Willow felt the scream tear from her throat, despite her best efforts to restrain it. Knives possessing incinerating heat seemed to be slamming into her body, slicing at her, through her and around her. Her brain was virtually on fire, the agony so intense.
She was standing, or was it falling, within the Seal's circle. The warding glyphs surrounded her. Above her was the majestic rows of trees forming their domed ceilings, below her, a smooth marble floor, broken up only by the columns, glyphs and circle of power that formed the Seal. And the blood that was splattered immediately around her. Her blood.
Willow knew nothing of where she was, or the world around her right then. All she knew, her world's entire expanse was consumed by the torment of her unknown assailants assault. As each blow rained on her, she struggled more and more to keep the power from lashing out at the Seal. But with each strike, it became harder to absorb the raging onslaught, and some of the energy flowed over to hit the Seal.
The Seal still held, Willow knew that within the silent depths of her soul, but the energy drains on it's reserves combined with the lashing attacks was weakening it bit by bit. And the Hellmouth waited patiently for the Seal to fail.
As suddenly as the attack came, it ended. This cycle of torture was pushing her near her breaking point, but as of yet, Willow had not succumbed. Each time she felt the attacks coming, she threw her awareness in the front, keeping the blows from striking the Seal. It was so tempting, though, so very tempting to just let the strikes hit the Seal, to protect herself from any more pain, but it was during the short reprieves that her resolve hardened.
Each time, as her body slumped to the ground, she found herself looking down and *through* the Seal. The demons and monsters lying in wait to take back the Earth were straining against the Seal, sensing the tenuous fabric that held them back. And what refueled Willow's determination was these demons, they were the same creatures from her nightmares, the ones that would rend her loved ones from limb to limb. Their hideous visages was the most incredible incentive imaginable.
Shakily getting back on her feet, Willow noticed the blood soaking through the white shift she wore. Each attack hurt her physically more and more. The astonishing thing was, the pain her body experienced was all mental. There wasn't a physical assault, it just FELT like a physical blow. Each raging inferno of energy, every blast of power occurred on a psychic level. Willow's connection to the Seal simply gave it the illusion and responses of a corporate form. "This is going to kill me...I'm sorry Xander, I lied."
Willing tears away, Willow forcibily pulled herself together, seeking the self-composure needed to face the next attack. Her opponent seemed to be hampered somewhat, and unable to maintain a constant streaming assault. Whatever it was that created these pauses, Willow was grateful.
Pulling in a deep breath, Willow looked around herself for the first time in a long while. The trees still stood firm, the ground level, despite Willow's own mental impression of tremendous upheaval. Looking down critically at the Seal, Willow saw the glyphs lightly glowing, a soft dull red colour, like the colour of cooling metal after having been pulled from a forge.
"Oh god! The backlashing energy!" She stared in wide-eyed horror at the glowing marks. Each time the waves of power had pummeled Willow back, and spilt over, it had been the glyphs that took the first strike for the Seal. They were the Seal's groundings, keeping it anchored and protected in a magical sense. Moving on unsteady feet she approached the glyph closest to her. Sinking down onto her knees, Willow leaned forward to hesitantly touch the arcane symbol, and was startled to feel heat. "That's weird," she muttered, the energy in it didn't feel corrupt, it was very much akin to the energy of the Seal itself..only different..as if it was energy being changed and assimilated. Frowning, Willow tried to both rationalize the puzzle the backlashed but changed energy presented her, and, more importantly, figure out how she could make this puzzle work for her?
* * *
"I'm going to die." The thought was startling for it's simplicity, and Xander had to pause to admire it, even as he watched Cai's rapid approach.
Buffy had momentarily turned her back to the little stubby creep, and didn't see Cai get up from where she had tossed him. She had assumed after watching the dwarf slam into a wall that he'd have the courtesy of being unconscious.
Courtesy, Xander noted absently, wasn't one of Short and Ugly's better virtues.
So while Buffy was scouring the floor behind the altar for the tiny gold amulet that would free the Guardian, Xander had watched Cai get up and make a beeline for the Slayer. And Xander had, foolishly he conceded, gotten into Cai's way. Again. Somehow, he suspected that if the company which his parents had purchased life insurance for their son from knew any of this, the premiums would go waaaay up.
Running as fast as he could, he found himself standing in front of the altar once again, looking at the bulldozer with the mug from hell coming straight at him. At best, Xander considered himself a temporary roadblock. "Buffy! Look out!" He yelled, even as Cai reached out for his neck. Twisting, Xander attempted to punch him, instead howling in pain. Before he could manifest any other defense, he was flying through the air, again.
