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She sat in the middle of the circle she had formed with the powder she had bought from the Magic Box, candlelight flickered from the four strategically placed candles on the circle. Willow had gone into a deep trance, seeking any kind of help or information that would bare any weight of good news. Meg was oblivious to the red-headed witch sitting in the middle of their bedroom as she busily scanned over information she was looking up over the internet. Willow was far, far away.

The red-head found herself sitting in a brightly lit room this time. A faint hum was coming from somewhere she couldn’t discern. She wanted to speak out, wanted to call out for Tara in hopes that the spirit would have useful information for her but she sat, waited patiently until suddenly the light in the room dimmed considerably and standing before her was a shimmering form of Tara.

"Hello, sweetie."

"Tara, I'm so happy to see you. Thank you for coming here again. We desperately need some help." Willow pleaded.

"Yes, I do know this. It may be too big this time. The First Evil is stronger than ever. An imbalance has occurred; a rift in the dimensions. The Chosen One was taken because she is needed to close the portal. Without her, the portal will remain open and The First will have free reign of this world. It will take it completely over. But the main element is the one warrior who once walked in the dark, though now harnesses the light within. He is a balance of light and dark within one soul. Don't let him lose this soul. Don't let him lose his heart. The two shall become one and then the strength will flow freely. Evil is around all of you; none of you are safe. You have to be strong, know what is good and what is not. An enemy walks among you until the balance is corrected. Be watchful. I'm always here for you to call on but too much information will hurt, will hinder. Take this seed of knowledge and plant it, nurture it. Love can conquer." Tara's voice faded away as the wisp of light that took on her form disappeared.

Willow slowly opened her eyes and realized she was back in her room, Megan still scanning the computer screen.

"The First," Megan said softly catching Willow off guard.

"What did you say?"

"The “big bad” is the First Evil," Meg turned around in her chair to gaze at her girlfriend.

Without any warning the flames on the candles shot up, causing both girls to jump to their feet but just as suddenly, the four candles extinguished themselves.

"What was that all about?" Meg whispered, afraid to speak any louder.

"I think they know that we know now. How did you know?" Willow looked at her quizzically.

She shook her head back and forth and shrugged her shoulders. Meg gasped as she peered down at the book she had clasped to her chest when the candles went all wonky. It was the same book that Giles had read to them earlier but now each page was blank; not one word etched on any of them.

"Well, would you look at this? Seems like we’re on to something. All evidence of their evilness has been erased." She looked up at Willow who still looked a little wary. She looked at the book that Meg now held up for her.

"This is, I guess, good news in a way? I mean, that Spike won't have to die to save Buffy. But what do you think it is he’ll have to lose? Tara said he would lose something. Oh, goddess, you don't think it will be his soul, do you? She specifically told me not to let him lose that."

"I don't know, hon. I wish I did, but I don't really know. I found some protection spells in an old book of my grandmother's but most of them have dire consequences. Maybe we should just let it all play out on its own. Maybe we shouldn't even interfere, let it happen. He goes, gets her out, comes home and everything is ice cream and cotton candy."

"I hate to be the pooper of your beautiful party, but this is the hellmouth and nothing ever comes out sweet. Nothing ever comes out even yummy, but you may be right. It might be better if we stay out of it as much as we can." Willow sighed as she began to clean up the clutter of magic stuffs. "Never any kind of normalcy in this town.

"Willow, do you think we should tell Giles and Spike, you know, about the “not having to die to save Buffy” part? I think he deserves to not be all doom and gloom for the rest of the night."

Willow stopped and pondered, looking behind her at the clock on the nightstand. It was just after two in the morning.

"That sounds like a good idea. I'm sure neither one of them are sleeping right now anyway. Come on."

Both of them silently made their way downstairs looking in on Giles in the dining room who was doing exactly what Willow had figured. He looked up at the two witches as they entered.

"I see your still pounding away on the research duty. Find anything useful or interesting?" Willow asked him.

"Just that we may be dealing with a very old, very powerful evil force." He confirmed.

The girls looked at one another and in unison replied, "The First."

Giles brows rose in surprise.

"We've been researching too." Meg smiled at him sweetly. "Is Spike downstairs?"

"Why yes I believe he said he was turning in. I don't blame him. Was a lot of information to deal with."

"Well, we have some good news; as good as you can get for the situation we’re in. I'll go get him and bring him on up, that way we only have to tell it once." Willow turned and headed to the basement door.

