Path of Thorns
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Author: TheFire (awcc@angelfire.com)
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Um...this all kinda takes place after an undeterminate time from Tabula Rasa, so I'm guessing everything up to and including that episode would be safe.
Feedback: would be extra cool.
Disclaimer: Don't own them, etc etc etc. Joss is a genius, etc etc etc.
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The floor was damp and cold and hard and generally just not all that pleasant. Not that it mattered that much to Willow - not that anything mattered that much anymore. Not after what she'd lost, not after everything she'd gone through. Still, her butt was getting sore and she began wondering
again why she was sitting here, hugging herself for warmth, lost in the catacombs of a large tomb all cold, wet and miserable like. And alone. Couldn't forget that. It was the loneliness that hurt the most.
"I just wanted everyone to be happy." Willow whispered to herself, her voice echoing softly through the empty corridors. A faint sound could be heard in the distance, but it was too far away to make out.
"Can't they understand that?" tears threatened to pour from her eyes, and Willow just let them fall. What did it matter anyways? Nobody cared, nobody was here to see her. They all abandoned her...they didn't need her anymore.
Willow, what's wrong with you? These spells you're doing...what's happened to
you Will? I know you and Tara had a fight...ok so a major one...but this isn't the way to cope, Will. It's...it's just wrong and I...I just don't know if I can trust you anymore.
Wrong? What was wrong? She'd just been doing what she'd always been doing. They didn't
seem to mind before. Can't break into the Initiative? Ok, use a spell if you have to.
Can't get the tracking device out of Spike's shoulder in time? I know you know there's a
spell that'll buy us some time. What was different now? She was still trying to help.
Ok, so maybe she made some mistakes. But those were ok if you tried to fix them right? Afterall, everyone made mistakes and the most you can expect from a person is that they try and fix them. And she did. She had had it all planned out. They wouldn't even know. No more pain, no more suffering, no more arguements and no more getting ripped out of heaven by your best friend...it'd just be like the way they used to be. Together and happy, living the Scooby life. But it backfired on her didn't it? Now she had nothing. Not Tara, not her friends, nothing. And now...now they didn't even want her for her magick. She was useless... she used to be so useful. If any one of them needed help, they would go to her. It made her feel happy, like she was needed and finally belonged to something. Now...now they didn't want to have anything to do with her.
How could this happen? How could this happen to me?
Willow sniffled and wipped away some of her tears with the back of her sleeve. Unknown to her a pair of eyes silently observed from the shadows.
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"You sure we should leave Willow like that? I mean...she did come out here to help us
with the new evil and all. ... Not that I think we couldn't do this without her or anything ...but she could be a major help. Maybe do that cool lightening thing with the black eyes and the floating and..."
The Slayer glared at him.
"Hey, just a suggestion," Xander raised is hands in surrender, "no need to get all killer-looky."
Buffy rolled her eyes at him tolerantly before continuing down the corridor, Slayer senses alert. Truth be told, she wouldn't have minded having someone with Willow's powers with her right now. The demon they were tracking seemed to have an affinity for magick and fighting fire with fire didn't seem like such a bad idea. Slayer strength really doesn't count much when you're dangling in mid-air with your limbs flailing.
Buffy cringed at the memory. That had been...interesting and not something she wished to repeat. Hopefully they'd catch the thing by surprise this time so they wouldn't have an encore performance of Buffy: the dangling magick finger puppet. No, having Willow along would have been a definite asset...but there were other things to consider.
"Willow has her own problems to work out. I don't want to drag her into this. Especially in a magic weilding type capacity." Buffy explained as they walked, "I don't want to encourage her."
"That's probably a good idea. I've seen this sort of thing before and it rarely goes well. Especially if the person continues to dip into the darker magicks."
"What sort of thing?" Xander asked.
"Magick addiction. You don't spend a thousand years as a vengeance demon without seeing a few wiccas go wonky."
"Wonky wiccas?"
