz. Not Tara.
You took them from me. You wanted me all to yourself and did everything in your power to keep me.”
The deranged witch threw her head back and laughed.
“Power? What power? You’ve never had any. Always fighting, yet oh so weak. Everyone else around you had power, but not you. Never you. You’re not the Slayer, not a witch, not a demon. You’re nothing.
And despite all your efforts, you failed. So you tried to replace me instead. Cordelia. Faith. Anya.
And all you did was destroy them. In your effort to make them more human, you drove them further away. Into the darkness.”
Willow paused at the look of surprise on Xander’s face.
“Oh, you didn’t know? Cordelia is a demon now. Faith, well, she was never human to begin with. And Anya? You gave us back Anyanka. Without you, she never would have gone back to her old ways. Nice work.”
“Willow, please. I know you’re hurting but I can help you. It doesn’t have to end like this. I’m sorry that Tara died. But it will get better. Just let me-,” His voice cut off into an agonizing howl. Vivid red lines appeared across his stomach as an unseen force ripped into him.
Willow clenched her fist closed, yanking harder at his skin.
“Don’t you ever say her name! You don’t have the right. She deserved so much. More than she ever got from this pathetic world. She didn’t deserve to die.” The sinister witch’s ebony eyes flashed in anger. Waves of black magic drifted off of her, and the very air was thick with it.
“You think you know my pain? You haven’t even begun to feel it. But you will. You and everyone else in this world. They’ve already had a taste of it, I could feel that. But you? Not even close.”
She stepped closer to her bound captive with a menacing smile.
“When I get done with you, you’ll be begging to join your little friends. And the pain that you’ll feel? Won’t even be a fraction of my pain.
And just when you think you can’t take any more, I’ll give you the death you will so desperately want.”
Horrified, Xander stared at his best friend, seeing only a shadow of her former self. Deep down, he knew that no one else was coming. It was up to him to stop Willow. Gazing into her black eyes, Xander was hit with the sudden epiphany that he wasn’t going to succeed.
“Aw, what’s the matter, Xander? I thought you loved me. I mean, this is what love is. Sharing my pain, you feeling what I feel.” Placing her hand on his chest, black lightning shot from her fingertips.
Willow breathed her next words into his face.
“Tell me. Is it everything you hoped it would be?
/
Electricity crackled and sparked as the wooden shelves moaned in protest. Looking up, Anya gave a small shriek as bits of plaster rained down from the ceiling. The Magic Box was destroyed; the magic unleashed by the unbalanced witch had torn it from the ground, making it unstable and dangerous. Anya knew that the building wasn’t going to remain standing for long. Unfortunately, she had other problems to be concerned about.
Looking back down at her charge, the ex-vengeance-demon-now-back-at-it wondered how things had fallen apart so quickly. How had she let herself become this? A quaking ball of fear that had hidden behind a Watcher and his Slayer? She was better than this. She had brought herself back into her old powers after the insanity that was Xander Harris. How dare she act like a weak, pathetic human!
A moan from the floor distracted her, causing her to look down at the bleeding man. Giles choked, blood frothing on his lips at an alarming rate. He gasped and wheezed as his internal organs began to shut down. Already his lips were beginning to blue and his skin was turning an ashen color.
And with sudden clarity, the vengeance demon realized that the human was going to die, and he was going to die soon.
She didn’t know how long she sat there, her hand resting on the chest of the fallen Watcher. It had stopped rising a brief moment before as the soul that was encased had fled from its shell.
Humans were wrong, Anya thought bitterly. There was no beauty in their deaths, no final farewells or a look of peace. There was only despair.
A loud rumble snapped Anya out of her musings as she lost her balance, pitching forward onto the floor. Gasping for breath, she moaned as the very air around her thrummed with power.
A slow smile crept onto her lips. She was one of D’Hoffryn’s chosen few and understood better than any in the Scooby Gang what Willow was doing. By unleashing the temple, Willow was going to destroy this plane, finishing the job started by Proserpexa’s followers. Already Anya could feel the life-force from the planet being drawn towards the temple. She knew it was only a matter of time before the dark witch completed her task.
Casting her energy inwards, Anya focused on the essence of the Slayer, attempting to locate her. There! Snapping her eyes open, she prepared to teleport to Buffy in order to tell her what Willow was planning.
Yet something stopped her. The vengeance demon in her rose up, whispering in her mind.
You know what the witch is doing. And you know that the Slayer can’t stop her. Not in time.
“Xander is there. You heard Giles, he’s the only one that can stop her,” she protested. “If anyone can, it’ll be him. He’s known her forever.”