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Spike had done a myriad of things once he had made it down to his underground room. He paced the floor, sat on his cot, paced some more, smoked at least a half a dozen cigarettes while pacing and sitting and then finally decided to sit down and write in his notebook. Kind of ridiculous that he was writing out his last will and testament, what with already being dead. He just wanted to make sure everyone knew his final wishes and that everyone was taken care of especially Buffy and Dawn.

When he heard the door open at the top of the stairs, he silently closed the book and shoved it under the pillow sitting on the cot. Willow appeared in his line of sight and they exchanged smiles at one another.

"Hey Red. What are you doing up still? Thought you and the little pixie scampered off to bed." He always had a cute name for Meg because she was so petite but packed a lot of intelligence in her small frame. He knew he would never cross her.

"We sort of did. Been up doing more research, well, she was. I was off in another world I guess you could say. We found some things I think you’ll find interesting. Mind coming up so we can tell both you and Giles?"

He shrugged as he pushed himself up. "Don't really have anything better to do."

Back up in the dining room, the four sat around the table. Meg looked at Willow before deciding she should speak first.

"I figured out this whole prophecy thing, the one with you dying, was a ruse. Our big bad, the one that took Buffy, has been playing with us all. It’s The First."

Giles cleared his throat. "The First is, well, the first known evil to have existed in this world. It dominates some outer dimension at the moment and I think has plans of taking over not only this world but all dimensions, all worlds. It is very powerful and very hard to defeat. We may be fighting a losing battle."

"Not necessarily. I was visited by Tara again. We have a chance, although a small one and yes, we do need Buffy, but…" Willow looked over at Spike, who still looked glum.

"Spike, you’re the key to defeating The First." she continued.

"What? Me? Why me? I'm nothing really. I'm not even living. I'm…" he began to ramble on before Willow held her hand up to stop him.

"Regardless of what you think, Mr. Gloomy pants, you are something. My goodness, you sure are broody…just like someone else I know." She felt like making light of the issue they were discussing. Spike growled at her insinuations as he sat forward in his chair. She giggled.

"Alright, enough of that missy. What else did you find out? What else did Glenda tell you?"

"Just that you need to keep a tight hold on your soul…and for some reason your heart which I'm not really sure what that actually means. Buffy is like the glue; she’s needed to repair the tear in the universe. But you? You are the balance of light and dark and I think the two of you will know how to defeat the First to send it scampering on its way once you or we figure out how you are actually supposed to do this."

Spike sighed and sat back in his chair with a grunt. He rubbed the bridge of his nose at the exact same time Giles did, both of them noticing this and quitting as quickly. Willow and Meg laughed softly.

"Seems like a lot of work. So, I guess I best be getting to the Slayer and bringing her back home. Just how am I to get there?"

"Oh," Giles stood abruptly as he scooted over opened books and loose papers, a few fluttering down to the floor. "There is a ritual we will have to perform tomorrow, or well today I guess. Simple enough it sounds like. Should take you right where you need to be. At least I hope it does."

"You know Giles I don't fancy all the mojo." He glanced up at the witches and smiled slightly. "No offense ladies. It seems things go a bit wonky whenever magic is performed. And there's always consequences. Always consequences."

Meg and Willow glanced at each other briefly before turning their eyes back to the Watcher and the vampire.

"Well," Willow started, "maybe we’ll just have to do things with very little magic. Tomorrow we’ll head over to the school basement, and what, knock on the hellmouth door? See what happens?"

Spike began to chuckle. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan. A good plan indeed." His smile faded slowly as he realized how much he wanted his slayer back home safe and sound. She had only been gone for a couple of days but if he was right about things that he had heard about hell dimensions, it was much longer for her.

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Buffy felt old. She felt tired and worn out. She had lost count of how long she had been here, how long it had actually been since she was tricked by the vampire who had been physically taken over by the evil that was holding her captive now. The thing wasn't even brave enough to show its face to her. During the time she was visited by the snake demon that basically was taking care of her, she tried her best to pump him for as much information she could, which didn't happen to be very much, except that its Master was very old, and very strong. That and she knew she was going to have a visitor, someone that she knew which frightened her and calmed her all at the same time.

The snake like demon made its presence known as it appeared in front of Buffy, holding a tray with her evening meal on it.

"Missss Ssssummersss," he hissed between two sharp fangs as he sat the tray on the table. "I suggest you eat and keep your strength up. Your visitor will be here soon. You will have choices to make. Shall be interesting to see what will come of it all."

He left as quickly as he came, leaving Buffy in a clouded stupor about this so called visitor. Her head hurt but she ate every last bite of her meal before heading to the punching bag the demon so graciously supplied her with not too long ago and beat the crap out of it.

TBC





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