"Yup. Actually, if you know what I know, Willow isn't all that bad. At least she hasn't outrightly hurt someone. Well...intentionally at least."
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Tara's heart was breaking. Willow looked so lost and alone curled up on the floor like that...probably because she was. The brief meeting with the Scoobies was painful to watch. It wasn't hard for her to see that her Willow was devistated. Tara knew how much being a part of the Scoobies meant to Willow. How much she just wanted to help people. But she was going about it all wrong. The Dark Magicks probably had a lot to do with that. Tara didn't know before what Willow had done in order to save her
from Glory but after a while she found out. Seeing the book labeled 'Darkest Magicks' hidden behind their night table had nearly brought her to tears. Oh, Willow, what did you have to sacrifice to get me back? But for a while Willow was fine. Sure, she would cast an occasional spell without really needing to but she was still Willow, her Willow. They were together and they were happy. For a while that was all that was important, all that mattered. But soon Tara realised just how much Willow had changed, just how much the Dark Magicks were effecting her. Before, when they did a spell
together it was always...well...it was always a pleasurable experience. The blonde wiccan smiled a little sadly at the memory. But that last time, that last time they had tried to do one together...Tara shuddered.
She could almost feel the dark energy flooding through her aura again, it was that intense. And to think that it had come from Willow... She knew then that Willow was heading someplace very dark and tried her hardest to stop her from heading down that path. She had hoped that by staying close to Willow, she would be able to help lead her away from that. But that didn't go too well now did it? Willow wasn't listening to her - she couldn't see what the Dark Magick was doing to her - and worse yet, Willow was playing with her memories. That had been the big wake up call. What she was trying to do wasn't going to work, they weren't going to work. Not like this and certainly not with Willow walking down the path she was on. Tara was too close to everything, to Willow, to actually help her. If she stayed she would just be being selfish, trying to cling onto whatever that was left of the Willow she loved. No, that wasn't going to happen even if it killed her, she loved her too much.
'Oh Willow' Tara thought silently to herself as she watched her love from the shadows.
'I'll find you, I promise. I just don't know how to do it yet.'
Part Deux
"What happens when we find him...her...it? I mean, you remember what happened the last time."
"Yeah, I remember."
"So what are we going to do?"
Buffy made a sideways glance at him and continued walking.
"Xander..." Anya whispered, tugging his arm a little to get his attention.
"What Ahn?"
The ex-demon just shook her head, hoping he would understand. Xander could be so dense sometimes. Buffy was dealing with so much, and now she had to lead them as well. Ok, so she'd been doing that for a while now but this time was different. With Giles and Willow gone, there was really no one left for her to get advice from, no one to do all the research and point and say 'here, there's the demon, now go slay it.' Well, sure they'd try to help like they always did, but it just wasn't the same. Even Anya could tell that things were beginning to weigh down on her - even more so if that was possible.
"I know, I know, but we have to have a game plan. I mean what happens when we're dangling ten feet above the ground getting the life choked out of us like last time?" Xander whispered back forcefully.
Anya was about to reply before she was cut off by Buffy.
"Guys? Hello? Slayer hearing." she stood in front of them slightly annoyed, but also very worn out.
"Sorry." they both said in unison.
Buffy seemed to accept that and continued walking. "Last time we weren't prepared and we were caught off guard. We didn't know it was a magick demon. This time we've got three crossbows between the three of us. One of us is bound to hit the thing if it tries to do that levitation spell again...then..."
"You'll kill it?"
"Yeah."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
"Here here."
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A slight rattling noise off in the distance finally broke Willow out of her self pity. Cautiously, she slowly stood up, senses alert, an incantation already forming in her mind.
"Is anybody there?"
Silence.
Willow looked down the large corridor, wiping the tears out of her eyes to clear her vision. Not a thing stirred. All that greeted her was a great expanse of darkness and a promise of more to come.
"I know you're there. I heard you." she was going for formidable, but the effect was lost once she sniffled. She tried again.
"Come out!"
The last word echoed back at her but still she received no answer.