Do you really think that impudent boy will be able to stop the witch? You can feel her power. You can feel the fury, the grief, the vengeance. It’s in her blood. And once it’s in there, it will never come out. What will the boy do? Spew meaningless words in the hope of comforting her? He’s as good as dead.
“No! I have faith in him. Xander… He can do this. He…”
Listen to me! The human part of the witch is gone and nothing will bring her back! If the worthless mortal could get close enough to kill her, then he’d have a chance. But you and I both know that he won’t. It is as you said. He’s known her forever. He will never bring harm to her, even at the cost of his own life or the life of the world.
“I could teleport there and tell him. He’d listen to me!” Anya cried out in desperation, her words flashing back to her. I care whether you live or die, Xander. I just don’t know which one I want.
And do you really think he’d choose you over her?
With these final words, the demon’s voice withdrew and settled in the back of her mind. But it had done its job.
Anya stopped as the truth of the words struck home.
One of D’Hoffryn’s first lessons: Never go for the kill when you can go for the pain.
She had never understood it until now.
There was nothing to hold her here. All her ties to this plane had been dissolved, and the way things were looking, this world wasn’t going to be standing for much longer.
Taking a deep breath, Anyanka made a decision.
“Blessed be, the name of D’Hoffryn. Let this space be now a gateway to the world of Arash Ma’har, where demons are spawned…”
/
The gift of foresight can be very helpful, especially in battle.
Sometimes, when she slept, she would see things. Visions and specters of the past haunted the dreamscape, while siren calls of danger filtered across the canopy. She’d wake up unable to breath, drenched in sweat and thrumming with energy.
She had never told anyone.
One group of crazy followers had tried to kill her and everyone else, and had almost succeeded. Too many had been hurt or killed that night; they couldn’t handle any more attempts like that.
In time, she had grown accustomed to the whispers. They had saved her life on more than one occasion. They gave good advice and got her out of many dangerous situations.
So when a scream of danger filtered through her mind, she reacted. Grabbing the knife she always kept at the small of her back, she spun, flinging it towards the demon that was attempting to choke her sister. The knife slammed into its’ back; dropping its’ victim, it fell to the ground unmoving.
The stunned look on the Slayer’s face was priceless as the realization that her little sister had just saved her life sunk in.
Too bad Dawn didn’t have the time to appreciate it.
Without pausing, she lifted her elbow, slamming it into the face of the demon that had snuck up behind her, intent on catching her off guard. It fell to the ground like a stone.
Seeing her sister open her mouth, Dawn quickly cut her off with a terse, “Not now.”
Without stopping to see if the Slayer had obeyed, Dawn rolled out of the way of an incoming fist and turned her attention back to the fight.
Working together, the two sisters quickly dispatched the rest of the dirt demons; Dawn’s seemingly flawless fighting style coming in handy. When they were done, the only sound was their harsh breathing echoing throughout the cavern.
That seemed almost too easy, Dawn thought, as a deep chill went down her spine. What is she going to hit us with next?
She was broken out of her thoughts by a hand grabbing her forearm, jerking her around. Coming face to face with her sister, Dawn mentally groaned. The Slayer was not happy. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.
“Do you really think now is the time for this?”
Dawn wanted to hit herself the moment the words came out of her mouth. What better time for a deep chat when the world was going to end at any moment? Taking a deep breath, she tried again.
“I don’t know what it is. It just sorta happened. One moment I was my normal, crazy self and the next, I had abilities and memories that weren’t my own,” she spoke quickly, praying her sister would leave it at that. They were running out of time.
She wasn’t that lucky.
“You saw that demon even though your back was turned. How did-,”
“I know it was there? I don’t know. Just like I can’t explain how I know that Giles is dead. How about the fact that Willow is raising a demonic temple that is going to suck the energy out of the earth and destroy us all? I don’t know how and I don’t know why. But that is the least of our problems. Please, Buffy, just leave it at that,” Dawn pleaded.
The Slayer’s mouth pressed into a firm line as she nodded reluctantly.
“Fine. Now, since you seem to know so much, tell me what’s going on with Willow.”
Dawn nodded, releasing the breath she had been holding.
“Well, from what I can tell, she’s raising a temple out of the ground and using it to channel the life force of the planet. It’s going to drain it and destroy us in the process. First, we’ll lose-,”
“Ok. I got it. End of the world, everyone dies, blah blah blah. God, could we have something original for once?” The Slayer sighed in frustration, sitting down on the ground; her shoulders slumped in defeat and weariness. When she spoke again, unshed tears made her words heavy.
