So sorry Kittens! I had no idea I had left this fic for so long. My muse has been kinda lacking these days, so dunno when I'll post the next part. I rebuilt my whole That '70s Show fan site, so that took me time. I'm also sorry for not replying to your wonderful feedback, but I do appreciate it a lot. Thank you all!
TITLE: Dark Core 16/?
AUTHOR: Washi (ZWS)
EMAIL: washi@dark-bliss.netRATING: R, to be safe.
DISCLAIMER: I don’t own the characters, Joss does or whoever. If I owned them, do you really think I would let season 6 happen? And why the hell would I be writing this?
So yeah, all belongs to Joss, ME etc...
The lyrics in this piece are owned by their respective owners.
SPOILERS: Season 6, Older and Far Away. It veers off cannon afterwards.
FEEDBACK: I love it, I live for it, either here or by email, although here is better.
ARCHIVE: It's gonna be on
Blood and Ink. Ask and ye shall receive.
ANGST: Be carefull kittens, the ride is gonna be really angsty, and I'm not kidding here.
Thanks: Many thank yous to YMKA and Taras Shadow for their help, and also to bzengo and FIRESIGN.
NOTES: I don't have a beta in the real sense, but YMKA and Holly helped me along. Thanks again girls. All mistakes are mine. Thanks to robotguru (aka Chris, aka Lesbro) for having read this part and told me what he thought about it.
Thoughts are in < > or ' 'as always. Flashbacks, song lyrics and such are in
italics.
*****
Giles had a flash of his dream, of when Xander arrived too late. And of how he cried over his dead best friend. Giles’ dark eyes misted over, and he shook his head to clear his head of those images. He discreetly wiped his moist eyes as he watched Xander crying and Anya offering him comfort.
Xander stayed in that position for a few long minutes before he eventually stopped crying. Slowly, he edged back from Anya’s embrace, and she wiped his tears with her thumbs. He smiled somewhat sadly at her and turned to face the others, pulling Anya to sit on his lap.
“Sorry about that.” he said quickly, as if he was ashamed for breaking down. He regretted the way he had let his anger take over, and even if Ruth was cryptic, he knew she meant well, and that she wanted to help Willow. It was clear in her eyes, the sad look that crept in them as she told them of their ‘deadline’.
he thought.
“Don’t worry about it, I’d be rather distressed if I had been told that sort of news.” Deep pain entered her gaze for a second, darkening her eyes, but as sudden as it came, it left, her eyes going back to their icy state.
Xander blinked and nodded, ignoring the pain out of respect for Ruth’s past. Anya’s finer points though didn’t include subtlety, and she pierced the woman with her gaze.
“You’ve seen someone dear to you die because of dark magic.” she stated.
Ruth nodded and looked away from Anya’s gaze. The moment was broken as Buffy walked into the shop, her hair still wet, her face grim and set in resolve. She smiled tightly.
“Hey, what’s the what?” she greeted them. She looked as if she hadn’t been sleeping. There were rings under her eyes, and her face was pale.
“Good morning Buffy. We seem to have some news about Willow’s illness. The Coven gave us some information and a lead to follow.” Giles said, his eyes on his Slayer’s worn face, seeing the resemblance to the Buffy he had seen in his nightmare.
All eyes turned to the raven-haired witch. Buffy took a seat and leaned forward, her eyes boring into the older woman’s. Ruth cleared her throat and began.
“Dark Magic, or Black Magic always has consequences. These consequences aren’t seen until either the person stops using it or when they let the darkness take over. In Willow’s case, these consequences are physical. For as long as she cast and practiced the arts, the Black Magic relieved the pain, that’s why it is like an addiction to pain killers. Willow wasn’t addicted to the magic itself. While she denied the magic, it hurt her inside, and when she cast, the magic acted as a pain-killer does, it stopped the pain for a while. As she stopped casting, the pain has shown itself, along with the ‘illness’ because the darkness is now locked within and it’s feeding off the elements in the person’s blood. Usually, this happens until the person stops fighting and looses himself in the magic. Frankly, I am quite surprised she has resisted this long. What we must do is unlock the darkness and get it out.”