"What? Are you afraid of me? I said come out! My friends are looking for you, you know. They'll find you and they'll kill you. At least I'll make it quick. Come out! Show yourself!"
Willow could hear something chuckling at her, mocking her. The sound came from everywhere and nowhere but always directed straight at her.
"You think you can hurt me, child?"
The young wiccan scanned the corridor once more. There was no one there, not that she could see anyways. It was too dark.
"Fiat lux!" A blinding light illuminated the tomb for a second before it died down to reasonable levels. Willow took a few steps forward, still trying to find the owner of the voice to no avail. She could feel it now though, she could feel the magick.
The voice chuckled. "So...you can do some palour tricks. Impressive."
"Come out and I'll give you something to be impressed about." Willow replied, her eyes darkening as she prepared a spell.
"Now, now, no need to get all angery. I just thought we could talk a while. I know how alone you are."
"You don't know anything about me."
"I know more about you than you think. I know your pain. They left you didn't they? They don't even want to be near you anymore."
"I screwed up." Willow choked out a little sadly, much to her own dismay. And she really did screw up. Tara was gone and her friends didn't want anything to do with her. Tara left, her friends left and now she had nothing left. Nothing. Willow hugged herself. What she wouldn't give to feel Tara's arms around her again, soothing her, assuring her that everything will be all right. But that wouldn't happen now, would it? And it was all her fault. She ruined everything.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk chlid. Of course you did." the demon's voice was both patronising and sympathetic at once, "You have the power but you're much too unfocused. I can help. I can teach you."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Don't you want your friends back? Isn't there something you wish you could change above all else? Don't you want to have your life back the way it used to be?"
'I want Tara back.' Willow thought to herself, but remained silent.
"I can help you. I can show you. Let me show you."
"Why would you want to help me?"
"You have potential. I want to help you reach it. Now. Come."
What choice did she have left? Willow walked toward the voice, following it down the twisting corridors of the catacombs, emersing herself deeper and deeper into the darkness.
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"Willow! Wait!" Tara yelled, rushing after her lover.
Something had definitely happened but she wasn't sure what. All she knew was that she could feel the dark energy crackling in the air around her, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Something had happened to Willow. She had been talking to herself, or, from what she gathered from the half of the conversation she heard, with the demon the Scoobies were after. Now Willow was walking towards something and going farther and farther into the tomb. Not good.
"Willow!" she was afraid something like this would happen, that's why she stayed with Willow in the first place once she'd found her and the Scoobies. But now that she was here what could she do? 'Stop her, I've gotta stop her.'
"Willow!" Tara yelled again, catching up to her, almost reaching her. It seemed like she was only a hair's breadth away before an invisible force pushed her back, knocking her onto the ground.
"Willow..." but she couldn't hear her. Showed no signs of it. She was being drawn by some unseen force and right now Tara couldn't do anything about it. All she could do was watch as Willow slowly disappeared into the darkness.
Part Three
"How are we supposed to find this thing anyways? We've been wandering around down here for hours. I just wish it would just show up so that we can all go home or be dead or do something other than walk around in circles."
"Anya..."
"My feet are getting sore from all this walking."
Something was making the Slayer's senses tingle.
"Guys, something's coming." she motioned for the two of them to set up ambush while she readied her crossbow. Sure enough, they began to see a light approaching them from around the corner.
Xander peeked at it from his position behind one of the columns, his weapon at the ready. The blue light jolted frantically from left to right, as if were searching for something. Recognization dawned on him just as he caught the 'pfft' of a cross bow firing and the image of an arrow heading towards, but thankfully missing its nimble target.
"Buffy wait! ... I think that's Tara."
"What?" Buffy was already reloading the crossbow, ready to take another shot. The blue light was heading straight for her.
"It's Tara...I've seen this before, when Willow and I were lost in the woods..." Xander repeated, revieling himself from his hiding position and seeing Anya do the same, "Tara became tinker bell and helped us find our way back to the magick shop."