“Wil, why are you doing this? What would Tara think if she could see you now?”
“Because she feels she has nothing left. Don’t you see? Willow defined herself by Tara. When Oz left, Tara filled his spot. She became everything you and Xander couldn’t be for her. Don’t you remember what happened when Glory came after Tara? Willow almost destroyed her as payback. Tara was everything to her. Glory only hurt her, and Willow nearly killed her. Are you really that surprised that she wouldn’t kill the person who killed Tara?”
“Yeah, but this is Wil. How could she do this?”
“Wake up, Buffy! Willow is gone. That isn’t her anymore, I can feel it. The witch that’s going to destroy the world is Willow’s pain, her grief. It’s all that is left. And the boost of magic she took from Giles only made things worse. She’s feeling the pain of the entire world, not just hers. It drove her insane, Buffy. She thinks she is doing everyone a favor by ending it all. If she-”
Dawn stopped as a tendril of fear snaked down her spine. A sense of doom crept into her bones, and a tingling sensation swept over her body. Looking down at her hands, she was astonished to see a faint glow of power wafting off of her skin.
The Key was struck by a sudden premonition of her previous conversation with the dark witch at Rack’s.
“It’s time you went back to being a little energy ball.”
Crying out in agony, Dawn collapsed to the ground as her entire body began to glow. Sparks of power crackled at her fingertips and the heat she was emitting intensified.
The pain was everywhere. Inside her heart and her head and her mind. She was vaguely aware of the Slayer leaning over her, shouting something that she couldn’t hear over the roar in her ears. Images reeled across her eyes, disorganized and indistinguishable from the next
/Flash/ A smiling Buffy and Xander walking down the hallway towards a red-headed figure.
/Flash/ Buffy, Willow and Xander at the bronze, watching Oz onstage with his band.
/Flash/ A heartbroken Willow watching Oz pull away from the curb, weeping in agony.
/Flash/ “I am, you know. Yours”; A whispered promise between two witches that would last a lifetime.
/Flash/ An argument that would set these two lovers apart and place them on the path towards death and destruction.
/Flash/ Red on white, a macabre splatter of fury.
/Flash/ Blackened hate, a web of destruction and vengeance leading to the damnation of all.
In a moment, it was over. Dawn lay there struggling to breathe, her very mind feeling raw and torn.
Yet somehow, she knew it wasn’t finished.
I guess everything’s coming full circle, Dawn though hazily. Her head lolled to the side as a mad giggle escaped her throat. She closed her eyes against the pulsating light that seared her eyes.
Unbidden, a vision of herself and her sister as children playing jump rope rose in her mind, and the haunting rhyme echoed through her ears.
Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down.
“Yes,” Dawn whispered aloud to herself. “It’s all falling down.”
And the world exploded in a nauseating whirlwind of emerald green light.
/
I never thought breathing could hurt so much Giles reflected. Then again I’ve never had a whole store brought down on my chest either. Moaning with pain, and every bone in his body screaming in protest, he attempted to lift himself off the floor, knowing there wasn’t much time left. He needed to get to Willow. He was the only one who could possibly stop her now. He could sense that Dawn and Buffy were dealing with their own problems. That left him.
If only he could get up.
Giving one more valiant effort, he screamed as an audible crack wrenched through the air. Falling back to the floor, he felt a sense of fear freeze his body as the sensation in his legs disappeared.
Blinking back his tears of pain, Giles marveled at the changes that had occurred in the young people that had been so important to him. Once again, he cursed himself at abandoning them just when they needed him most. It wasn’t about being an adult; they had cried for help and he had ignored it.
Buffy…she had been his daughter in everything but blood. He knew how hard she had adjusting to being back from the dead. She had been resentful and aloof, uncaring and cold. He had understood why. She had given so much for the world, and the world had spat in her face. She had finally found a purpose beyond just slaying; when she was brought back, that purpose had been destroyed. She felt, and rightly so, that her gift had been meaningless; that her sacrifice had meant nothing.
Yet he had left her. Instead of helping her reconnect, he’d left, hoping it would force her to grow up and act like the adult she was. What he had neglected to realize was that she wasn’t an adult. At least, not at first. She had suffered a great trauma, one no one would be able to sympathize with. Her entire life had been one trauma after the other, and just when she thought she was done with it, she wasn’t. He had no right to expect that she would deal with being brought back in a calm, rational manner. In neglecting her, he had destroyed her. His ill-thought actions were going to destroy the world.