Thumping down on the ground, Xander was amazed to find he was still conscious. "I think I'm getting better at being beaten up." Pulling himself upright, he saw Buffy turned to face Gruesome. And Angel was closing up behind the little runt.
Tearing his gaze from his friend, Xander dragged himself to the Watcher lying sprawled on the ground close to the imprisoned Guardian. Hesitantly, Xander touched Giles, reaching to check for a pulse with a distasteful expression on his face. The expression faded, though, as he felt the steady throb that represented Giles' heartbeat.
"Great, both of our chaperons with matching goose-eggs." Xander muttered, seeing the purpling lump on Giles' forehead. "I bet he has a concussion too, just to round things off." He rubbed at his own aching head, trying to remember what you did for people with concussions. "Keep them awake? That would be difficult to do at this point. I'd have to get him to wake up first."
A shout made Xander turn his head to see Buffy, Cai and Angel all cheerfully pounding the living crap out of one another. The Troll had recovered his staff, and was trying to stake Angel with it. *If only he could get a lucky strike in* The thought was wishful, but shocked Xander nonetheless. It had been habit to dislike Angel, but deep down, Xander knew that he didn't hate the vampire. It wasn't Angel's fault Jesse had died, nor was it his fault that Buffy had fallen for him.
Angel grabbed the stave from the Ghoul, and threw it across the room. Ugly got even uglier at that point, like a small child who's favorite toy had been taken away, he threw a major tantrum. Angel's head, with his body attached, was slammed brutally into a stone wall. The vampire was down for the count.
Buffy took this poorly. She went from interspersing her punches with sarcastic commentary to dead silent and deadly. With a rapid series of moves, she pummeled the gnome, alternating between rapid kicks, punches and throws. Amazingly, he kept getting up, but was so occupied with Buffy, he had no time to see anything else.
"Child." the imprisoned being called out in her sweet melodic voice. She was on her knees, her posture perfect, but position supplicant. It took Xander a few moments to realize she was addressing him. "Child, please, while the Foul One is occupied, please fetch the amulet. It must be destroyed or I am unable to unleash my full Power."
Xander frowned at her, looking quickly down at Giles, and then over to Buffy. She was getting as good as she was giving, evenly matched, it seemed, to Cai's strength. And Giles sure wasn't going anywhere in a hurry...but..
"Please! Your friend trapped in my Seal is dying...if you want to spare her, find the amulet!" Carmilla pleaded, her soulful eyes looking anguished and desperate.
Xander's head shot up. "Willow's dying?" He croaked out, feeling a part of himself go cold at the thought. He scrambled out of his jacket placing it underneath Gile's head before turning back to Carmilla.
She smiled sadly and gave a solemn nod. "Yes, she is. The Seal's power is too much for her fragile body to withstand. It is killing her with every moment that I stay imprisoned here. I am simply unable to help."
"I'll get the amulet." Xander practically sprinted over the ruins and rubble to the altar. Keeping a wary eye on Cai, he was pleased to note Buffy was still pounding away. Her fury was sufficient to keep the Grisly-Little-Mutant-Cousin-of- Fluffy very busy.
The amulet had fallen somewhere behind the altar, on the upper ground where a priest would have stood giving his sermon or performing some ritual. This raised platform, however, had been pretty much destroyed by Carmilla and Cai prior to Carmilla's imprisonment. Looking around at the ruined ground, Xander personally concluded he didn't want to be remotely near Carmilla when she took on Cai again.
Darting around, standing only on ground that look sturdy, it took Xander a few panicked moments to locate the golden ticket to Carmilla's freedom. It had fallen in between two stones, only the slender gold chain lying exposed. Still keeping a careful guard out for Cai, Xander crouched down and pried the amulet out.
He looked over to Carmilla, raising his hand to show the amulet. Her lovely face lit up with delight, a luminous and breathtaking sight if Xander ever saw one. Quickly piling the amulet into the palm of his hand, and closing that hand into a fist, he concealed the physical sight of the amulet. It made navigating back over the floor difficult with only one hand to reach out and clutch objects for balance, but Xander did it anyway.
Keeping his gaze on Carmilla, Xander moved quickly towards the imprisoned woman, focusing only on her growing elation. "Weird.. I can understand her being relieved, but she's downright gleeful!" It seemed odd, but it wasn't for a Slayerette to question the emotional responses of a Guardian.