This news was digested slowly by the Scoobies, in silence.
“That sounds easy. So, how do we unlock it?” Buffy said, looking pleased.
“That’s where the problem arises. There are different ways of unlocking or unleashing the darkness, and some of them are really dangerous, both for Willow and the whole world.” Giles said, his voice sad.
“Indeed. But that’s where the spell Sarah told me about comes in. It’s a ritual that was first used in ancient Rome. But over time, few people have used it for they didn’t usually use it in the right circumstance and they lacked some ‘ingredients’. The ritual’s name is akin to “Diluculo penumbra consisto ex” translated as “The dawn of penumbrae”. It speaks of the balance between the darkness and the light.”
“So, what are the circumstances to do this culo ritual.” Buffy said, eager to find a way to help her best friend.
Anya laughed softly. All heads turned to her.
“Anya, could you tell me what you find so amusing?” Giles asked, his brows furrowing.
Anya looked at Ruth, who smiled back to her. “If you must know, ‘culo’ means ‘ass’ in Italian.”
“Ah, yes, well, I’d expect you to know that. Now, in favor of more important topics, shall we stop talking of body parts in Italian?”
They all nodded and Ruth spoke again.
“For the spell to work, the person must have found his or her soul mate, who must be a person of Light. Also, they must have not… mated in one month and for the ritual to work, they must find a source of strong mystical energy. And Sarah mentioned a tattoo they must both have on their bodies. The design is included in the book that bears the ritual.”
“Well, it seems that Willow and Tara are mated souls and that Tara is the Light one.” Giles said.
“Mystical Energy?” Buffy said, her brain pointing her to one person.
“Yes.” Ruth said, her eyes looking intently at Buffy.
“Dawn.” Buffy whispered.
“The Key of course!” Giles said, taking off his glasses and pointing them at Ruth who nodded.
“Okay, so for now, we have everything we need. Let’s research!” Xander finally said, eager to start.
“I never thought I’d hear Xander say that with such enthusiasm.” Giles muttered dryly to himself as he walked upstairs to his own book collection.
*****
Half an hour later, everyone at the Magic Box was in full research mode. Books were piled and scattered on the heavy mahogany table, the dusk that had been collecting on them now littering the table top. Each person was reading through a book, their eyes scanning every word. But the biggest surprise wasn’t the fact that Xander hadn’t whined about it, it was the fact that Anya closed the shop to help them.
“What?” she had said when they had all looked at her, their eyebrows raised. “Even though Willow and I are not best friends, I do care about her, and I do not want her to die. And my advice and help are priceless in the midst of you.” she continued as she sat down and grabbed a book.
Now, Xander’s thoughts drifted from the book in front of him to Willow again. Of course, his thought were never far from his redheaded best friend as he read, but now, they took the upper hand.
“Buffy.” he whispered, leaning over to her. “How do we tell Willow and Tara?”
Buffy’s eyes widened and she just stared at him. “I don’t know! I mean who should tell them? How should we break it up to them? How will they react?”
“Buffy, you should tell them.” Xander said, his voice a bit louder.
“Yes Buffy, you should tell them. Xander is very cowardly at the notion of telling people bad news.” Anya piped up.
“Ahn…” the young man said, exasperated.
“Okay, so I’ll go and tell them. Ruth, wanna come with?” Buffy said, leaving the couple to their bickering.
“Of course, let’s go.” Ruth agreed as she got up.
Both women left the Magic Box, Buffy trying to find in her mind the way to make this announcement easier on both women.
*****
Buffy and Ruth walked into Willow’s hospital room in silence, even thought Buffy’s head was buzzing. She had no idea how to tell her best friend about the situation, and all she wanted to do was crawl into her mother’s arms and cry. But her mother was gone and she needed to be strong, strong for Willow, strong for Tara, and strong for her whole family. Somewhere in her mind though, she knew that she couldn’t be strong for all of them, but her protectiveness wished she could.