Xander…Giles had watched him grow from a laughing prankster to a mature man. He’d seen the love between him and Anya, wondering how this person had shown a vengeance demon how to love again. He’d watched Xander help Buffy and Dawn adjust to the lack of parental figures in their lives. And he’d realized that Xander was an incredibly intelligent young man that was the balance to the Scooby Gang’s mystical powers. For Xander to go against everything he’d every believed in and leave the woman he loved at the altar, it was the biggest sign of distress. If he had been there, perhaps he could have helped ease his mind. Worst of all, Anya had returned to being a vengeance demon, becoming one more threat to the world that they didn’t need.
Speaking of Xander, where is he? Giles pondered. Perhaps he can…there.
“He is with Willow.” He spoke aloud without realizing. Maybe he can do what I could not. Maybe he can talk Willow into becoming, well, Willow again.
Thinking of the dark witch made his very heart throbbed in pain. She was his greatest failure as a Watcher.
He had first introduced her into the magicks, hoping that under his tutelage he could control what she learned. He had so hoped that he could keep an eye on her power and stop her if things got too far. He had failed at that as well.
He’d seen how far she’d gotten but had been utterly blind to her intents. Raising Buffy from the dead had been the last straw for him, and the argument they had had rang in his ears.
It was himself he was mad at, not her. And even though he had seen how far she had fallen, he still left her unchecked. If he had done something then, perhaps the sweet red-head he remembered from the high school library could have stayed alive.
Yet his foolish plans had backfired yet again, and Willow was lost to them. It wasn’t just the magic; she had taken a human life. Together, those two made the likelihood of saving the smart, inquisitive witch very slim.
Of course, if she destroyed the world first, then Giles wouldn’t have to worry about saving her. Even if Xander stopped her, he wasn’t sure if he’d be around for the aftermath.
Giles winced as he felt the blood rise in his throat, causing him to cough violently. Cold swept through his body as the red splattered on his face and clothes.
I guess this was life’s way of hindsight being 20/20. And your life really does flash before your eyes before you die.
Giles had one last moment of clarity as the world began to dim to blackness.
I failed in my duties as a Watcher. Now the world has to pay for my mistakes.
I wonder what the Council would think of that?
/
It was days like this that really made her wish she had stayed dead.
Dodging a fist aimed for her face, the Slayer found herself slammed against the wall, struggling to breathe. She wondered why it seemed to be the goal of all evil beings to choke her to death. Kicking at the demon fruitlessly, she pondered the irony of dying in a dirt tomb. Considering she had dug herself out of one grave already, she figured she could do it again. And there was that one time in the nightmare universe when she rose as a vamp-
Feeling the edges of her vision blacken, Buffy was surprised to see a flash of silver in front of her. She gave a cry of surprise when she was unceremoniously released from the demon’s grip. Of course, the knife sticking out of its’ back could have been the motivation behind his releasing her.
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open as she saw her sister standing in front of her, arm raised in the perfect knife-throwing position.
Did Dawn just- Oh, my God. My little sister just saved me. The Slayer. What the-
Her thoughts were interrupted by Dawn’s quick comment. Seeing that there were more demons to fight, she quickly jumped back into the fray, inwardly thrilled at the chance to destroy them all.
Willow was right in a way. It is about the Power. But she had to admit, the violence was fun too.
Losing herself in the thrill of the fight, she was struck by the similarities between this amped-up Willow and Faith. Both had lost something in their lives and had turned to their own vices to escape. Faith lost herself into the slaying, Willow into the magics.
And Buffy had failed them both.
She hadn’t thought about her sister Slayer in a long time. It had been about two years since their last encounter. Buffy’s death also kept them apart, for obvious reasons.
Funny how this moment in time made her think of Faith.
In fact, Buffy wished she had thought of Faith sooner. If anyone could understand being lost and misplaced in the world, it would be her. She could have visited her, seen her and perhaps she could have filled that void inside herself.
Maybe the best way to feel would have been to feel the Slayer itself.
Faith was more in-tuned to the Slayer power than her, Buffy could admit that. She could lose herself in the hunt and the kill-as long as she didn’t turn on the humans. But Faith’s problem came from her hatred of humans.
Buffy didn’t hate humans. She just hated their helplessness.
Sometimes, she wondered why the Slayer was created. Why did she have to save the world? Why couldn’t they save themselves?
She always found herself at that moment. When she jumped off the platform, she had finally found her purpose in life. She killed herself so that the world could live. That was her gift.
Being brought back to life was the world returning her gift. It was them saying that they couldn’t live without someone else fighting their battles.
Willow was also right, Buffy reflected. She had finally been at peace in death.
If she combined the two, where did that leave her? Fighting the good fight and living without peace? What existence is that? A hollow one. An existence where she lived only for the people around her.