Absorbed in his thoughts, the rock that thumped into his back came as a complete surprise. Falling with a roll, he was on his back to see Cai's advance. "Not again!" Xander moaned silently. The gnarled midget lunged, arms outstretched for Xander's neck, again. "I think he likes my neck. Fluffy likes my ankles, so of course, Fluffy's cousin likes my neck."
"Give me the amulet, whelp!" Cai snarled. His face so mottled with rage, Xander seriously thought he'd erupt spewing lava, or something equally fiery, all over the place.
Xander pulled himself together with barely any time to spare, and threw his body past Cai's range. Looking up, he saw Buffy running towards them, and made a split decision. "Buffy! Catch!" With a quick overhand motion, the amulet went flying towards the Slayer.
Buffy's eyes followed the golden trinket, even as those same bright blue eyes watched Xander. Time seemed to shift into slow motion. Cai raised a large slab of wood, even as Xander threw the amulet. The wood was coming down as the amulet arced to Buffy, and Buffy ignored it, choosing to run past it in the vain attempt to save Xander's life.
The wood connected solidly with Xander's skull, his eyes rolled back and up into his head and he fell down.
"Nooo!" Buffy's scream echoed through the room. The blood and hair shining wetly on the wood still in Cai's hand. Tears streaming down her face, Buffy's world narrowed onto one purpose. Killing the wretch who had just killed her friend.
Cai stood paralyzed, Xander's collapse and the blood matted in the boys hair shocking him back to rational thought. *Oh Hell!* Before the boy hit the ground entirely, Cai grabbed him, supporting the limp body with his two arms. In the few seconds before Buffy could reach him, Cai had managed to ascertain the boys neck wasn't broken, but by the look in the Slayer's eye, he wasn't going to get the chance to tell HER the good news.
Her first hit tossed Cai into the stone altar, demolishing it. The gnome was down, but not out. Buffy ignored him for a moment to focus on Xander. He was still breathing, which Buffy took as a very good sign, but it wasn't by much. His face had a ugly shade of grey to it, and that scared her. Reaching down to pick him up and get him to safety, Buffy was shocked to hear Carmilla's words intrude into her world.
"Forget the Boy! Bring me the Amulet!"
* * *
There it was again, Willow ignored her own pain to watch the Seals' wards. Each attack caused them to flare incandescently, even when Willow absorbed the bulk of the assault, and then fade slowly. The energy, however, wasn't lost, but transformed into something similar to the Seal.
Slumping, and gasping for air, Willow tried to think only on what she had observed, and not about how wretched she felt. The wards responded like they took in the energy and transformed it to something useful...but transforming it cost the Seal personal energy, and that's why it wasn't getting stronger.
*Kinda like the principle of 'Conservation of Energy', or is that 'Matter'...I dunno..* Willow was so exhausted she couldn't think rationally. "Energy can't be destroyed, it can only be transformed into another form..." she mused aloud in a rather pathetic whisper.
**Transformed into something Good** The Seal's awareness interjected.
"How?" That's what Willow couldn't figure out. If the Seal could transform it, then why didn't it transform all of it? Why was a Guardian, or protector, or whatever Willow was standing in for needed in the first place.
**Not standing in. Needed to focus energy..change energy..**
Willow blinked. *As in, to collect it and will it to be something else?* It can't be that simple. It can't. I...
**Yes**
"Why didn't anyone tell me this!" She shouted hoarsely. If she had something to hit, she would. All the strain, agony and frustration of the last...God only knew how long...and it could have all been avoided?
**The knowledge was always yours. The Power is yours to wield.**
Willow stood up, this time with some backbone. "Good." A distant rational corner of her mind tried to point out she still didn't know what she was doing, but the larger part that just wanted to end the pain overruled, advising her to fake it. "It's time I start wielding it!"
She could sense another attack coming, like a tsunami to a coastal town. This time, however, the coast was going to fight back. Willow gritted her teeth, and pulled energy from the Seal to herself, forming a bowl like dish or container in her minds-eye.
The Power lashed at her, she ignored it. It tried to hurt her, she forgot it, instead, she did something new. She called it into her, letting it flow in her and through her...right through to the little pocket of energy the Seal fed her.
And she changed it.
The entire Seal thrummed suddenly, the warding glyphs all ignited into solid blue flames, sturdy, strong and powerful. Beneath her feet, Willow could hear the demons howls of agony as the fragile Seal became strong.
"Let's see what else we can do? Hmmm?" She thought, her sweet lopsided smile crossing her lips for the first time since the attacks had begun.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Leave him!" Buffy was incredulous. "You can't be serious!"