They found both girls awake and finishing breakfast. Buffy smiled at her friends, but her smile seemed to fade when she looked at Willow. The redhead’s face was drawn and had a pinched air about it, as if she was in pain. She was still pale and her red hair seemed to be paling as well.
Tara held a mocha in her hands, drinking it slowly as she looked at Willow over the rim of the cup. Her eyes were tired and red-rimmed from exhaustion and the tears she indulged in at night when Willow was asleep.
“Hey Buffy, hi Ruth. Buff can you please tell Tara to give me some of the mocha? She won’t give it to me.” Willow said, shifting her gaze from her lover to the newly arrived women.
Buffy noticed the shaking of Willow’s hands and smiled, thinking it was her lack of caffeine that was giving Willow the tremors. “Tara, give the woman her caffeine dose. Look at her, her hands are shaking.”
Willow glared at Buffy for her comment about her hands’ shakiness. Buffy frowned.
“Your hands are shaking? Why didn’t you tell me?” Tara said, frowning at Willow.
Willow bit her lip and looked down. “I didn’t wanna worry you.” she whispered.
“Huh? What’s with the shakiness?” Buffy asked, confused.
“Oh, it’s a sign that her potassium isn’t balanced and that it’s dropping again.” Tara replied almost absently as she fussed over Willow, fluffing the pillows she was resting on.
“About that…” Buffy started awkwardly, glancing at Ruth, “We have some news.”
Tara nodded and sat down near Willow, taking her hand and lacing their fingers together, taking and offering comfort in the simple gesture.
“Tell us.” Willow said quietly, her face showing her resolve.
Buffy looked at her friends and wondered where to begin. Her mind was buzzing with different details, and they all wanted to come out at the same time, but yet, she knew she should try to order them in her head before starting. All the speeches she had prepared on her way to the hospital faded into nothingness, as if it was a vampire going poof.
“Well… Ruth, why don’t you start?” Buffy finally muttered, her eyes pleading the raven-haired witch to begin.
Ruth cleared her throat and walked closer to the hospital bed, taking out her crystal and then putting her hand on Willow’s head like the night before. Closing her eyes, she saw the darkness in Willow’s body heading slowly spreading. She removed her hand and nodded to herself.
“Ok, this silence is making me all panick-y, what’s up?” Willow finally spoke, squeezing her lover’s hand.
“Willow, I’ll make this concise. The Dark magicks inside you is eating the elements in your blood because you have stopped casting and the darkness is locked into your being. It’s the consequence of your use of it. Sarah, a friend in the Coven told me about a ritual we can do to unlock the darkness and get it out without you casting.”
Willow nodded, her face showing her self-disgust. Tara, on the other hand was deep in thought.
“If Willow hadn’t stopped c-casting, would this be h-happening?” she said quietly, her stutter betraying her.
Willow turned to her lover fully, taking both her hands in hers. “Baby, this is my fault and no one else’s.”
“Well, eventually, the dark magics would have done this to Willow.” Ruth confimed.
“See baby? My fault.” Willow said, taking the blame.
“Willow.” Buffy stepped closer. “It’s not your fault. I mean, yeah, you used the dark mojo, but it was because we had no other way of doing things at first. You did it because we needed you to. It’s my fault, I’m the one who put you in this situation. And we’ll get you out of it.” she said comfortingly.
“Thanks Buffy.” the redhead replied, playing with Tara’s fingers. She looked up and fixed her eyes on Ruth’s. “So, what about this ritual? Is there anything we need to do?”
“We must find the ritual and check a few things first. Don’t worry, the others are already researching it.”
Willow nodded and looked at Buffy, who was fidgeting.
“Okay, I know there’s something you’re not telling me here.” she said, looking at the Slayer.
Buffy and Ruth exchanged looks and the Slayer sighed. “Yes, there is. Willow, we need to find this ritual soon, the dark magic is spreading fast.”
“Just how fast are we talking here?”
“Will…”
“Tell me!” Willow practically yelled.