She was tired of trying to please the world by hating herself.
Blinking her eyes, Buffy was brought back to herself when she realized there were no demons left. Which brought her to another point.
“You saw that demon even though your back was turned. How did-,”
She was cut off by a long-winded explanation from her sister. Listening with a weary mind, Buffy wondered when she had started being so blind.
Her sister had crazy powers and Willow had been abusing the magic. God, sometimes it really sucked being the Slayer.
Releasing a deep breath, Buffy looked up, prepared to create a plan with her newly fashioned mini-Slayer of a sister.
Oh, shit.
Her sister was glowing. As in light-bulb-with-a-hint-of-green type of glowing.
Great. Now what?
Buffy really wished that sometimes, even the comments in her head stayed to herself.
Kneeling next to the writhing form of her sister, a part of the Slayer felt completely detached. The cold, dead feeling that she had first had when she’d come back had returned, filling her insides completely.
She wondered why she even cared.
When had she stopped caring?
She wondered why she loved her sister.
When had she not?
She wondered when the world would take care of itself again.
When had it done so in the first place?
Her thoughts were cut off by a wave of green light. Slamming into the rock wall, Buffy vaguely saw the form of her sister, glowing so brightly it seared her vision and made her head pound.
Looking at the world through a haze of green, the Slayer realized that it really didn’t matter anymore whether she felt connected to the world.
She was about to leave it again.
/
Willow stepped away from the bleeding figure, distracted by a strong wave of power. Closing her eyes, she smiled as the meaning of the wave rose up. She glanced at Xander, watching him struggle to breath. A hint of wonder touched her voice when she spoke.
“Well, now. Would you look at that? The Key really was a green ball of energy.” At Xander’s puzzled look, she explained further. “She went boom. Took the Slayer down with her, too. It’s kinda poetic, really. It was magic that killed Buffy the first time, magic that brought her to life, and now, magic that took her back.” Willow gave a careless shrug.
“Oh, well. I took the pawn and the queen off the chessboard. Score one for me.”
“Oh, God. Willow, what did you do? You killed them.” Xander whispered, struggling with every breath. His pain had no effect on her. His words did.
The black faded from her eyes and for a moment, she was Willow again. Looking into her eyes, he was devastated by the madness. She may have looked like his Will, but she wasn’t in there. When she spoke, her voice held a child-like quality.
“But don’t you see? I’m saving them. Freeing them from this existence.
The Slayer. I tore her out of paradise. Now I’m sending her back.
The Key. Dawnie… she’s too good for this world. Too innocent. Too human. Her powers were coming out , you know. She didn’t understand. But I did. So I made her what she really was. She was nowhere and now she’s everywhere.”
Without warning, pain raced through his body as she threw her hands forward, ribbons of black cutting every inch of his skin. Through the haze of pain, he could see that she had lost herself in the magic again.
Willow smiled, a darkness etched into her skin.
“And then there’s you. The white hat. You’re the only one left for me to kill. My last link to humanity. Faith was right you know. Human weakness… never really goes away.”
A white glow accented her hair as her voice lowered to a demonic roar.
“Unless I rip it into shreds.”
Lashing out with her magic, the dark witch shrieked, wrenching the air apart with her voice. Magic rose from the ground and combined with the tendrils of power that she emitted, forming a menacing ball. With just a thought, she propelled the magic into Xander.
The tree in front of her shuddered under the force, splintering and cracking, yet it still remained standing.
The tree survived. The man tied to it wasn’t so lucky.
The sheer force of the magic ripped through him, twisting and destroying his insides. Blood began to pour from his eyes and ears; the bones in his arms and legs shattered into little pieces, some breaking the skin. His spine was ripped out, completely intact, while his ribs were squeezed inwards. An agonizing moan fell from his lips as he lifted beseeching eyes to his tormentor.
“Help me…Wil, please stop..”
With a resounding crack, she broke his neck with a wave of her hand.
Hell was here and she had come to play.
As the last vestiges of what was once the witch named Willow faded away, black lightning danced across the alabaster skin, crackling in its intensity and lashing out in fury. Proserpexa’s temple loomed overhead as the earth crumbled beneath its massive turrets. The dark goddess remained, untouched and unfazed by the destruction that raged around her or the wind that struck out at her hair and clothes.
The figure smiled, yellow orbs of fire shining through the ebony irises.
A whispered promise hung in the air; eons of torment unfolding from this one moment, a single breath that echoed of agony.
“Brave new world.”
And the earth trembled.
/End fic/
AN: Well, now. Isn’t that….neat?