"Listen to me, Slayer. Forget your friends, their lives mean little in the great scheme of things. Please, destroy the Amulet that holds me prisoner! I can kill Cai, but only if I am free!" Carmilla's voice dropped the pleading tone in favor of a cold, impassive note of command.
Buffy stayed where she was, absently noting Cai struggling to his feet. He seemed suddenly weaker. Her eyes flicked from him, to Carmilla. "I have a big problem with this. If you're the Guardian...then you're supposed to look out for people..not just toss their lives aside."
From across the room, she heard Cai snort. "Heh. You blew it Carmilla! She may be blonde, but she ain't THAT dippy." He shambled towards Buffy, purposefully keeping his pace and stance as non-aggressive. The Power of the Seal was no longer his to command, the girl had figured it out.
"She ain't the Guardian, girl. I am...or was. I'm retiring now."
Buffy blinked owlishly at him for a few moments, before transferring her befuddled gaze to Carmilla. "I...." He was so ugly..he couldn't be the Guardian...and the prophecy said there would be a female Guardian..so if that wasn't Carmilla... "I..."
"Do not be fooled by him Slayer. Look at him, is he is a twisted demon in a human guise." Carmilla said imperiously. "Bring me the Amulet!"
"No. I don't think so." Buffy said softly. She turned to Cai. "Don't you move towards that amulet either. I don't know which one of you to believe. You nearly killed my friends, and you.." She turned to face Carmilla, "Are advocating that I let them die."
"Listen girl, would ya have believed me?" Cai offered reasonably, he made no move towards the amulet, just absently looking over at it, and noting, with pleasure that the symbol engraved onto the front of the golden piece was glowing incandescently.
Buffy ran her hand gently across Xander's forehead and hair. "He could die because of you." Her voice was tiny, scared. She looked up at Giles. "I don't even know if Giles is alive...and Angel..."
"I don't know what to do." The whisper was almost inaudible.
Her head was bent down towards Xander, but she could still sense Cai's presence hovering nearby, unmoving. Nearby, Carmilla had also stopped moving, but her attention seemed drawn further out, eyes vacant for a long moment.
"Nooooooo!" The woman howled, pummeling her hands on the ground. "That little BITCH!" Carmilla straightened herself out quickly, her voice going as cold. " I will not let this end! The Seal will be mine."
Buffy stared at the woman incredulously. After all the posturing to try and convince Buffy that she wasn't the bad guy, she threw it all away so suddenly. Eyes widening with a second realization, she turned her head to look at the Guardian Sun. "Oh. My. God."
Cai grinned, a horrible sight in his mangled face. "Not me, nope I ain't no God. She knew him once," He offered with a negligent roll of his head towards Carmilla. "At least, she did before she got thrown out." The ugly Guardian seemed very pleased with himself. "You'll have to excuse Carmilla, she just found out that yer pal got a grip on the Seal thing. Unless she can kill the kid, she screwed. And ta kill the kid, she needs out of there."
Buffy knew she looked ridiculous. Her jaw hanging open, but she couldn't close it. She looked a Cai for a long moment, trying to forget that he had hurt Giles, Xander and Angel, and redeem that with the fact this man was the Guardian.
Her blue eyes flicked to the other conscious occupant in the room, surprised that Carmilla had let Cai insult her on so many levels in a subtle way. Carmilla wasn't even looking at them. She was looking beyond them, rather triumphantly. Something in Buffy froze.
Twisting sharply, the Slayer saw Angel bend down and scoop up the Amulet. His features openly vampiric, he didn't even wince as his hand starting smoking and turning black from the Amulet's touch.
"No." The whisper went unheard. Buffy moved to block Angel, hoping beyond hope that she had the strength of will to let him go and slay him if necessary.
Carmilla smiled, speaking conversationally, "See, Cai? You were wrong. You have no power now, and so can't stop either me...or him."
Cai grunted once as Angel tossed him aside. Without the Seal's power, he could not heal fast enough, or move quick enough even if he did have the strength to carry on to stop the vampire.
"Angel, stop! Give me the Amulet!" Buffy pleaded. The vampire kept on walking towards her. "I'm sorry. I can't let you take that to her." The kick and following block did nothing to stop him. A silent snarl, and a flick of his wrist, and Buffy was tossed backwards. Tears stung her eyes as a stake instinctively dropped into her hands.
"Oh Angel," Buffy whispered struggling to find her friend in his eyes. "Forgive me!"
* * *
End Part Nine
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