Prologue
~~~~~
Sunnydale
“What are you researching?” Tara asked shyly.
“Oh, um…just boning up on some spells. You know, most have such a lyrical quality. If you don’t get them quite right, they tend to blow up on you. I should know,” Willow admitted, blushing bright red. “Plus, you never know when you might stumble on a spell that would be helpful fighting demons and stuff…not that I’ve been helping a lot lately. Buffy’s got Riley to help out with the slaying, so it’s not like we help out that much anymore, but you never know, something might happen…not that I want anything to happen…just...you never know.”
“I get it; it’s nice to be needed sometimes. Just be car-careful. That book…it’s all white magic, but even with white magic can backfire if it disrupts the natural or-order of things,” the blond stammered, looking concerned.
“Oh, no! No disorder. No order of any kind, just reading,” she assured her. “I just wanted to get a feel for the different spells in the books, that way if I ever needed anything; I know just where to look.” Willow grinned happily.
“Oh, well, that’s good; it’s good to be prepared,” Tara agreed, ducking her head and allowing her hair to fall forward to cover her face. She eased her way off the bed. “I’m just going to ru-run down the hall and get a couple of sodas, and I’ll be right back.”
Willow raised her head from the book she was currently reading. “Okay, sweetie, I’ll be right here. Oh, and make mine root beer, if you don’t mind?” She grinned broadly at the other woman.
“You rebel, you,” Tara teased, slipping out the door with barely a sound.
Willow returned her gaze to the open book on her lap and chewed her lip in concentration. Slowly she read the words again, an idea forming almost against her will. Things had been so strained lately with the group; everyone seemed to be splitting in different directions. If only she could find a way to pull them back together like they used to be…maybe she could, the redhead pondered, looking at the spell once again.
It was just a small spell; a basic rebirth and renewal incantation. Something simple that would give them all a revitalized outlook on life and refresh friendships that had grown just a bit stale and disillusioned.
Hearing the door open, she marked her page and slid it under the bed quickly. She would look at it again once Tara was asleep. She didn’t want to worry her over something that was nothing, and nothing was exactly what it was. It was barely even a spell, she reasoned. In fact, it was more of a chant with a few candles. It was nothing…really.
She smiled brightly at her lover as she accepted the can of soda. Things were beginning to look a little brighter in Willowland. She had Tara, college, and now the potential return of the friendships she hadn’t even realized were drifting until recently.
Yep, things were definitely looking brighter…radiant even.
~~~~~
South America
“Herbie, be a dear and get me Miss Edith. She’s calling me. She says it’s very urgent, but I couldn’t possibly be so rude as to leave our guests unattended.” Drusilla smiled graciously at her ‘guests’. The bodies of two tourists long since dead were propped up at the table as if they had stopped by for a social visit and a nice cup of tea.
The chaos demon rose from his chair, grateful for a chance to stretch his legs after being forced to endure the tea party from hell for the last two hours. Dru’s conversation with the corpse’s tended to be a little one-sided, and since he couldn’t actually hear their responses, he was at a bit of a loss as to how to respond. The brunette had declared to the brightly clad couple that the demon just suffered from a bit of shyness to cover up for his lack of participation in the discussion.
Herbie reached the second floor and turned to the left to enter the bedroom that he and Drusilla had shared for the past year. She wasn’t always the most agreeable of companions, but what she lacked in sanity she more than made up for in enthusiasm in the bedroom. Who doesn’t like a bit of agony mixed with their sex? No one that he knew, that was for sure!
He moved across the room to Miss Edith’s bed, which occupied one corner of the room. At first; he had been a little bothered by the way the small doll seemed to stare at them during sex, but eventually, he found he could ignore the glassy eyes and blank stare if he tried hard enough. Oddly enough Dru seemed to perform better when the creepy little creature was in the room. He was unsure if she was attempting to impress the doll or if she just liked the idea of someone watching them together.
Briefly, he thought of her previous lover, William the Bloody, and wondered if he’d had to endure the same behavior or if he had known of ways to curb some of Dru’s more outlandish antics. He had been with her for more than a hundred years; he could have probably given Herbie a few pointers in handling the dark haired vamp, if he hadn’t been quite so upset about the break up. Oh, well, it wasn’t like he was going to come back around to win her back. Not after the last time.
He picked up the doll; careful to avoid getting too much slime on the dress, something that seemed to set the vampiress off at the best of times. Apparently Miss Edith had a thing about cleanliness. Turning the doll to face away from him with a shudder, he hurried back to Drusilla and their ‘guests’.
“Thank you, dearest,” the deceptively fragile looking woman said, taking the doll carefully from his grasp. Cradling it close to her body, she made the introductions to the couple whom the doll had yet to meet. Once the pleasantries were over, Dru turned the doll to gaze in her eyes. “Now Miss Edith, what was so terribly important that it had to interrupt our tea party?”
She leaned in close to listen intently to the small figure in her arms, a frown slowly coming over her features. She began to fidget in her chair, squirming as if bothered by some unseen pest. Herbie had seen her in this mood too many times in the past to even dream of intervening in whatever had caused her irritation. He backed away discreetly
Drusilla suddenly jumped from her chair, spinning around to face him. “I’m so sorry; I must leave our party early. It seems Miss Edith and I have some business to attend to. Would you please be a dear and show our guests to the door?” With that said, she walked briskly toward the door, intent on seeing to her problem as soon as possible.