“We’re talking a week.” Buffy managed to whisper despite the lump forming in her throat.
“A week?” Tara whispered after a long silence, stunned.
Buffy nodded, looking at Willow. In a flash, a multitude of expressions changed the redhead’s expression, from fear to pain to resolve.
“Tell me more about this ritual. What are the things you need to check?” she asked, her voice calm.
“Well, I have to ask you a very personal question. Buffy, perhaps you could leave us for a few minutes.” Ruth said, looking at the Slayer.
Buffy nodded and left the room.
“Very well, I need to know if the two of you have been… intimate in the last month.” Ruth said quickly, her face blushing.
“Define intimate.” Willow said, not wanting to overlook anything.
“I mean, have you… made love in the last month.”
“No. We kissed, but n-nothing more.” Tara answered, blushing lightly at giving out personal information about their sex life to a stranger.
“Alright. Now, Tara, I must know, have you ever dabbled in the dark arts?”
“Um… I’ve never cast a spell, but I’ve helped Willow for Buffy’s resurrection spell and…” Tara stopped, looking at her lover and back at Ruth. She took a deep breath and continued. “I almost performed a resurrection spell when my mother died.” She whispered, hiding her face behind her hair, her face scrunching up as she fought to keep the pain inside. She was used to the pain she felt every time she talked about her mother, but with Willow in danger now, she couldn’t restrain herself as well as she could usually do.
“Oh honey...” Willow said and took her lover’s hand in her own, lacing their fingers together and squeezing gently.
Ruth looked at the two girls and sighed. She could feel all the pain and hurt emanating from them, and she could feel her eyes watering. They were very young, and yet, they had so much pain and hurt inside them. It made her heart ache. She watched them as they offered comfort and strength to each other and had to smile. It was obvious they were one, two halves of the same person.
After having taken a minute to compose herself, Tara looked up at Ruth. “That’s all I ever did in Dark magic.”
Ruth nodded. “Alright. So you haven’t actually cast.”
Tara nodded.
“Good, good. May I check something Tara? Could you and Willow unclasp hands?” Ruth asked, getting out her crystal.
Tara nodded once more and dropped Willow’s hand as Ruth approached her and put her hand on Tara’s head, like she did with Willow. A smile lit her face as she opened her eyes and stepped back. Tara immediately took Willow’s hand in her own once more.
“Alright, I can see that the dark magic you may have encountered hasn’t touched you. You’re pure.” Ruth said, smiling at the blonde.
Willow frowned and looked at their clasped hands. “Am I impure? I’m tainted, aren’t I? I’m soiled, she shouldn’t touch me.” Willow said, panicking as she pulled her hand from Tara’s. Tara looked up at Willow, her eyes showing her hurt and her confusion. “I’m impure, I’ll make her unclean, we shouldn’t touch, Tara, you shouldn’t be near me, I’ll taint you. Oh God! Are you sure I haven’t poisoned her? Check again!” Willow babbled, turning pleading eyes towards Ruth.
“Willow, Willow! Calm down.” The raven-haired witch said forcefully. “You won’t taint her or make her ‘unclean’.”
Willow looked close to tears. “Are you sure? I mean, who knows, I might poison the person I love most in the world with my darkness. And that’d be bad, very very bad, I don’t want her to end up like me. I’m bad, very bad, don’t touch me, I’ll poison you all. God, maybe I already poisoned some people. Oh God, Dawnie might be…”
The noise of the slap rang in the room. Willow stopped babbling and looked up at Ruth, confusion written on her face.
“You slapped me.” The redhead said dumbly.
“Yes I did. And if you don’t calm down, I’ll put you over my knee. I promise you, you can’t poison or soil, or taint anyone or anything. Dawn is alright, Buffy’s alright, everyone is alright, they’re just worried sick over you. Now, take deep breaths and calm down.”
Willow stared at the woman and took a few deep breaths, feeling calmer. Tara looked at both women, not knowing what to say.
“Now, I’ve heard that the two of you lived with Dawn while Buffy was… um… in the Land of Eternal Dreams.” Ruth said.