The light detoured from its path to Buffy and circled Xander a few times before finally hovering a few feet away from his face.
Buffy, realising there was no danger, lowered her crossbow. "Tara?" The light left Xander and circled Buffy once before heading back down the corridor from which it came and pausing before it rounded the corner. It repeated the gesture one more time and waited.
"I think it wants us to follow. We should go."
"Go? We're going to follow the little blue light thing? What if it isn't Tara? What if it's a trap?"
"Are you sure its Tara, Xander?"
"It looks the same..."
"I still think its a trap." Anya reiterated, stomping her foot a little to make a point. "Why would she be down here anyways? She's gone, remember? She's never around anymore..."
"Anya..."
"What? Am I wrong? I haven't seen her since forever. Just because she and Willow aren't together right now doesn't mean she should abandon us too. That's just rude."
"Anya!" Xander was going to continue but the look on Anya's face told him that she was just hurt more than anything. Tara was closer to Anya than any of the other Scoobies and her sudden departure hit hard, especially since Giles left as well. Their entire group dynamics had changed and Anya, like the rest of them, were still adjusting. "I'm sure she had her reasons."
The light floated back towards the gang and circled Anya once as if to say sorry before returning stubbornly to its position. It had a mission to do and reconciliations would have to wait. Willow was in danger.
"Ok, I've seen enough. Let's follow it. Just be ready."
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"Come to me. I'm here."
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"Tara?"
"Buffy? Buffy! I'm so glad I found you guys. W-w-willow's in danger. The demon, it has her. You have to do something! I tried...but I c-c- I c-can't..."
"Hey, look it's alright, we'll get Will back. Where did she go? ... Alright, wait here."
"But..."
"Hey, don't worry, I'm the Slayer remember?" Buffy turned and started running down the corridor Tara had pointed at.
"No, it's just..." Tara watched as the Slayer ran straight into a magical barrier before she could warn her, knocking her a few feet backwards in the air. "...that."
The Slayer shook her head a few times before getting up. "Magick barrier...who'd have thought?"
"I'm sorry...I was trying to tell you."
"That's ok."
"What happened?"
"I don't know...I was watching over Willow and all of a sudden she just started talking to herself. I think...I think the demon...And then she started walking down there, like something was calling to her. I tried to stop her but...she couldn't hear me." Tara whispered the last part. She felt defeated.
"Don't worry, we'll get her back. We always do." Anya pipped up, not wanting to see Tara sad, despite her recent abandonment. 'I wonder if I'll get extra good points for that' Anya thought absently before continuing, "Besides you two have that 'we can always find each other' thing happening, remember?"
Tara smiled a little meekly.
"Are you all right?" Buffy asked. Tara noded.
"What are you doing down here anyways? I mean, not to critique your choice of nightime hangouts but this place isn't exactly full of life." Xander's eyes wandered about the tomb, looking for possible baddies.
"Spike told me you guys would be down here."
"Spike." Buffy's voice was blunt.
"Yeah. He said you guys had a run in with a magical demon...I thought that maybe Willow..."
"Would come and help."
"Yeah."
"You still love her." it wasn't a question.
Tara nodded. "I had to leave."
Buffy seemed to understand that. "She misses you."
A tear threatened to fall from Tara's eyes. "I know."
"Umm...I hate to interrupt, but what are we going to do? The demon's got Willow and there's this magick barrier thing we can't break through...we can't break through the barrier right?"
"No. I tried...but the demon's magick is too powerful."
"I'm all out of ideas. I'm more of a punch and kick type of gal. Willow's the one who usually..." Buffy fell silent.
"Maybe we can find out more about the demon? We could do more research back at the Magick Shop. We kinda gave up on that once we found out where the demon was...maybe we can find a weakness - a heel or something."
The group looked at Tara. She nodded and followed them a ways before pausing and turning back to glance into the darkness where Willow disappeared. 'I'm only going to be gone for a little while. I'm gonna find a way to help you then I'll come back. I'll find you, promise.'