“Is there anything you need help with, Dru?” he asked, concerned for her sudden change in behavior.
“No, dearest. Miss Edith and I have matters well in hand. You don’t mind cleaning up for me, do you?” she asked sweetly, her charms showing in full force. She knew exactly how to get what she wanted out of those around her; after all, she’d had many, many years of practice.
“Not at all, just let me know if you need any help.” He smiled and turned back to the table after she glided out of the room, sighing lightly when he realized his evening was going to consist of digging a new set of graves just outside the walls of the villa.
At least it wasn’t raining like it had been two weeks ago. That had been one miserable night. The graves kept filling in on him from the rush of the rain water, but Dru had insisted that they be disposed of right then, so he had spent most of the night digging and re-digging, trying to get the hole large enough to accommodate the two bodies without them resurfacing before the stormy weather had passed.
Herbie lifted one of the bodies onto his shoulders and heading for the doors leading out onto the veranda and into the courtyard.
In the darkened basement, Drusilla placed Miss Edith on the small pillow in the center of the table located in the middle of the room and began to pace the floor.
“So, the little red witch is planning a spell, is she? She meddles in magic far beyond her. Tempts the fates with retribution and makes the gods tremble with anger. Her interference this time will break my brave knight. My golden boy. If she succeeds, the light will never embrace the darkness. The sunshine will push the night away until he loses all hope. Oh, my little willow tree; so much power and so little wisdom.” She whirled to face the doll once more.
“We must fix this, Miss Edith. If we cannot, then we have turned my prince away in vain. He was meant for the sunshine, but she blocks out his light. We should give her an awakening, and I believe our little witch has given up a perfect opportunity to accomplish our task.”
She moved across the room, and began removing things from a small cupboard in the shadows. She placed candles and a few herbs, along with a small silver bowl and lighter on the table beside the pillow Miss Edith occupied. Drusilla moved across the floor as if on air, her gliding feet never seeming to touch the ground.
Once more at the old cabinet, she bent to retrieve a small yellow box. Tenderly opening the lid, she explained its presence to her precious dolly. “Daddy so loved his souvenirs! Mementos of destruction and torture, of terror and anguish. Pain was his greatest art; the suffering he caused was a symphony of delightful sounds.” Dru extracted two snippets of hair, each tied by a different color of ribbon and both gleaming gold in the dim candlelight of the cellar.
She placed the hair in the silver bowl and carefully crumbled selected herbs over the strands. She picked up the lighter and touched it to the candles. The room seemed to glow much brighter than should have been possible from so few wicks. Drusilla smiled enigmatically and waited for word from Miss Edith to begin the spell.
At the dolls encouragement, she began to chant, tipping one of the candles toward the bowl and setting the mixture ablaze. She reached into the open keepsake box and withdrew a small dagger. Running it across her palm, she allowed a few drops to splatter and hiss in the heat of the fire. Once finished, she brought the bleeding cut to her mouth and eagerly licked it closed.
Her gaze seemed to intensify as her voice grew louder. On the final words of the incantation, the candles flared and flickered and a sudden burst of wind swept through the enclosed room, seeming to sweep the spell away with the breeze. The candles guttered out and silence reigned once more.
When all was quiet, she picked up Miss Edith once more, cuddling her close to her chest and ascending the stairs. “I think you are correct, Miss Edith. I don’t think the slayer will be able to ignore this.”
Giggling madly as she topped the stairs, she danced in small circles, stopping only when she decided to find Herbie and request that he take her out for a late night dinner.
Magic always took so much out of a ghoul, after all.
~~~~~
Sunnydale
Willow slipped out of the bed as quietly as possible, trying not to wake Tara. She retrieved the book of spells from under the bed, grabbed a small backpack from the floor beside the doorway, and crept from the room down to the bathroom at the end of the hall. After checking that all the stalls were empty, she began to unload the bag of candles and place them in a circle around her.
She told herself that she was only keeping this from Tara because she didn’t want her to worry. Plus, it was just a little spell to sweep away old hurts and refresh the spirit, which would allow for the friendships to flourish once again. Letting everyone know might dampen the effect of the spell, which was not of the good. It was such a tiny little spell, a baby spell, minuscule even. So why would she need to tell someone about something that practically didn’t even exist?
She finished arranging her candles and then carefully lit each one. Opening the book to the page she had marked earlier, she began to chant softly, not wanting to draw unwanted attention to her nocturnal activities. The candles burned brightly as she chanted.
“Oh Mother Earth, hear me. We ask for cleansing. We ask for rebirth.”
The words continued on; she had carefully memorized them earlier, anxious to be prepared. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the phrasing, not noticing when the candles flared higher as a smoky wind entered the room. It swirled around the sacred circle, mixing with the smoke rolling from Willow’s candles. The gray haze then hovered and whirled around Willow before spreading out, covering the entire circle before dissolving.
The young witch opened her eyes once the spell was complete, already feeling enthusiastic and excited about the changes for herself and her friends.
Things would be looking much brighter for them in the near future…she could feel it.
TBC...
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!