“Eternal Dreams? Ooh! Yeah, we lived with Dawn while Buffy was, well, up there.” Willow said, feeling the pain of what she did once more. The pain of tearing her best friend out of heaven was certainly something that would never leave her, and she felt sick to the stomach.
Willow thought as she felt the pain increase. She frowned, putting a hand on her tummy.
“What’s wrong?” Tara asked, concerned.
“My tummy’s all ache-y.” Willow grumbled. She saw Tara’s hand glide to her stomach and stopped her, looking at it warily.
“Willow, really, it won’t hurt me.” Tara said as she started rubbing Willow’s tummy through the soft cotton.
Willow nodded and hoped that it wouldn’t hurt her lover.
“Right, so, have either of you ever noticed something bizarre going on with Dawn?” Ruth asked, watching the tender and loving exchange.
“Nope, unless shop-lifting is considered bizarre.” Willow replied.
“Wait, she did something amazing last night.” Tara said, remembering that she had to speak to Giles about it.
“Amazing? Please do explain.” Ruth said, her eyes on Tara’s.
“Well, I was… feeling kinda desperate, you know, and when she touched me, she made me feel hopeful again. It was weird, we were just talking and she touched me, and all the hope I thought had left me came back.” Tara tried to explain.
“Oh, so her Key powers have been activated. Good.” Ruth said, thanking the Goddess inwardly.
“Key powers? But Giles said that she wasn’t the Key anymore.” Willow said, looking at the raven-haired witch confusedly.
“Indeed, she can’t open portals, but she can unlock feelings, inner-darkness and such.”
“Wait, so Dawnie’s gonna unlock the darkness?” Willow asked, going into thinking-mode.
“You’re very perspective Willow, Rupert was right. Indeed, she will be a part of the ritual.” Ruth said, smiling affectionately at the redhead.
“No.” Willow said quietly, frowning.
Tara’s hands stopped rubbing and she turned to Willow, her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. Ruth raised an eyebrow at the redhead.
“Come again?” Ruth finally said, thinking she may have heard Willow wrong.
“I said no.”
“What do you mean no?” Tara asked.
“I mean that I won’t let Dawnie be a part of this.” Willow explained, her lips set in a tight line of resolve.
“Are you totally off your trolly?” Ruth asked, completely bewildered.
Both Tara and Willow raised an eyebrow, not understanding what Ruth had just said.
“I mean, are you off your rocker? Insane? Raving mad? Willow, your life’s in danger, it is not the time to be noble.” Ruth said, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.
“When is the right time then?” Willow replied.
“It’s anytime you don’t have only seven days to live!” Tara spoke, her voice unusually forceful. “Willow, I’m sure the ritual won’t hurt Dawnie, right?” she asked, turning her face to Ruth.
“It won’t hurt her at all. I promise.” Ruth said, looking into Willow’s frightened eyes.
“Are you sure?” the redhead asked in a small voice.
“Yes Willow, I am.” Ruth said, her voice soft and warm, looking into the redhead’s wide green eyes.
“Ok.” Willow whispered. She put her hand over Tara’s lacing their fingers together. “Okay.” She repeated.
*****
TBC...
-------------------
"See? I've mastered this tact crap." Anya in Tears Of The Goddess by Lisa
The course of love doesn’t always run smooth, especially for the neurotic and accident-prone. ~ LadyB
.:Dark-bliss.net :. .:Blink.Flash.Sparkle.:. .:My blog:. .:Blood and Ink:. .:Washi's 70s Site:.
by Karmah » Sun Feb 15, 2004 9:59 am 
Trying to think real hard why W and T aren't allowed to make love...lol...
cliff hangers are evil
Washi 
,
is really freaked out over this. 
Of course you can't plan her. I'm glad that she has 
there with her. 
So Dawn has 'KEY POWERS' huh? 
Wonder what that is going to be like for her? 
Can't wait to 
GREAT UPDATE!!! CAN'T WAIT TO READ MORE!!!